Rola przestrzeni przedstawionej w powieści nowelowej

Abstract

This article focuses on outlining the function of the presented space in the novella novel as an element constituting its coherence. The term “novella novel” (adopted from Krystyna Jakowska and defined by Elke D’hoker) refers to literary works that are generically situated between a coherently composed collection of short stories and a loose novelistic structure. The following works will serve as the material for the analysis: Arlington Park by Rachel Cusk, Hotel World by Ali Smith and Girls and Women by Alice Munro. These pieces are structured and classified differently. The former two are referred to as novels, while the latter one is called by some critics a novel or a hybrid text that can be perceived as a novel. Ultimately, although sometimes used as an element that maintains coherence, the presented space is always meticulously crafted, and it does not appear as quasi-real or geographically located. It is always valorised, metaphorized and ambiguous. Thus, such a common setting is not a “transparent” or “mechanical” element that unifies these stories, but rather one of the many aspects of the process that constitutes coherence of novels constructed in such a way, which remains open to interpretation.