The Consolations of Writing

Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 Part I. In Defense of Civilization 19 1. The Disciplines of Reason and Lyric Poetry 21 Anicius Boethius, Of the Consolation of Philosophy (ca. 524-25): The Foundations of Resistance in Dialogue and Lyric 21 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison (1943-45): Christian Ethics and Lyric 47 2. Creative Dialogues with Textual Partners, Past and Present 79 Thomas More, A Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation: A Political Guide to the Dilemmas of Religious Conscience (1534-35) 80 Antonio Gramsci, Prison Letters (1926-37): Dialogue in Dialectic 104 Part II. Preservation of Self 119 3. Memory and Self-Justification: Images of Grace and Disgrace Abounding 121 John Bunyan, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners (1666): Writing the Eternally Present Self 124 Oscar Wilde, De Profundis (1897): A Pastoral Letter of Disgrace Abounding 142 4. Memorial Narratives as Salvation for the Feminine Self 166 Marie-Jeanne Roland, Memoirs (1793): Writing History Herself 169 Anne Frank, The Diary and Tales from the Secret Annexe (1942-44): Life Writing 191 5. The Consolations of Imagination and Lyric Poetry 213 Jean Cassou, Trente-trois sonnets composes au secret / 33 Sonnets of the Resistance (1943): Preserving the Liberty of a Poet 214 Irina Ratushinskaya, Pencil Letter and No, I'm Not Afraid (1982-86): Preserving the Life of a Poet 241 Part III. Testimony for Mankind 265 6. With Hindsight and Beyond Resistance 267 Primo Levi, If This Is a Man (1947) and Ad ora incerta (1947-86): Resisting the Demolition of a Man 267 Primo Levi, Moments of Reprieve (1981): In Defense of Civilization 291 Conclusion: Beyond Testimony 302 Select Bibliography 311 Index 319

Rivkah Zim teaches early modern English and comparative literature at King's College London. She is the author of English Metrical Psalms: Poetry as Praise and Prayer, 1535-1601