The terrible within the peaceful: Christoph Ransmayr’ s Morbus Kitahara

Strany: 104 - 116

Jazyk: eng

Christoph Ransmayr’s Morbus Kitahara (1995; translated as The Dog King, 1997) tells the story of deconstruction, destruction, and despair in a world of eternal peace. The three protagonists Ambras, Bering, and Lily move through a post-apocalyptic landscape where they are constantly reminded of an unnamed past catastrophe and a past war. Despite their attempts to leave their generational guilt behind, the darkness of history catches up with them. This article analyzes how the novel addresses the protagonist’s mental and corporeal struggle for survival alongside its gloomy outlook on the prospect of globally enforced eternal peace. However, eternal peace is an ambigous concept and refers to a narrative of oppression in a post-apocalyptic world.

ISO 690:

Mühlböck, M. 2024. The terrible within the peaceful: Christoph Ransmayr’ s Morbus Kitahara. In World Literature Studies, vol. 16, no.4, pp. 104-116. 1337-9275. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31577/WLS.2024.16.4.8

APA:

Mühlböck, M. (2024). The terrible within the peaceful: Christoph Ransmayr’ s Morbus Kitahara. World Literature Studies, 16(4), 104-116. 1337-9275. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31577/WLS.2024.16.4.8

Vydavateľ: Ústav svetovej literatúry SAV, v. v. i.