Review article
https://doi.org/10.15291/csi.4318
Communication Between Man and Nature: Body and Emotions in the Novel Pristanište by Darko Šeparović
Paula Rem
orcid.org/0000-0001-9138-7009
; The Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia
Abstract
Pristanište [The Dock] (2020) by Darko Šeparović is an allegorical novel that deals with the relationship between man and nature. The communication problems between the protagonist and his girlfriend mirror the violent and destructive relationships visible in nature, but also in the relationship between man and nature. The text leads the reader to believe that after breaking up the relationship, the protagonist destroys his house (just as excessive exploitation of natural resources destroys the Earth) in order to build a ship (symbolizing industry), but a twist reveals that the protagonist did not really destroy his home but wrote a novel. The metatextual ending shows a departure from destructive communicative tendencies. This engaging ecological novel uses a Hindu-Buddhist cyclical structure but relies on a Judeo-Christian perspective on technological progress as a positive civilizational shift with the imperative to “preserve and maintain” the environment. Communication in the novel takes place on several levels: between man and woman, man and nature, nature and industry. The aim of this work is to analyze the processes of interaction in the novel with a focus on the relationship between the human body and nature and to contextualize the novel in terms of civilization. As a result of emotional states, the subject’s body is transformed and brought into interaction with nature. Everything in the novel exists in pairs: he and she, wood and sea, civilization and nature – there is always a sender (communicator) and receiver (recipient). Communication in the novel represents any interactive relationship that contains action and reaction. The work will focus on thematic points related to ecology, the attitude towards industrialization, as well as identify Judeo-Christian and Hindu-Buddhist elements.
Keywords
emotions in literature; communication between man and nature; communication in literature; communicological analysis of the novel; the body as a primary medium
Hrčak ID:
312383
URI
Publication date:
28.12.2023.
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