2021-02-24 at 17:58:03
Dmitry Mazalevsky from University of Debrecen
will present Changing the role of paratext in American literature in the second half of the 20th century (based on the novels Pale Fire an
Abstract
The paper examines the shift of the role of paratext in American literature in the second half of the 20th century, based on the novel Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov and House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. The main feature of these novels is the extensive footnotes that become the main element of the narrative. Based on the works of a French literary theorist Gérard Genette, footnotes and endnotes can also be considered as paratext or even as fictional paratext. The paper claims that Nabokov and Danielewski managed to turn a paratext into a fiction text, that is, to create a unique type of novel. The paper explores the evolution of the footnote as a part of a fiction and its gradual shift from a supplementary tool, more prevalent in academia, to an important and paramount element of postmodern literature.
In section
American Literature