Monstruozni identitet tela u romanu Vreme čuda Borislava Pekića

Abstract

The main intention of the paper is the interpretation of Borislav Pekić’s novel The Time of Miracles as a “form of teratological discovery” (M. H. Huet, Monstrous Imagination, 1993). In other words, we will point out various manifestations of bodily monstrosities, as well as the relationship to the body as such. Based on the deformity of body limbs, we will try to reconsider the representations of the bodies of Pekić’s characters. Deviant body monstrosities constitute the monstrous identity of the body, which will be connected with aspects of the grotesque. This would mean that, based on the interpretation of the grotesque dimensions of the body, we will point to the bodily aspects of monstrosity in the novel. By emphasizing body deviations, which in themselves are a sign of discontinuity and imbalance in the structure of nature as such, the human anatomy of the characters will be explained based on the anatomy of monstrous beings through the (de)mystification of corporeality.