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from Part III - Themes and Influences
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 August 2023
This essay examines Sebald’s preference for eccentrics, amateurs and dilettantes, whose nonconformist views were incompatible with a scientific worldview or technocratic views. These were of concern to Sebald because he felt that theories and views disqualified from official discourse would offer an untapped pool of knowledge for his writing. The essay first discusses the significance and function of amateurs and dilettantes in Sebald’s narrative work as well as eccentric traits of his character. It then applies the concept of “minor writing” (Deleuze/Guattari) to Sebald’s texts and discusses the influence of academic outsiders such as Rudolf Bilz or Rupert Sheldrake. Sebald’s essays on Herbert Achternbusch and Ernst Herbeck provide examples of his use of these minor writers as inspiration for his own writing.
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