The psychoanalytical analysis of the character "Zeno Cosini" in the novel "La Coscienza di Zeno" by Italo Svevo

The aim of the study is to analyse the main character Zeno Cosini in the novel called La coscienza di Zeno (Zeno's Consciousness) written by Italo Svevo, who has a ground breaking importance in Italian literature in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, in the context of psychoanalytic literary theory. Accordingly, the psychoanalytic literary theory has been examined in detail with the approaches of major theorists in the first part. In this study, which consists of three main parts, the etymological origin of this theory, its historical development over the years and its main features have been put forward in order to make the psychological analysis of the character examined. In the second part; Italo Svevo's position in Europe has been mentioned and the author's relationship with the people who lead his thinking and writing life has been examined. In order to throw some light upon how the alienation and loneliness, which is the result of modernism, influenced Italy of the Svevo period, who created his fictions and characters in the chaos of the modern world, a diachronic look was made into those years. So as to be able to explain the text that constitutes our subject of study, it has been tried to clarify why Italo Svevo became interested in psychoanalysis and how this interest was reflected in his works of literature. In the last part, the character of Zeno Cosini, who constantly questions life and feels outside the circle of the modern world, has been examined in the light of the information given in the first two parts and in the context of psychoanalytic literary theory.