This thesis is the first of three sections in what will be a book-long project of creative nonfiction essays. The book will parallel the author's diary with three other family diaries, spanning four generations. This thesis deals with the first of those diaries, written by Antonio Bonetti's, the author's great-grandfather. The narrative traces the author's struggle with clinical depression, juxtaposing this with his great-grandfather's political struggles in the city of Trieste during the nineteenth century (then under the Austro-Hungarian empire). Both the author's and Bonetti's diaries are excerpted and commented on by the author, comparing the author's experiences as a psychiatric patient with those of his great-grandfather as a political prisoner. This is the "conversation" of diaries. The irreverent tone of the Antonio Bonetti's prison diary confounds many of the author's expectations, leading the author to discover more commonalities than anticipated, namely a sense of humor in the face of severe diversity (the punchline as life boat). / Graduation date: 1999
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/33646 |
| Date | 05 May 1999 |
| Creators | Hill, Eric R. |
| Contributors | Anderson, Chris |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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