Journey through the ruins of history

The book is told from the perspective of an anonymous "I." Readers follow this person's journey as they walk along the desolate English coast, contemplating history and time. However, the stories evoked during this walk are not limited to England but extend to other countries and territories. Sebald's storytelling is unique in that it gives the reader the feeling of sleepwalking, or of being a ghost gliding across the earthly realm, able to see many things but only from a distance, suspended in limbo, unable to change reality; thereby evoking a sense of individual insignificance and powerlessness in the face of great events and the fleeting nature of historical dynasties…

Besides *The Rings of Saturn *, other works by Winfried Georg Sebald (WG Sebald) released in Vietnam include *Lost Memories* , *Dizzy* , *A Name - Austerlitz*, etc.

- Ảnh 1. — *Saturn's rings* are considered one of Sebald's most outstanding works.

"Flânerie" inspiration

W.G. Sebald belongs to a peculiar literary tradition in Europe, encompassing figures like Charles Baudelaire and Patrick Modiano, which tells stories by having characters embark on a "flânerie" journey between different lands, landscapes, and architectures. The stories often lack plot or climax, blending genres such as memoirs, travelogues, biographies, and research. W.G. Sebald even goes further by inserting photographs of landscapes, portraits, and scattered news snippets between the pages.

This literary movement also contributed to the development of a branch of research called "psychogeography," which explores the relationship between humans and landscapes. Researchers believe that places can evoke psychological responses and influence our memories in various ways.

This landscape-based storytelling technique prompts readers to consider the connection between people and place. The landscape is not merely our surrounding environment, but also a witness to history, the backdrop for major events and disasters that affect the destiny of communities and nations. Even after the events have passed, the traces left behind in the landscape can still profoundly impact us.

Beginning with the search for the skull of doctor and scholar Thomas Browne at Norfolk & Norwich Hospital (England), Saturn's Rings leads readers on a journey through space and time, taking us to the East with its bloody history of the Taiping Rebellion, the silent collapse of Empress Dowager Cixi's dynasty, then across Africa to witness the establishment of the Congo state and the enslavement of its indigenous people. At times, the narrative is more leisurely, recounting the spread of mulberry cultivation, silkworm rearing, and silk weaving across national borders, or sometimes, simply the story of a farmer diligently working for 20 years to reconstruct a perfect model of the Temple of Jerusalem…

Sebald's writing initially seems very close to the travelogue genre, but at the most unexpected moments, he subtly introduces characters who appear fictional but are actually real, and vice versa. For example, the character Konrad Korzeniowski, who appears in the chapter about Congo, is actually the famous writer Joseph Conrad, known for his work *Heart of Darkness * .

Sometimes, Sebald subtly incorporates interpretations of the characters' hidden motives, such as Empress Dowager Cixi's particular obsession with silkworms, her fondness for watching them silently spin their silk, comparing their diligence and docility to the often unpredictable and uncontrollable nature of humans. Or Roger Casement, the British diplomat , who spoke out against exploitation in Congo, understood the oppression of those "far from the center of power" because he himself was an "outsider." In essence, it is these profound interpretations from Sebald that give his biographical stories their appeal.

History and impermanence

Beyond historical facts and travelogues, Sebald sometimes incorporates ambiguous moments of life into his narratives, creating a stark contrast between recorded and widely accepted history and the fleeting moments and emotions of individual lives. At the end of one chapter, the narrator's sister describes a forest that "appeared with extreme clarity, with subtle details difficult to put into words" in a dream. The dream was so beautiful that she awoke still feeling nostalgic, unsure whether the forest was real or merely a product of her imagination.

There was a moment when the narrator walked across an empty field. Just then, he spotted a rabbit, also frightened, hiding in the bushes, and as it ran away, he caught sight of "a strangely human-like expression on its stiffened face," and in "eyes that almost bulged out of its head with terror, I saw myself become one with it."

Anxiety, uncertainty, and ambiguity are the emotions that will accompany "I" throughout his journey through the ruins and historical structures. What does Sebald want to convey through the series of events cited and the bewilderment amidst the flow of history expressed by "I"? These seemingly unrelated stories, under Sebald's skillful guidance, evoke a picture of a desolate and tragic history, much like the rings surrounding Saturn—at first glance, they appear intact, but upon closer inspection, they are merely fragments of meteorites held together by gravity. Perhaps, according to Sebald, human history is just as fragmented and desolate after millions of years of evolution.