A Conceptual Mnemotope of Osijek in Jasna Horvat's "Bizarij"

Abstract

The novel Bizarij (2009) preserves the cultural memory of the town of Osijek, while recycling faction through fiction just as the author has done in her other novels (Az, Auron, Vilikon) We approach the novel as a post-OULIPO (Ouvroir de littérature potentielle) narrative that shapes a conceptual romanesque structure, primarily as grammatical code for subordinate conjunctions and their dependent and independent clauses in the Croatian language Apart from the grammatical code for the structure of the novel and its conceptualization, as well as its 15 chapters, the novel provides important ties between the narrators and the characters, and their elaborate distribution A key figure is the phantasmagorical character of Isabella von Habsburg, functioning as the novel’s recurrent theme, but also a Lacanian-like point de capiton The conceptualization of the romanesque structure is also achieved by a further elaboration of the symmetry motif, used at several discourse layers in various ways The symmetry exists in the distribution of the narrators’ voices, as a key order of narration The novel has 15 different narrators, and particular importance is given to the interconnection between the characters and the narrators as well as their ties to the socio-historic periods they belong to It is the very order of the characters and/or narrators through different criteria – gender, the historic period, their profession, and their ethnicity – that gives the convincing and credible multi-layered cultural memory of the town of Osijek At the same time, it deconstructs some established notions and prejudices, and yet builds new, possible ways of perceiving the town or its history A distinct, narrative set of methods characteristic for a scientific, lexicographical discourse type additionally proves our ‘reading’ of Osijek as a cultural mnemotope.