The present thesis addresses the question on the line between erotic and pornographic literature. Using a theoretical framework, it looks at the development of romance, erotic, and pornographic literatures. Further on, the thesis explains the origin and development of the historical and the crime novel genre. All of these, though in hybrid forms, appear in novels Parallel Stories by Péter Nádas and Landscape No. 2 by Vinko Möderndorfer. In their works,both authors created a hybrid genre of a historical crime novel, while also addressing themes of eroticism, love, social criticism and war. Using intimate stories of characters and eroticism, the writers enable the reader to learn about the characters psyche, which is revealed during sexual acts. The scenes are stripped of romantic love, while physicality is depicted as a human need, without emotional resonances, in both heterosexual and homosexual relationships. The souls of characters speak through mere physicality. The writers thus walk on the fine line between eroticism and pornography but stay in the lane of erotic literature due to the use of a higher language register, elevated expressions, and indirect descriptions of physicality or avoidance of vulgarity. The final findings show that the line between erotic and pornographic literature depends on each individual reader’s interpretation, but storylines of the two historical-crime novels would not function as concretely and thoroughly had they not been supported by erotic scenes.
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