The Temptation of Absolute Knowledge Vintilă Horia and the Modern European Novel

This study aims to identify the writer’s specific narrative technique and to situate his literature in a certain typology. We have detailed his doctrine about art and literature, as it is expressed during his career. Literature is seen as a privileged technique of knowledge, the instrument through which the vocation for absoluteness can be best satisfied. In order to emphasize the characteristics of his work, we draw a comparison with the works of some modern known writers, which are united in their conception about literature, the formula of the novel of ideas, as well as Erich Auerbach’s concept of “figural representation”. The best definition for the metaphoric novel, which aims to meditate upon the human existence, is smoothed by remarkable theoretical contribution, marked inside of this study.

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