The Residual Forms in Contemporary Central European Literature
The Residual Forms in Contemporary Central European Literature
Two Case Studies: Bohumil Hrabal and Ádám Bodor
Author(s): George Alexandru CondracheSubject(s): Studies of Literature
Published by: Universitatea Babeş-Bolyai
Keywords: Organic Residual; Inorganic Residual; Topos; Impure; Central European Literature
Summary/Abstract: It goes saying that the residual implies many symbolical interpretations and can generate numerous topics that increase its level of abstractness. However, the same term implies a concrete interpretation that might be marginalized by literary critics and literary theorists. As an attempt to stress the importance of the term in literature and, as a consequence, in literary studies, this article signals a specific literary context in which the residual, in its most concrete features - excrements, vomit and other residuals of the body, garbage -, becomes a topos. I will point out several situations within post-war Central European literature in which this topos exists. As part of this endeavor, I will offer a theoretical profile of this topos and I will analyze several specific literary exemples, such as the novel Too Loud a Solitude and the novel The Archbishop's Visit.
Journal: Caietele Echinox
- Issue Year: 2017
- Issue No: 33
- Page Range: 99-112
- Page Count: 14
- Language: English
- Content File-PDF