Afazja i teriomorfizm. Doświadczanie melancholii w powieści Vincenza Consolo: Nottetempo, casa per casa
Aphasia and theriomorphism. The experience of melancholy in the novel by Vinzenco Consolo: Nottetempo, casa per casa

Author(s): Aneta Chmiel
Subject(s): Studies of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Summary/Abstract: The characters of Vincenzo Consolo’s Nottetempo, casa per casa suffer from a sickness of the soul. A dysfunctional dualism of body and soul is made manifest first and foremost in the stories of two protagonists — old Marano, and Janu, the shepherd. The former, is infamous as a lycanthrope, the latter, plays the role of the billy‑goat (a leader of the herd). These two representations of mental disorders — a lycanthrope and a billy‑goat — become, on the one hand, symbols of the Sicilian rural community withering away, and, on the other hand, function as a metaphor for a melancholic poet, his suffering and alienation. Consolo draws the reader’s attention to the corporeality of the text itself and to the link between physicality and creativity: the rhythm of the body turns into the rhythm of his narration. Thus understood somatic‑ness, requires a novel approach to both, a human being and literature. Importantly, the author also believes in raising historical awareness through literature — against the achrony imposed by the ruling powers — especially when it comes to avoiding tragedies similar to those which happened in the course of the 20th century.

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