AN INTERPRETATION OF LlTERARY EXCERPTS FROM THE NOVEL IN ARNO GEIGER’S “DER ALTE KÖNIG IN SEINEM EXIL”

Abstract

In this study, intertextuality and its application, commonly found in postmodern literary works, were aimed to be interpreted through analysing the quotations in the novel Der alte König in seinem Exil by Arno Geiger. Arno Geiger, one of the Australian young generation writers of today, has managed to be one of the most popular writers of Australian literature. It was found that the things to be explained were supported through the quotations selected and mounted by the writer about the topic. A lot of quotations present in the novel, inspired by the biography of Geiger, refer to the understanding of the problems faced by his father in the process of his Alzheimer’s disease and alienation between father and son. In order to stress the novel topic, the writer makes some reference by taking quotations from genres such as proverbs, idioms, and lyrics from literary works of various famous writers from Kafka, known not only in German literature but also in world literature history, to Tolstoy; from Mozart to Shakespeare. The father August Geiger, who witnessed World War Two, took part in eastern front at the age of eighteen and got captured in war, was both fighting against his illness and enjoying the joy of living, which gave clues about the psychological state he was in. The problems in the time of war that were very influential in the life of the father caused him not to leave the country again and the deadly illness forced him to exile into his own inner world. One of the main aims of our study is to introduce the literary work and the writer by analysing the quotations and content of Der alte König in seinem Exil by Arno Geiger, which hasn been newly translated into Turkish yet.

Keywords

• Arno Geiger
• Austria Literature
• Intertextuality
• Quotations