The Theme Of Exile In The Novels Studied By Students During High School

Abstract

The exile has become a topic which managed to catch the attention of many people in the past few centuries because it explores the multiple ways in which a person can change his/ her life perceptions during the process of displacement from one place to another. Recently, the theme of exile has been discussed and studied over Romanian, English or Universal literature lessons, school subjects which are taught during high school, and it succeeded in receiving positive feedback from the students. This situation proves that the topic is still current. This article focuses on the effects which the exile inflicts upon the characters from The Ministry of Pain and The Museum of Unconditional Surrender, novels which are discussed during the Universal literature lessons and which were written by an European writer, Dubravka Ugresič. Their way of perceiving life changes in the moment they have lost contact with Yugoslavia because they feel that they do not belong anywhere. In both her novels, the author manages to create a special bond between the characters and their homeland which proves to be essential for the exiles. In this process of adapting to an unknown space, the characters think that they have lost their identity and the memories which bring nostalgy represent the last threads of connection with their homeland.