Prostředky vyjádření nejistoty v prozaickém díle Jáchyma Topola
Expressing incertitude in Jáchym Topol’s fictions

Summary/Abstract: The paper aims to analyse the means for achieving uncertainty in Jáchym Topol’s fictions. Uncertainty can be the result of a chosen type of character (whose motivations are not presented to the reader), unstable boundary between fictional reality and illusion, utilization of dreams and hallucinations, and the lack of information in general. In texts with child narrators (Chladnou zemí may be regarded as a valid example, since its narrator shows signs of immaturity) uncertainty is mainly the result of a vast amount of conflicting information and indistinct functioning of a variety of objects which are crucial for plot development. The uncertainty means employed can be categorized using different criteria: whether they are used on explicit or implicit level of a text; whether they are used in the gaps; the acuteness with which the fiction text encourages explicit semantic determination in the reading process. Whatever the criteria, it can be argued that the author does not provide reliable clues to determine which of the offered explanations should be the “right” one. This is further complicated by the issue of narrator’s unreliability and the central role narration plays in Topol’s fiction.

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