In a comparative analysis of modernist novels The Nights of the Wolves (Volčje noči) by Vlado Žabot and The Castle by Franz Kafka, the most similarities emerged at the level of the bearing and suffering anti-heroes, the chronotope (a remote village in winter), the internal structure (imagery, motifs, leitmotifs, symbols), and the unbearably anxious atmosphere. The essential difference between the two books is that the mental integrity and even the very existence of the protagonist of The Nights of the Wolves is threatened by the dramatically exacerbated parallel world of Slavic superstition (superstitious beliefs, customs, habits, and traditions), while the central literary figure of The Castle is confronted with absurd (castle) legislation. The Slovenian and the world novelist have each treated the universalistic, ever-present themes of life offering various interpretive possibilities, in their own creative way, shaped by their personal linguistic style.
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