POSTMODERN FANTASY IN THE NOVELS THE SI­E­GE OF THE HOLY SAL­VA­TI­ON’S CHURCH AND AT THE LUCKY HAND Cover Image

ПОСТМОДЕРНА ФАНТАСТИКА У РОМАНИМА ОП­СА­ДА ЦР­КВЕ СВЕ­ТОГ СПА­СА И СИТ­НИ­ЧАР­НИ­ЦА „КОД СРЕЋ­НЕ РУ­КЕ“
POSTMODERN FANTASY IN THE NOVELS THE SI­E­GE OF THE HOLY SAL­VA­TI­ON’S CHURCH AND AT THE LUCKY HAND

Author(s): Darka Deretić
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, Serbian Literature
Published by: Матица српска
Keywords: postmodernism; historiographic metafiction; close reading; fantasy

Summary/Abstract: By examining postmodern narrative techniques in Goran Petrović’s prose, we have noticed the presence of complex prose structures: branched and ring-shaped. The structure, which represents a model of concentric circles, is at the heart of the novel At the Lucky Hand. The unusual combination of history and fiction, fairy-tale elements and historical facts, but also the postmodern reworking of historical, literary and mythical narratives gives his novels the character of historiographic metafiction. The technique of focused reading, which enables the transition from one narrative level to another, shapes the structure of the novel At the Lucky Hand, and also represents a type of postmodern fantasy, embodied in the technique of mise en abyme, that is, a novel within a novel. Fantasy is most present in the play with the laws of sleep and time, presented in an alternative alethic narrative. Petrović’s characters often live parallel in dreams and reality and travel through the centuries without interruption. The presence of folklore fantasy is related to intertextual connections with folk tradition, and the presence of hagiographic elements and a special language in the novel The Si­e­ge of the Holy Sal­va­ti­on’s church indicates an intertextual connection with Serbian medieval biographical tradition. Petrović’s prose writing treats history as just one of the narratives that can be reexamined, but also enriched with new readings. In the encounter between history and story, the story takes precedence over history, but also over reality itself. The presence of postmodern fiction allows Petrović’s novels to be read in the context of the theory of possible worlds.

  • Issue Year: 73/2025
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 745-771
  • Page Count: 27
  • Language: Serbian
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