The Poetics of Transitory Spaces in the Margaret Island Episode of Péter Nádas’ Parallel Stories

Abstract

The paper examines the spatial poetics and the spatial metaphorisation of the novel’s narrative thread that takes place on Margaret Island. In the analysis, I argue that the motif of in-betweenness appears not only in the geographical positioning of the island but also in several further details of the spatial representation, which carries metaphorical meanings in terms of character representation. I scrutinize the motifs of transitory spaces at different stages of Kristóf’s route on the island: firstly, I look at the meanings of the path, then at the ambiguous spatial elements appearing at the urinal, and finally I examine the metaphorical meanings of the bridge.