“The real proustian miracle is not that a madeleine dipped in tea tastes the same as another madeleine dipped in tea thus a rising a memory; it is, rather, that with it,the second madeleine can evoke a room, a house, an entire town and that that ancient place can, in a split second, touch the solidityof any present place, forcingits doors and makingthe furniture falter.” [1] With these words Genette presents the main idea of what this thesis aims to analyze, in other words, to reach the evoked dimensions of the content within the texts, the language, the universes, the literary themes.In this concrete case, I will explore the suggesting dimension of an author who I consider very uncommon and exceptional both in Italy, the nation where she lives, as in Switzerland, where she was born and of which she is not very representative. As a study subject, Fleur Jaeggy’s work calls the attention because of the power evoked in the reader by each and every element the authoress uses to unveil her narrative. These elements appear as a constant throughout Jaeggy's literary production and for this reason are analyzed in this study, along with the other constitutive elements of her work: the stylistic evolution within her literary production, her characteristic brevity of expression, her distinctive syntactic sobriety, her typical use of ellipsis. In the same way, the outlines of her characters, her sentimental education processes, her conception of life as well as her sickly inclination to death, her vision of the world and of femininity, will be object of the following research. To study thoroughly Fleur Jaeggy's work requires close attention so as to understand how literary critics have seen her, but, most of all, how she has been seen by those other authors that have written about her. In fact, in order to appreciate Fleur Jaeggy's essence, one must understand and share those words that authors such as Susan Sontag have dedicated to her – and that have been used in the opening of this work – as well as those written by the Nobel Prize winner Joseph Brodsky: “There are two types of literature: there's a prose which revels in things such as its subordinate clauses which are like so many branches, or in its vast syntax, expansive like the one belonging to, let's say, Henry James or even, let's say, Joseph Conrad, if you want. And then there's another type of prose of which the best example could be, let's say, Jane Austen with her concise sentences, each one swiftandcomplete in itself. In this case, the author knows from the very first page what to say, it's not that type of prose where the author gets the headway along with the movement of the pen on a sheet of paper; it's a physiological process, organic, something that is rarely experienced with prose.” [2] Using Brodsky's wordsas an example of the many more that have been said about Jaeggy, this syntactic and poetic prose is the main reason this very research started out; an approach towards this work can in this way be summed up since these words will become ever more clear and necessary as this work moves forward and in depth so as to reach to its own conclusions. 1. Gérard Genette, “Metonimía en Proust” in Figuras III (1972), Lumen, Barcelona 1989, p. 30 2. Extract from the opening speech to Fleur Jaeggy’s book I beati anni del castigo delivered in Nov. 2005 at the La Casa degli Italiani at New York University, NYC."El verdadero milagro proustiano no es que una magdalena mojada en té tenga el mismo gusto que otra magdalena mojada en té y despierte el recuerdo; es, más bien, que esa segunda magdalena resucite con ella un cuarto, una casa, una ciudad entera, y que ese lugar antiguo pueda, por espacio de un segundo, conmover la solidez del lugar actual, forzar sus puertas y hacer vacilar sus muebles." [1] Genette aporta con estas palabras la idea principal de lo que en esta tesis se pretende analizar, es decir, llegar a la dimensión evocadora del contenido de los textos, del lenguaje, de los universos, de los motivos literarios, en este caso concreto a la dimensión evocadora de una autora que considero poco común y excepcional, tanto en su país de residencia Italia, como en Suiza, su país de nacimiento donde igualmente es poco representativa. La obra de Fleur Jaeggy como objeto de estudio llama la atención por la fuerza que puede tener en el receptor la evocación de cada uno de los elementos que la autora utiliza para dar a conocer la historia narrativa. Por ello se analiza cada uno de ellos, siempre constantes en el transcurso de su producción literaria. Estudiamos esos elementos constitutivos de su obra: la evolución de su estilo en el transcurso de su creación literaria, de su brevedad expresiva característica, de su sobriedad y brevedad sintáctica, del recurso habitual a la elipsis. De igual modo a través del perfil de sus personajes, de sus procesos de formación sentimental, de su concepción de la vida y su inclinación enfermiza a la muerte, de la feminidad y su visión del mundo. Adentrarnos en el estudio de la obra de Fleur Jaeggy requiere prestar atención y entender cómo ha sido la recepción de esta para la crítica literaria pero sobre todo para los escritores que sobre la autora expresan su opinión. Entender la esencia de Fleur Jaeggy es entender y compartir las palabras que le dedican escritores como Susan Sontag que se cita en la introducción de este trabajo o las del premio Nobel Iosif Brodskij: "Ci sono due tipi di letteratura: c'è la prosa che si crogiola nelle proprie subordinate, un po come tante ramificazioni, in una sintassi estessa, espansa, come potrebbe essere qualcuno come, diciamo, Henry James o diciamo, Joseph Conrad, se vogliamo. E poi c'è un altro tipo di prosa, l'esempio migliore potrebbe essere, diciamo, Jane Austen, frasi molto concise e in sé compiute, molto rapide. [...] L'autore, in questo caso, sa quello che dice fin dalla primissima pagina: non è quel tipo di prosa dove l'autore prende l'abbrivo man mano che la penna si muove sulla pagina; è un processo fisiologico, organico, che non si sperimenta molto spesso con la prosa."[2] Esta prosa sintáctica y poética es el motivo principal del nacimiento de este estudio y con las palabras de Brodskij tomadas como ejemplo de muchas otras que en relación a ella se han dicho, se resume la concepción de este trabajo ya que estas palabras se irán haciendo cada vez más claras y necesarias según se va avanzando y profundizando en este estudio para llegar a las conclusiones del mismo. 1. Gérard Genette. «Metonimia en Proust». Figuras III (Figures III, 1972), Lumen, Barcelona, 1989, p.30. 2. Extraído del discurso de presentación de I beati anni del castigo de Fleur Jaeggy en la Casa Italiana de la New York University noviembre de 2005.