The Trickster Hero in M. Frisch’s Novel My Name Be Gantenbein

The article offers an interpretation and analysis of the novel My Name Be Gantenbein, allowing to find an explanation to the genre uncertainty of the work of the Swiss writer M. Frisch. Due to the non-linear stylistics of the narrative, the image of Gantenbein eludes an unambiguous classification in...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ivan V. Kuzin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences 2021-06-01
Series:Studia Litterarum
Subjects:
Online Access:http://studlit.ru/images/2021-6-2/Kuzin.pdf
Description
Summary:The article offers an interpretation and analysis of the novel My Name Be Gantenbein, allowing to find an explanation to the genre uncertainty of the work of the Swiss writer M. Frisch. Due to the non-linear stylistics of the narrative, the image of Gantenbein eludes an unambiguous classification in terms of moral and ethical problematics lying on the surface. The hero of the novel turns into a methodological principle that clarifies the fundamental existences of life. In classical tradition, these included the concepts of freedom and law, truth and lies, truth and deception, game and life. The complicated plot makes Gantenbein a functional representative of both freedom and blind law. They create semantic space of self-organizing life. As a result, the character is endowed with properties of a trickster, because he accepts the complexity of such a life at the level of his existence. The investigation reveals that the game, roles and masks create the ideological basis of the story. This framework directs the reader to perceive life in its everyday manifestations, contributing to the development of an antidote to escapism.
ISSN:2500-4247
2541-8564