Ars & Humanitas (Oct 2024)
Metamorphosis of Otherness and the Contemporary Slovenian Novel
Abstract
The metamorphosis of otherness occurs under the influence of postmodern ethics and the changed perspective of the world even in contemporary novels. Therefore, I analyzed and interpreted this phenomenon in three contemporary novels: in the Slovenian novels Starec in jaz (TheOld Man and Me) (2017) by Sarival Sosič and Po celi ravnini pod nebom (Across the Whole Plain Under the Sky) (2022) by Jana Putrle Srdić, and in the Cuban novel Silencios (Tišine) (1999) by Karla Suarez. When explaining and connecting the concept of the Other and otherness, I relied on the understanding of the binary structure Absolute/Other, building on Nietzsche’s theory about the Apollonian and Dionysian poles of the once harmonious binary union. In the analyzed contemporary (Slovenian) novels, a new multi-perspective emerges, which, influenced by postmodern dynamics, bends and relativizes any binary entities. The analysis of the metamorphosis of otherness revealed that observed building blocks of binary motives (harmony/disharmony, Apollonian/Dionysian, culture/nature, heterosexuality/homosexuality) shake off established value signs by exposing their variability. The evolving attitude towards the entity of the Other, which no longer sees the world as a hierarchically arranged monolith, brings a multi-layeredness to contemporary novels both in terms of narrative and content. In the analyzed narratives, this is reflected in: the need for deeper literary empathy and tender narration; fusing of narrative perspectives and voices; the feeling of otherness towards both extreme spectral poles; longing for existential harmony or lost integrity; the representation of art as the last solid entity; constantly oscillating between the desire to withdraw and actively deal with the world, and the feeling of loneliness and the desire for solitude; the extension of binaries into modern triads. In the two Slovenian novels, the fluidity of sexual identity also comes to the fore, giving voice to forms of sexuality still unarticulated in Slovenian literature.
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