Being and suffering: toward an existentialist understanding of memory, suffering, and violence

This is an application of existentialist and phenomenological philosophy to the psychology and ethical concerns of memory, suffering, and violence. The primary goal is to take up the recent resurgence of existentialist/phenomenological thought and apply it to the fields of memory studies and trauma studies, broadly conceived. The methodology blends those of literary studies and philosophy, given that the subjects of the current investigation themselves blur the lines between literature and philosophical production. This work likewise explores the role of violence and counter-violence as formative of identity among marginalized groups and asks what the psychological and ethical consequences of such violence are. Finally, via a theorizing of limit-experiences, a sketch for a kind of existentialist ethics is sought.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Comparative Literature

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Elliott, Jeffrey Okla

Contributors dc:contributor

• Kaplan, Brett A.
• Blake, Nancy M
• Gasyna, George Z
• Rothberg, Michael

• Martin Heidegger
• Jean-Paul Sartre
• Memory Studies
• Trauma Studies

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2015 Jeffrey Elliott

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/88283

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/88283