Time and Language in Jon Kalman Sefansson's Work: Literary Discontinuity at the Heart of the Story Cover Image

Temps et langage dans l’œuvre de Jon Kalman Sefansson : la discontinuité littéraire au cœur du récit
Time and Language in Jon Kalman Sefansson's Work: Literary Discontinuity at the Heart of the Story

Author(s): Diane Château Alaberdina
Subject(s): Studies of Literature
Published by: Editura Politehnium
Keywords: time; Iceland; contemporary literature; Jon Kalman Stefansson; discontinuity;

Summary/Abstract: In the novels of the contemporary Icelandic author Jón Kalman Stefánsson, time is no longer linear: it is entirely dedicated to psychology and affects, following existential crises, the poetic and vital impulses of the characters. Labyrinthine, temporality breaks and initiates several different destinies. In this way, Jón Kalman Stefánsson orchestrates a polyphony of time, creating an effect of simultaneity that brings out a wide network of influences: the present depends on what has happened before, illustrating an omnipresent effect of causality. The memory is thus charged with memories that appear and disappear in consciousness.

  • Issue Year: 4/2020
  • Issue No: 7-8
  • Page Range: 82-88
  • Page Count: 7
  • Language: French