TRIBUSONOV SANATORIJ ILI SAN DOKONIH
TRIBUSON’S SANATORIUM, OR, THE DREAM OF THE IDLE

Summary/Abstract: This work interprets Tribuson’s novel Sanatorium as a part of Croatian fantastic literature. The introduction briefly discusses Tribuson’s most important works and notes that he is a typical representative of writers who were under the influence of Borges. In this study of Sanatorium, characters and their actions are analysed, as are the unusual motives that appear in this work. The analysis of the novel is based on the theoretical framework of fantastic literature which was proposed by Tzvetan Todorov. Valent Livadić is the main character who will, in his quest for a sanatorium, take us to unusual parts of Slavonija where the landscape keeps on repeating itself. While looking for a sanatorium, Valent Livadić arrives at a motel where the atmosphere a bit dream-like and this is where he meets a whole range of unusual characters. This work also notes the fantastical elements in the novel, which include eliminating the limits between substance and spirit, identifying with other people, eliminating the limits between subject and object, miraculous motifs, optical illusions and hallucinations. The ambiguity of the novel, which blurs the limits between reality, dream and death, is emphasized.

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