In the following Bachelor’s thesis, Cankar’s novel The Ward of Mary Help of Christians (Hiša Marije Pomočnice, 1904) and Hauptmann’s play The Ascension of Hannele (Hanneles Himmelfahrt, 1893) are discussed in the context of their representation of characters from the margins of society, and researched from the aspect of the narrative empathy theory, one of the newest approaches to the research of literature in postclassical narratology. The theoretical part includes an outline of both authors’ creative interest in individuals from socially marginalised groups, as well as a comparison of both works on the basis of their key themes and ideas, followed by the presentation of the theoretical framework needed for the second part of the thesis, namely the context of previous academic approaches to the relationship between literature and empathy, as well as an overview of the theory of narrative empathy and its methodology.
The analytical part of the thesis discusses the potential for the author’s and the reader’s empathy in the novel and play. The author’s potential for empathy is explored through autobiographical elements – particularly relevant in regard to Cankar’s novel –, the hypothesis of a higher level of empathy, and the aesthetics of production, while the study of readers’ empathy is based on the analysis of the narrative situation (focalisation and narrator) in the novel, and on characterisation of the protagonist in the play.
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