Дискусия върху романа "Времеубежище"

The article describes the philosophical problem in the novel "Time Shelter" by Georgi Gospodinov, in relation to the literary techniques through which it is realized. The claim is that the novel has an exceptionally strong philosophical concept, offering a dystopian transformation of the contemporary regime of time - presentism. However, in its literary realization, the narrative style deprives the dystopia of its radicalism.

By focusing on the communicative strategy of G. Gospodinov’s “Time Shelter”, the paper aims to identify some of the reasons for the success of the novel in a non-Bulgarian environment. The focus is also on the image of Bulgaria that “Time Shelter” builds; in relation to this image, the paper considers concepts such as “pamphlet” and “feuilleton” from a functional perspective.

The paper interprets the critical (and readers’) success of Georgi Gospodinov's novel “Time Selter”, linking it to the potential crisis of contemporary liberal consciousness. Richard Rorty's concept in his book “Chance, Irony, and Solidarity” (1989) is used as a theoretical approach to defining liberal cultural consciousness. The article analyses the asymmetry in the representation of private self-creation and the construction of collective forms of identity. The main focus is on the workings of memory and the different modes in which the past functions in the construction of private and collective identity.

In Albena Hranova’s “Statements on “Time Shelter” the thesis statements are rather questions to the flexible but vague ideography of Georgi Gospodinov's novel “Time Shelter”: the new status of personal history in the author's writing; the relationship between the material items and verbal stories; the transition from early-romantic to late-romantic characterology in Gaustin; the relationship between memory and the past in the modes of the individual and in the actions of societies; and the presence of “lyrical” arguments in the armature of this dystopia.

The text offers a departure from the dominant paradigm of critical interpretation of “Time Shelter”, related to the political and philosophical ideas in the novel and the author's strategy. Observations are directed at genre constructions and narrative structures that can be connected to G. Gospodinov's novel. Some of them, perceived as prestigious, are explicitly stated in the text of the work; others remain in the shadows.

The novel “Time Shelter”, by Georgi Gospodinov, parodies both the ideological arsenal of communism and that of nationalism, with their symbolic dates, kitsch, and material legacy. It made me think about what and how I was trying to convey them through my translation: much more than "culture" that is transmitted through education, whether in the family, at school, or in society, and which is, therefore, more or less consciously assimilated, it concerns the imaginary on which ideologies rest, since the imaginary contains many emotions, irrational and unconscious things. Yet the notion of “imaginary” has been surprisingly rare and belatedly included in critical reflection on translation, even though philosophy, linguistics, anthropology, and literature have been interested in it since the mid-twentieth century. In this paper I seek to answer the question: is the power of the imaginary translatable in “Time Shelter”?

The text is both analytical and reminiscent reflection of the author on the genesis and then the reception of his novel, Time Shelter (2020). He focuses on his research in the field of memory loss diseases and their treatment and his delving into the traumatic past of 20th century that crystallized especially in one day: 1st September 1939 when everyday life became history. Among the various reactions after the publication of the novel, he focuses on two academic discussions: a theosophical one in the frame of Biblico Festival (Vicenza, Italy), and another one on memory loss and personal stories organized by the Department of Psychology, Bologna University. He also examines (not without a certain sense of humor) the effect of being awarded with the International Booker Prize 2023 for Time Shelter. In an ironic key, the title of the text is an allusion to M. Houellebecq’s title ‘Extension du domaine de la lutte’ (translated in English as ‘Whatever’).

Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov – Translations and Critical Response. Initial Bibliography