CONCLUSION Throughout this itinerary, focused on the investigation of the recovery of memory as ash, it was sought, in the same way as was initially said about the work of criticism, “recognizing in the ashes the flame of life”194. In accordance with the observation of the recurrent patterns of Sebald's work – or, of the ghosts of repetition, as the author refers it –, it was possible to establish three points of convergence: Space, Image and Literature. In this sense, the itinerary sought to unfold, in each chapter, the nuances of the rescue carried out by Sebald. Under this motto, and having The Rings of Saturn as a framework, the examination of each category mentioned made it evident that the rescue work of the German writer is, to a large extent, explicit. Although Sebald perpetuates a kind of mourning constellation in his narratives - especially, in the compendium that constitutes The Rings of Saturn –, there is an attempt, like the observations about Thomas Browne, to continuously record the residues, with the characteristic intention of retention. If for Genet, as highlighted in the introduction, the work of art is for the dead - but of the dead who were never alive or who “were alive enough for us to forget them”195 –, Sebald points out that the rescue can either be veiled, or it can be explicit. In this perspective, there is a purpose for the emergence of memory, based on the writer's own mediation sources. In the case of Space, the main understanding is that this art of memory experienced by Sebald understands the recollection spatially196. At the same time, the use of pilgrimage enables the notion of spatial practice – intrinsically linked to literary practice, as suggested in all of Sebald's 194
Once again, Maria Filomena Molder through Walter Benjamin: “This is the alchemical power that Benjamin attributes to the critic: recognizing in the ashes the flame of life.” (MOLDER, 2016, page 253, own highlights and translation) 195 “But these dead people I speak of were never alive. Or else I forgot them. They were alive enough for us to remember them, since their life had the function of making them cross that quiet margin from where they wait for a sign – coming from here – and recognize it.” (GENET, 2000, page 15, own translation) 196 Confirming the thought of Giuliana Bruno (2018, page 221): “The art of memory understood recollection spatially.”
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