The multiplicity of “I”

Date
2012
Authors
Tovic, Irena
Supervisor
Johnson, Mike
Item type
Thesis
Degree name
Master of Creative Writing
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Auckland University of Technology
Abstract

The Rain of the Praying Mantis is an exploration, a journey, into the life of Kataryna who returns to a place which she loves and cherishes, her childhood ‘home’. Milan Kundera states that “[a] novel is a long piece of synthetic prose based on play with invented characters...Ironic essay, novelistic narrative, autobiographical fragment, historic fact, flight of fantasy: The synthetic power of the novel is capable of combining everything into a unified whole like the voices of polyphonic music.” (232) The Rain of the Praying Mantis is fragmented. It consists of pieces from the past, the present day-to-day occurrences, fairytales and the protagonist’s personal reflections. What keeps the fragments all in tune is the common exploration of the meaning of home, belonging, life and identity; all of which are complex and often contradictory notions.

[Note: the novel, The Rain of the Praying Mantis, is embargoed until 31 May 2015]

Description
Keywords
Synthetic prose , Protagonist’s personal reflections
Source
DOI
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