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Open Access Thesis

Keywords

Unamuno, Miguel de, --1864-1936; Unamuno, Miguel de, --1864-1936; Existentialism in literature;

Abstract

Unamuno, although a member of the so-called Generation of '98 in Spain, outreaches the other members of this group in certain aspects of his works, They were primarily involved with the problems of Spain itself after the Spanish-American War, and Unamuno in his work went beyond this to explore Being; to explore the existence of the individual in its deepest and most far-reaching aspects. Because of this preoccupation with Being, Unamuno can be placed in another group, as diverse as the Generation of '98, that group whom we today call existentialists, Existentialism touches such figures as Kierkegaard, through whom Unamuno first became involved with this philosophy, Dostoevsky, Kafka, Hegel, Heidegger, Camus and Sartre. Many others have written about, followed and lived existentialism, but no one has felt it as passionately as Unamuno. Neither has anyone created works of fiction so abundant in the principles, values and feelings of this philosophy as Miguel de Unamuno. It is the intent of this thesis to relate this existentialist fiction with existential philosophy: to demonstrate that philosophy at work in the lives of the men and women in some of the novels of Unamuno. This will not be a literary nor a stylistic analysis of these works, but simply a philosophic one, inasmuch as the dominant style of Unamuno allows. The aspects of existentialism which predominate in the chosen works are the need for self-affirmation for authentic existence, the despair of man confronted with the absurdity of the universe, and his attempts to overcome it, including his search for immortality; death, and the failure of religion to mitigate the consequences of existence. These themes which are found in Unamuno will be seen in relation to the works and thought of such existentialists as Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Jaspers, Camus and Sartre. And because of Unamuno's treatment of these themes in the chosen novels, his characters escape from his pages to become more than characters or personified concepts: they become real people, they exist, and what is more, they exist existentially.

Year of Submission

1974

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Department of Modern Languages

First Advisor

George Zucker

Second Advisor

Manuel Febles

Third Advisor

Nile D. Vernon

Comments

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Date Original

1974

Object Description

1 PDF file (74 leaves)

Language

spa

File Format

application/pdf

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