<p>Till min uppsats valde jag att koncentrera mig på två verk, <em>Post Office</em> och <em>Factotum</em>, av författaren Charles Bukowski (1920-1994). Huvudpersonen i båda romanerna kallas Henry Chinaski och är en mycket komplicerad karaktär. För att kunna analysera dennes självdestruktivitet samt syn på kvinnor och arbete anlade jag ett mansforskningsperspektiv, något som jag också utförligt beskriver.</p>

Till min uppsats valde jag att koncentrera mig på två verk, Post Office och Factotum, av författaren Charles Bukowski (1920-1994). Huvudpersonen i båda romanerna kallas Henry Chinaski och är en mycket komplicerad karaktär. För att kunna analysera dennes självdestruktivitet samt syn på kvinnor och arbete anlade jag ett mansforskningsperspektiv, något som jag också utförligt beskriver.

Si Charles Bukowski n’a jamais énoncé de théorie présidant a son œuvre, ni fait de recherche métrique explicite, et ne s’est jamais réclamé d’une quelconque école littéraire, ce rejet de toute forme d’élitisme littéraire relève en réalité d’une poétique paradoxale, qui cherche à faire s’effondrer les barrières entre écriture et oralité, entre l’œuvre et le corps qui l’a produite, entre l’œuvre et la vie de son auteur. Une poétique de la présence est portée par une utopie où la frontière entre monde et langage disparait, pour remettre le corps du poète au centre du processus littéraire. L’écriture poétique refuse sa part d’absence, celle du corps et de la voix, celle du moment d’écriture, pour devenir presque performance. Il en résulte une transparence trompeuse, dont la clarté est si éblouissante que, plutôt que de l’exposer, elle dissimule sa profondeur entre les lignes du texte. / If Charles Bukowski never formulated a theory presiding over his work, nor made explicit metrical research, and never claimed any literary school, this rejection of any form of literary elitism is, in fact, a paradoxical poetics, which seeks to break down the barriers between writing and orality, between the work and the body that produced it, between the work and the life of its author. A poetics of presence is carried by a utopia where the boundary between world and language disappears, to put the poet's body at the center of the literary process. The poetic writing refuses its share of absence, that of the body and the voice, that of the moment of writing, to become almost a performance. The result is a deceptive transparency, the clarity of which is so dazzling that, rather than exposing it, it conceals its depth between the lines of the text.

The style and themes central to Bukowski's prose have roots in the literary tradition of the grotesque. Bukowski uses grotesque imagery in his writings as a creative device, explaining the negative characteristics of modern life. His permanent mood of angry disgust at the world around him is similar to that of the eighteenth-century satirists, particularly Jonathan Swift. Bukowski confronts the reader with the uglier side of America--its grime, its corruption, the constricted lives of its lower class--all with a simplicity and directness of style impeccably and clearly distilled. Bukowski's style is ebullient, with grotesquely evocative descriptions, scatological detail, and dark humor.

No description available.

Charles Bukowski devoted his writing career to turning his own life into poetry and prose. In poems and stories about his experiences as one of the working poor in post war America, and in those depicting his experiences as a writer of the American underground, Bukowski represents himself as both a literary and social outsider. Bukowski expresses an alternative literary aesthetic through his fictional persona, Henry Chinaski, who struggles to overcome his suffering in a world he finds absurd, and who embarks on a quest for freedom in his youth to which he remains committed all his life. This thesis examines Charles Bukowski's autobiographical fiction with a specific emphasis on five novels and one collection of short stories. In the novels, Post Office (1970), Factotum (1975), Women (1978), Ham on Rye (1982) and Hollywood (1989), and in a number of short stories in the collection Hot Water Music (1983), Bukowski explores different periods of Chinaski???s life with a dark humour, revealing links between Chinaski???s struggle with the absurd and those aspects comprising Bukowski???s alternative aesthetic. The thesis focuses on such aspects of Bukowski???s art as the uncommercial nature of his publishing history, his strong emphasis on literary simplicity, the appearance of the grotesque and Bukowski???s obsession with nonconformity, drinking and sex. These aspects illuminate the distinctive nature of Bukowski???s art and its purpose, which is the transformation of an ordinary life into literature. This thesis argues that Bukowski illuminates possibilities that exist for individuals to create an identity for themselves through aesthetic self-expression. The thesis traces the development of Chinaski's non-conformist personality from Ham on Rye, based on Bukowski's youth in Los Angeles during the Depression, to Hollywood, Bukowski's ironic portrayal of Chinaski's brush with the commercial film industry. Through meeting the many challenges he faced throughout his life with defiance, honesty and an irreverent sense of humour, Bukowski invites readers to identify with his alternative world view. The thesis argues this particular aspect of his writing constitutes his most valuable contribution to twentieth century American fiction.

Charles Bukowski devoted his writing career to turning his own life into poetry and prose. In poems and stories about his experiences as one of the working poor in post war America, and in those depicting his experiences as a writer of the American underground, Bukowski represents himself as both a literary and social outsider. Bukowski expresses an alternative literary aesthetic through his fictional persona, Henry Chinaski, who struggles to overcome his suffering in a world he finds absurd, and who embarks on a quest for freedom in his youth to which he remains committed all his life. This thesis examines Charles Bukowski's autobiographical fiction with a specific emphasis on five novels and one collection of short stories. In the novels, Post Office (1970), Factotum (1975), Women (1978), Ham on Rye (1982) and Hollywood (1989), and in a number of short stories in the collection Hot Water Music (1983), Bukowski explores different periods of Chinaski???s life with a dark humour, revealing links between Chinaski???s struggle with the absurd and those aspects comprising Bukowski???s alternative aesthetic. The thesis focuses on such aspects of Bukowski???s art as the uncommercial nature of his publishing history, his strong emphasis on literary simplicity, the appearance of the grotesque and Bukowski???s obsession with nonconformity, drinking and sex. These aspects illuminate the distinctive nature of Bukowski???s art and its purpose, which is the transformation of an ordinary life into literature. This thesis argues that Bukowski illuminates possibilities that exist for individuals to create an identity for themselves through aesthetic self-expression. The thesis traces the development of Chinaski's non-conformist personality from Ham on Rye, based on Bukowski's youth in Los Angeles during the Depression, to Hollywood, Bukowski's ironic portrayal of Chinaski's brush with the commercial film industry. Through meeting the many challenges he faced throughout his life with defiance, honesty and an irreverent sense of humour, Bukowski invites readers to identify with his alternative world view. The thesis argues this particular aspect of his writing constitutes his most valuable contribution to twentieth century American fiction.

No description available.