Language and Metamorphosis in A. S. Byatt’s »Possession«
Language and Metamorphosis in A. S. Byatt’s »Possession«

Summary/Abstract: The study aims to examine the concept of metamorphosis in Byatt’s »Possession« both on structural and on metafigurative level. The parallel mythical, Victorian and postmodern story lines, the recurrent archetypes all make us recognize that the stories and the characters are only figurations, metamorphic variations of a solid structure. On the basis of Solodow’s and Joseph Hillis Miller’s definition I investigate the concept of metamorphosis as a mode of representation, a way of perception and interpretation. Also, starting out from Paul de Man’s theory, I regard language as a carrier of prosopopoeic nature, giving face and voice to the perceived world, but also disfiguring it.

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