Abstract

"Fame," observes Elias Canetti, "wants to hang from the stars because they are so far removed . . ."1 What the seeker after fame finds attractive in the prospect of hanging from the stars are the conditions of distance and elevation, which promise security in the form of detachment and abstraction from the world below. We find in Canetti's image of the fame-seeking sensibility not two conflicting desires (for the renown conferred upon successful risk-takers and the safety secured through abstention from risk) co-existing within the confines of an outsized temperament, but a single-minded need for safety from the threats of dissolution and oblivion. So imperative is this need that the fame seeker does not ..