THE PRIMACY OF LANGUAGE IN PRIMO LEVI’S SURVIVAL IN AUSCHWITZ.

It would be difficult to exaggerate the importance of language in Primo Levi’s work. Survival in Auschwitz is as much a story of survival as it is the story of Levi’s journey of writing. In the introduction to Survival in Auschwitz, Levi writes: "The book has been written to satisfy this need [of liberation]: first and foremost, therefore, as an interior liberation". (SA, 5-6). Indeed, for Levi language is a source of "liberation", a therapeutic exercise, a tool with which to comprehend the complexities of the human soul. Writing allows Levi to "become a man again…neither a martyr, nor debased, nor a saint". This paper explores the importance of language in Survival in Auschwitz, as integral to both knowledge and ethics. It will become clear how in positing language and literature as tools that coincide with human dignity, survival, and "liberation", Levi casts both as paths toward redemption. I argue that in exposing the dialectical nature of language, Levi reveals a conception of the world grounded in duality, opposition, and conflict, while conveying a message of hope and resilience in the face of injustice and suffering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]