András MÉSZÁROS
Changes in the Robinson Paradigm or the Eschatology of Modernity (Slovakia)
Institution:
Head of the Hungarian Department Komensky University, Bratislava
Abstract:
Robinson is one of the archetypes of the modern subject. He also has an eschatologic fate. However, it is not only the permanent redefinition of his subjectivity against his object-appendage that makes him a prototype, but also the form of his time. This raises the eschatological question whether there is mercy for such an individual. Robinson creates his own time in his loneliness and in his relation with nature. The study analyses three literary works dealing with this process, such as the works of D. Defoe, M. Tournier and B. Malamud. The initial optimistic rationalism (Defoe) turns into a merciless irony (Malamud). The new order of life outside the existing order becomes impossible.
