What are Bruno Winawer's characters ashamed of?
Abstract
The article analyses selected novels and plays by a now somewhat forgotten Jewish writer who was popular in the first half of the 20(th) century. It focuses on situations in which the characters experience embarrassment, pointing out the physical and psychological signs of this emotion, and describing the consequences of internalising shame ('reverse conceit'). The examples cited demonstrate that shame is discussed not only by the characters, but also by the literary subject (i.e. the narrator or dramatic subject), and that it can be experienced by both people and anthropomorphised nature. The article treats shame as a shaping and normalising factor. It can be a form of education used by the community and a form of punishment.
Keywords:
shame in culture, Bruno Winawer, interwar novel, interwar dramaReferences
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