THE BRIDGE. A MYTHICAL LITERARY CONSTRUCTION
THE BRIDGE. A MYTHICAL LITERARY CONSTRUCTION

Summary/Abstract: The Southeast European literature often involves the motif of the bridge, a construction with mythical values. The legend of the master builder Manole and characters embodying water fairies reflected in the literary creation are shaping the portrait of the Southeast European man. On the one hand, witnessing the often ruthless history, the influence of several ruling empires, conserving the popular beliefs on the other, the Albanian author Ismail Kadare majestically captures this ambivalence in his works. Starting from the premise that in the novel The Three-Arched Bridge coexist two discourses, one historical, based on events happened in reality, and another mythical, imbued with superstitions, myths and popular beliefs, this paper illustrates the mechanism of mythification, demythification and remythification the author adopts in his successful attempt to convey further than a story about building a bridge. The first part draws attention upon the mythification in Southeast European literary works and analyzes elements of the two types of discourse enunciated, both dependent on the mythical construction, the bridge. The second part capitalizes the motif of the sacrifice. Mentioned aspects bring to the foreground the economic purpose that the bridge’s remythification implies.

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