Heterochronic Representations of the Fall : Bakhtin, Milton, DeLillo

  • Bakhtin argues that each literary genre codifies a particular world-view which is defined, in part, by its chronotope. That is, the spatial and temporal configurations of each genre determine in large part the kinds of action a fictional character may undertake in that given world (without being iconoclastic, a realist hero cannot slay mythical beasts, and a questing knight cannot philosophize over drinks in a café). Recent extensions of Bakhtin’s theory have sought to define the chronotopes of new and emergent genres such as the road movie, the graphic novel, and hypertext fiction. Others have challenged Bakhtin’s characterization of certain chronotopes, such as those of epic and lyric poetry, arguing that these genres (and their chronotopes) are far more dynamic and dialogic than Bakhtin’s analysis seems at first glance to allow. Rather than taking issue with Bakhtin’s characterization of particular genres here, however, I wish to argue that we should pay closer attention to the heterochrony, or interplay of different chronotopes, in individual texts and their genres. As Bakhtin’s own essay demonstrates, what makes any literary chronotope dynamic is its conflict and interplay with alternative chronotopes and world-views. Heterochrony (raznovremennost) is the spatiotemporal equivalent of linguistic heteroglossia, and if we examine any of Bakhtin’s readings of particular chronotopes closely enough, we will find evidence of heterochronic conflict. This clash of spatiotemporal configurations within a text, or family of texts, provides the ground for the dialogic inter-illumination of opposing world-views.

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Metadaten
Author:Rachel Falconer
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-245595
URL:http://www.oapen.org/xtf/download?type=document&collection=oapen&docid=377572
ISBN:978-90-382-1563-1
Parent Title (English):Bakhtin’s theory of the literary chronotope: reflections, applications, perspectives, Gent : Academia Press, 2010, ISBN : 978-90-382-1563-1 , S. 111-129
Publisher:Academia Press
Place of publication:Gent
Editor:Nele Bemong, Pieter Borghart, Michel De Dobbeleer, Kristoffel Demoen, Koen De Temmerman, Bart Keunen
Document Type:Part of a Book
Language:English
Year of first Publication:2010
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2012/03/28
Tag:Chronotopos
GND Keyword:Bachtin, Michail M.; Engelfall; Erzähltheorie; Milton, John / Paradise lost; DeLillo, Don / Falling man
Page Number:19
First Page:111
Last Page:129
HeBIS-PPN:381154688
Dewey Decimal Classification:8 Literatur / 80 Literatur, Rhetorik, Literaturwissenschaft / 800 Literatur und Rhetorik
Sammlungen:CompaRe | Allgemeine und Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft
BDSL-Klassifikation:03.00.00 Literaturwissenschaft / BDSL-Klassifikation: 03.00.00 Literaturwissenschaft > 03.03.00 Studien
Licence (German):License LogoDeutsches Urheberrecht