L’Ironie du sort dans L’archipel d’une autre vie d’Andreï Makine
The Irony of Fate in The Archipelago of Another Life by Andreï Makine

Author(s): Ana-Maria Roșca
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, French Literature, Theory of Literature
Published by: Editura Junimea
Keywords: fate; Slavic soul; identity; irony of fate; androgyny; Andrei Makine;
Summary/Abstract: Two cultures hold the reigns in Andrei Makine’s novels – the Russian matrix and the French catalyst. His characters represent Slavic souls which adopt the French mentality. However, L’Archipel d’une autre vie encompasses the almost imperceptible difference between ideologies considering the manner in which those two people refer themselves to the notion of “fate” and, implicitly, to that of “irony of fate”; it is the Russian phrasing of this concept that unravels the mythical aspect in this universe. In Makine’s writings, this “irony of fate” brings wisdom. Pavel Gartsev rejects the life he had planned upon, a life with fears and beliefs, all the while the woman whom could’ve run away plenty of times proofs her never-ending loyalty and waits 10 days for the man she loves. In the end, these two humans don’t exist anymore. Far away from the world, in the archipelago of Shantar Islands, the animus manages to meet again his anima.

• Details
• Contents