Mackintosh, Fiona J. (2000) Childhood in the works of Silvina Ocampo and Alejandra Pizarnik. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis
explores childhood as
theme
and perspective
in
the Argentine
cuentista and
poet
Silvina Ocampo (1903-1993)
and traces this thematic
and vital
link to the
Argentine
poet
Alejandra Pizamik (1936-1972). The
study
looks
at childhood not only
in
relation to their literary texts but
also
in the
writers' construction of self-identity
within
their
socio-literary context, and at
the
role played
by
visual art
in their
aesthetic.
Chapter 1
contrasts Silvina
with
her
elder sister
Victoria Ocampo through their
differing literary
appropriation of a shared childhood. It distinguishes Ocampo from
Adolfo Bioy Casares and
Jorge Luis Borges in terms of
her fictional logic
and
her
treatment of games, drawing comparisons instead with Julio Cortdzar.
Chapter 2
undertakes close reading of various Ocampo texts, including
some
for
children,
in
order to explore
her
vision of childhood through nostalgia, adult-child
power relationships, aging and rejuvenation, and moments of
initiation or
imitation.
Chapter 3
turns to Pizarnik
and the myth of the child-poet.
It
analyses
her
child
personae through Andre Breton's Surrealism, Jean Cocteau
and
Octavio Paz, through
her borrowings from Alice in Wonderland
and
Nadja,
and
through
her
obsession with
madness, death,
orphanhood, violation and transgression.
Chapter 4 is
comparative.
It
outlines the context
in
which
Ocampo
and
Pizamik's
passionate friendship developed,
and considers
Pizamik's
essay on
Elpecado
mortal.
It
then explores their broad
mutual
literary
and
thematic
affinities.
My
conclusion is that Ocampo's works achieve equilibrium between childhood and age,
whereas Pizarnik's
much-discussed poetic crisis of exile
from language itself
parallels
her deep sense of anxiety at being
exiled from the world of childhood.
This thesis
contributes to the
study of
Argentine literature by drawing
revealing
comparisons
between
two key
writers
through their shared obsession with childhood,
arguing that
an understanding of their attitudes
to childhood
is fundamental
to
appreciating
fully their
work.
I
refer to unpublished
letters
of
Ocampo,
material
from
private
interviews,
photographs and relevant paintings
by Leonor Fini, Alicia Carletti
and others.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN0080 Criticism P Language and Literature > PQ Romance literatures
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Ocampo, Silvina -- Criticism and interpretation, Pizarnik, Alejandra, 1936-1972 -- Criticism and interpretation, Spanish poetry -- 20th century -- History and criticism, Children in literature
Official Date:	August 2000
Dates:	Date Event August 2000 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Centre for British Comparative Cultural Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	King, John, 1950- ; Bassnett, Susan
Sponsors:	University of Warwick
Extent:	228 leaves
Language:	eng

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