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Pathos
Definition of Setting
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or it can be an imagined... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the... read full definition
Setting
Explanation and Analysis:
The setting of Part I of Man's Search for Meaning—the memoir portion—is the Nazi concentration camps during WWII.
In particular, Frankl names camps such as Auschwitz (located in Poland) and Dachau (located in Germany) as the sites of certain encounters throughout his narration, and he describes traveling between camps as well. The events of Part I occur between 1942 and 1945, the duration of Frankl’s imprisonment. These dates in Frankl’s life often correspond with wider historical events, such as the American liberation of the concentration camps in 1945.
However, the nonlinear narrative across Part I shows that Frankl is speaking of his experiences at a later time—that is, the period from which Frankl narrates is different than the setting of the story he tells in Part I. The reason he narrates from a later period is to use his memories for reflection: through Frankl’s active retelling of his past experiences alongside the other prisoners, he introduces the historical and personal context that underpins his psychotherapeutic doctrine.
Across both Parts I and II of the book, Frankl the narrator’s setting is from a later time and place than the memories he revisits. Man’s Search for Meaning includes glimpses into the retroactive nature of Frankl’s reflections: for example, later times and places occasionally make appearances throughout the memoir, including his office in Vienna and his lectures into the 1980s.
