VOL. 61, BOOK 1, PART C, 2023, pp. 103 – 110 Full text (En)
Author: Maria Pipeva
Affiliation: St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia
Abstract
The paper discusses some thematic, narrative and stylistic parallels between Ali Smith’s Autumn (2016) and Georgi Gospodinov’s Time Shelter (2020) – two notable recent novels engaged in apprehending the personal and political crises of the present through the problematization of our involvement with memory and the past. The central analytical tools are those of “restorative vs. reflective nostalgia” (Svetlana Boym, 2001) and “cruel nostalgia” (Robert Eaglestone, 2018). These concepts contribute to a deeper understanding of the highly ambivalent attitudes to memory and the past shared by the two novels.
Key words: Ali Smith, Georgi Gospodinov, memory, nostalgia, nationalism
