Simultaneous Past and Present in The Sea / Passado e Presente Simultâneos em The Sea

Abstract

Abstract: Time is complex in Banville’s novels in that they constantly feature tense switching, chronological confusion, and characters who are always casting a look back to the past for an escape from the present. In The Sea, Banville’s experimentation with tenses reflects his conception of time, particularly, the complex relationship between past and present. Part one of this article, focusing on Max’s childhood memory, examines how the blurring of the past and present selves, resulting from frequent tense switching and the notable use of the historical present, destabilizes the temporal gap between the narrator and the narrated within retrospective narration. Part two, concerning Max’s present, proposes to compare the portrayal of the present-day Cedars in the two parts of the novel, and proves the present to be elusive since Max’s experience is not contemporaneous with the time of narration. Drawing on Max’s various experiences of an alternative space, part three proceeds to argue that Max’s entire act of narration constructs a similar alternative space where past and present are engendered simultaneously. The dubious existence of the self in this alternative space suggests a defiance against the deictic center as I- herenow. Resumo: O tempo e complexo nos romances de Banville, pois constantemente apresentam mudanca de tempos verbais, confusao cronologica e personagens que estao sempre lancando um olhar para o passado para uma fugir do presente. Em O Mar, a experimentacao de Banville com tempos verbais reflete sua concepcao de tempo,  particularmente a complexa relacao entre passado e presente. A primeira parte deste artigo, ao enfocar a memoria infantil de Max, examina como o embacamento entre os “eus” do passado e do presente, como resultado da troca frequente de tempos verbais e do uso notavel do presente historico, desestabiliza a lacuna temporal entre o narrador e o narrado na narracao retrospectiva. A segunda parte, referente ao presente de Max, propoe comparar o retrato da familia atual, os Cedars, nas duas partes do romance e provar que o presente e ilusorio, pois a experiencia de Max nao e contemporânea ao tempo da narracao. Com base nas varias experiencias de Max de um espaco alternativo, a terceira parte argumenta que todo o ato de narracao de Max constroi um espaco alternativo semelhante, onde passado e presente sao gerados simultaneamente. A existencia duvidosa do eu neste espaco alternativo sugere um desafio contra o centro deitico como eu-aqui-agora.