Modern and Pos tmodern Reinterpretation of Ovid’ s Myths of Metamorphosis in the Novel The Las t World

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Khodaee Narjes

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Journal: CRITICAL LANGUAGE & LITERARY STUDIES Year:2021 | Volume:17 | Issue:25 Page(s): 93-115

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Title

Modern and Pos tmodern Reinterpretation of Ovid’ s Myths of Metamorphosis in the Novel The Las t World

Author(s)

Khodaee Narjes | Issue Writer Certificate

Keywords

mythQ2

receptionQ1

modernQ2

pos tmodernQ2

decayQ1

Abstract

Chris toph Ransmayer’ s novel The Las t World is a successful example of the creative reinterpretation of myths. The novel has a dynamic plot, mixes the his torical sources about the life of the Roman poet Ovid with borrowed motifs from Metamorphoses, and alternates between premodern and modern time levels and worlds. In myth and the his tory of civilization, the author observes the same des tructive forces and phenomena of decay that point to present conditions and future catas trophes. The present essay has examined the peculiar mixture of reception and appropriation of the old myths in Ransmayer’ s The Las t World, as well as their creative reference to the concept of the his torical novel. Besides, the philosophical and social aspects of the work have been discussed to relevant theoretical debates. When examining the content-related and formal aspects of the Las t World, different narrative s trategies could be shown: While the intertextual play with known narrative materials, the variable recoding of mythical symbols and the mixing of various spatial and temporal levels can be unders tood as pos tmodern traits, this novel has different characteris tics characteris tic features that mark a closeness to modern works, especially when the novel in impressive pictures and s tories thematizes the increase in des tructive potentials in cultural his tory or subliminally criticizes the devas tating consequences of ins trumental reason in the present. Research method Although the Las t World brings out the irrational and the fantas tic and shows pos tmodern features, especially in the choice of fabrics and design of the figures, some narrative attitudes and narrative s trategies enable a modern reading of the novel. For this reason, the s tudy of the Las t World deals with theoretical debates that Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno had in relation to the decadence of reason in modern times and which were radically interpreted in pos tmodern thinking and thought through to the end by Jean-Franç ois Lyotard. Also, the author’ s playful handling of known materials is analyzed and, based on Hans Blumenberg’ s anthropological research, interpreted as "work on myth". S tate of research The Las t World was translated into Persian by Mahmmud Haddadi in 1939 but found no adequate echo in the Iranian research literature. The present s tudy refers to a selection of German-language research articles and reviews, for example a comprehensive interpretation by Thomas Epple with the title Chris toph Ransmayr. The Las t World (1992). Besides, Florian Grimm’ s reflections are in Journey into the Pas t. Tendencies of the pos tmodern His torical Novel (2006) as well as some contributions from the anthology The Invention of the World has been included in the analyzes for the work of Chris toph Ransmayr (1997). Conclusion In the Las t World, Ransmayr simulates the juxtaposition of non-simultaneous elements and illus trates the interweaving of myth and logos with narrative techniques. Overall, it conveys a gloomy worldview and shows a world marked by chaos and disintegration, in which the search for meaning has become absurd. Although the characters he portrays waver between des tructive and creative forces, the characters and phenomena that mark a decadent orientation of civilization overgrow in the novel. The novel consis ts of 15 chapters that offer a repertoire of different motifs, characters, and views. The adapted mythical motifs and materials are charged with complex meanings and enable differentiated, both modern and pos tmodern readings and interpretations. In some representations, the figures s tand in a semi-mythical framework and operate unconsciously according to their blind ins tincts, and in other contexts, they are equipped with calculating reason. A man s teers towards calamity and accelerates with every s tep those apocalyptic processes of dissolution, which were announced as threatening chaos in mythical s tories and which have found an aes thetic interpretation in pos tmodern thinking.

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APA: Copy

Khodaee, Narjes. (2021). Modern and Pos tmodern Reinterpretation of Ovid’ s Myths of Metamorphosis in the Novel The Las t World. CRITICAL LANGUAGE & LITERARY STUDIES, 17(25 ), 93-115. SID. https://sid.ir/paper/369247/en

Vancouver: Copy

Khodaee Narjes. Modern and Pos tmodern Reinterpretation of Ovid’ s Myths of Metamorphosis in the Novel The Las t World. CRITICAL LANGUAGE & LITERARY STUDIES[Internet]. 2021;17(25 ):93-115. Available from: https://sid.ir/paper/369247/en

IEEE: Copy

Narjes Khodaee, “Modern and Pos tmodern Reinterpretation of Ovid’ s Myths of Metamorphosis in the Novel The Las t World,” CRITICAL LANGUAGE & LITERARY STUDIES, vol. 17, no. 25 , pp. 93–115, 2021, [Online]. Available: https://sid.ir/paper/369247/en

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