Vol.3, No 1, 2004 pp. 97 - 109
UDC 82.0/82.09
MEMORY AND PLACE IN MICHAEL ONDAATJE'S
RUNNING IN THE FAMILY
Milica Živković
Faculty of Philosophy, Niš, Serbia and Montenegro
More concerned with the nature of meaning than with the definitional literary
function of finding meaning, postmodern criticism usually does not reward
the reader with new and fresh insights or perspectives into the ways of
questioning and repudiation of dogmatic thought which it proclaims as its
highest goal. Instead, critical interpretations seem to reiterate the well
known premises on which postmodern theory rests: there can be no true or
fixed identity, there is no origin or original, no singular author, no
ultimate knowledge, and representation is no longer a matter of veracity
or accuracy. Notions of truth and authenticity are outdated. And
yet, within certain discourses (multicultural writing is one of them) there
is a need for affirmation of self and origin, there is an integrity in
authenticity. There is a desire to strengthen one's identity through the
act of writing and reading, and lived experience plays an integral role
in this. This essay is about this kind of literature whose theme is not
the process of dispersal of the self into a number of subject positions
but the transformation of the subject back into the individual. The emphasis
that Ondaatje places on the importance of particularity, individual life
and imagination as moral force shows that he has no interest in dismantling
his identity but instead wants to confirm it, albeit in its hyphenated
form.
SEĆANJE I MESTO - MAJKL ANDAČI
"TO NAM JE U PORODICI"
Rad polazi od činjenice da postmoderna teorija i kritika nameću danas dominantne
konceptualne okvire. Drugačije interpretacije književnog dela, one koje
se ne kreću u okvirima poznatih postmodernih diskursa ili izražavaju ideje
suprotne proklamovanim postmodernim postavkama se uglavnom diskvalifikuju
kao teorijski neutemeljena i nedovoljno sofisticirana tumačenja. S druge
strane, postmoderna tumačenja, podvrgnuta pažljivoj analizi, ne pručaju
vredne uvide i nova saznanja, već se uglavnom bave formalističkim analizama
teksta svodeći ga na zbir tehnika i književnih sredstava koja, tobože,
izražavaju specifičan postmoderni pogled na svet. Ključne ideje postmodernizma,
opšte prihvaćen aksiom o "smrti autora" i sa njim blisko povezana ideja
o "ukidanju" identiteta, to jest, nepostojanju koherentne ličnosti, je
suprotna samoj ideji književnosti i njenoj osnovnoj funkciji ali je, kao
što ovaj rad želi da pokaže, suprotna i onoj književnosti (etničkoj i multikulturološkoj)
koja za svoju temu uzima upravo suprotan proces - proces transformacije
subjekta u ličnost.
