METAMORPHOSIS AS NARRATIVE PRINCIPLE: SPACE, TIME, AND CHARACTER IN TERRY PRATCHETT’S DISCWORLD
METAMORPHOSIS AS NARRATIVE PRINCIPLE: SPACE, TIME, AND CHARACTER IN TERRY PRATCHETT’S DISCWORLD

Summary/Abstract: This paper examines artistic metamorphosis as a constitutive principle of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld cycle and as a defining mechanism of contemporary chimeric prose. Departing from the assumption that Pratchett’s fiction exceeds the boundaries of entertainment fantasy, the study argues that metamorphosis operates on multiple interconnected levels – spatial-temporal organization, character construction, genre configuration, and symbolic semantics – thereby enabling a sustained dialogue with social reality and cultural conventions. Particular attention is paid to the urban chronotope of Ankh-Morpork, whose dynamic, bureaucratized, and cyclically structured temporality functions as a satirical mirror of modernity. The analysis further suggests that character metamorphoses – especially those affecting traditionally mythologized figures such as Death, witches, city guards, dwarfs, trolls – systematically dismantle heroic, patriarchal, and racialized stereotypes through grotesque exaggeration and ethical reorientation. By foregrounding marginal figures as agents of alternative moral and social norms, Pratchett constructs a model of inclusivity that subverts classical fantasy hierarchies. Ultimately, the study positions Pratchett’s chimeric prose as an intellectually rigorous narrative form that mobilizes metamorphosis to cultivate critical reading practices and to reimagine the social and philosophical functions of contemporary fantasy literature.

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