Orizonturi uroborice ale istoriei în proza lui Walter Übelhart
Uroboric Horizons of History in the Prose of Walter Übelhart

Summary/Abstract: In his historically inspired novel Outside the Circle, Walter Übelhart offers a profound meditation on the human condition and an objective, impartial (yet at the same time relatively subjective) perspective on historical events that the author—having not witnessed them firsthand—recounts in a historiographical and fictionalized manner without distorting them. The author is determined to step outside his comfort zone because, as he writes, “when you are in the midst of an event, you cannot judge things objectively unless you step back and view them as a whole.” Stepping back requires courage, since “man’s greatest enemy is fear. And fear is also a circle,” a self-imposed form of captivity. From this perspective, the writer relies on the contextually variable meanings of the puppet-show expression “outside the circle,” offering the reader the freedom to interpret it and apply it according to their own horizon of expectations. This hermeneutic freedom is rooted in the very thematic hierarchy of the book: centered on the central motif Fugit irreparabile tempus, the secondary theme—seen as a direct consequence—of the continuous search for the recipe for eternal life and the philosopher’s stone is grafted onto it, followed by tertiary ramifications, including the refusal to remain a prisoner of the psychological circle. The narrative structure, built around the complex symbolism of the circle, is enhanced by the multifaceted nature of the title, Outside the Circle, which serves as the keystone for a textual architecture structured across layers of literal, figurative, and conceptual meaning. The tension between the relentless flow of time and eternity is resolved by stepping outside of time. This leitmotif of the novel illustrates the trap and fascination of cyclical time, in which the mesmerizing pendulum “stood motionless, representing [...] the stopping of time.” Chronological suspension becomes the text’s objective: whether the characters are historical, fictional, or contemporaries of the writer, they are all driven by the same eager desire to enter the circle of the initiated and to escape the confines of everyday life.

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