Eksistencialna ujetost zahodnjaka v sodobnih romanih Die kommenden Jahre Norberta Gstreina in Podreditev Michela Houellebecqa

Stamejčič, Ines (author), Matajc, Vanesa (mentor)

Leta 2015 je v Evropi izbruhnila t.i. begunska kriza, ki je spodbudila nastanek številnih literarnih del. Vendar so ob vseh delih, ki se s to problematiko ukvarjajo neposredno, nastala tudi dela, ki jo imajo za izhodišče in podlago, na kateri se izriše in izostri druga kriza, in sicer duhovna kriza Evrope in evropskega posameznika, ki se v duhamorni zahodnjaški realnosti brez vera in smisla počuti eksistencialno ujetega. Takšni deli sta v pričujočem diplomskem delu obravnavana romana Podreditev (Soumisson) Michela Houellebecqa in Die kommenden Jahre Norberta Gstreina. Prvo delo je izšlo leta 2015, drugo pa leta 2018. V obeh se srečamo s samotarskim, naveličanim in povsem pasivnim protagonistom, popolnim antijunakom, ki v prvi osebi distancirano popisuje dogajanje, išče nekakšno osmišljenje, skozi delo pa pravzaprav ne doživi nikakršnega razvoja, kot je navadno značilno za romaneskni lik, temveč obstane na točki čiste resignacije.

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: literatura in družba, avstrijska književnost, Norbert Gstrein: Die kommenden Jahre, francoska književnost, Michel Houellebecq: Podreditev, duhovna kriza, antijunak v sodobnem romanu
• Work type: Bachelor thesis/paper
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Year: 2020
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-121093
• Publication date in RUL: 30.09.2020

Secondary language

• Language: English
• Title: Existential entrapment of a Westerner in modern novels Die kommenden Jahre by Norbert Gstrein and Soumission by Michel Houellebecq

Abstract

In 2015 the refugee crisis erupted in Europe and its effects can also be seen in literary works created in this time. Some works tackle the refugee crisis problematic directly, while others use it as a basis on which they present other issues, such as the crisis of Europe and the European individual, who feels existentially stuck and trapped in his tortured, dull western reality. Two such works are Submission (Soumisson) by Michel Houellebecq and Die kommenden Jahre by Norbert Gstrein and these are the novels I discuss in this thesis. First novel was published in 2015 and the latter in 2018. The protagonists in both novels are lifeless loners and perfect examples of the antihero. They tell their stories from the first-person point of view but are still distanced from their surroundings. They struggle to find meaning and lack any character development which would be expected from a novel protagonist but are instead stuck at a point of resignation.

• Keywords: literature and society, Austrian literature, Norbert Gstrein: Die kommenden Jahre, French literature, Michel Houellebecq: Soumisson, spiritual crisis, antihero in contemporary novel