Man – City – Universe: The City between Identity and Strangeness in Some Central European Novels of the Second Half of the 20th Century

Tereza Knotová

Abstract


The article deals with two aspects of spatiality given by the theory of the relationship between the microcosm and the macrocosm: the encounter with oneself as a way of forming one’s identity, as well as the encounter with the stranger as a necessity to know the world. The example of several Central European novels of the second half of the 20th century shows that identity shapes home. Strangeness, on the other hand, acts as a moment of melancholy that reshapes the face of the city and reveals the presence of death and infinity.


Keywords


space; city; melancholy; identity; Central European novel

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/ff.2023.41.1.87-96
Date of publication: 2023-10-25 14:22:15
Date of submission: 2023-02-28 23:22:24


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