A Woman’s Body in the Novel the Bridge by Writer Jasmina Musabegović

Abstract

The subject of research and analysis in this paper is how the female body was represented in the novel The Bridge written by Jasmina Musabegović. The novel The Bridge was published in 1994. and represents a kind of sequel to the novel Switches from 1986 and a connection with the novel Women. The voice from 2005. Metaphorically and literally this novel represents the connection between the two novels, in fact, a transitional narrative about the maturation and growing up of the main protagonist who, during her stay in a sanatorium, realizes changes in her own body and enters puberty and becomes the body of a women. At the same time, there is a process of identification with the mother and other women who play an important role in the life of the storyteller and who represent a connection during transitions from one stage of life to another. The body as a place in on which meanings are inscribed, becomes the reason for external and internal changes through which the girl who narrates experiences. Because of the sick body, she went to the sanatorium, the biological maturation of the body causes understanding and identification with the mother and sisters, only to remember performative repetition and observation of movements towards and over the bridge, rhythmic combing, and similar body repetitive gestures felt a closeness, understanding, and existence of transgenerational patterns that are transmitted along the female line in the family. This paper brings an analysis and interpretation of those elements in which the female body is represented as one of the primary determinants for self-identification and gender belonging. The theoretical starting point for the analyses of various aspects of the body in this novel is contemporary feminist research based on Elizabeth Grosz's study Volatile Bodies. Special attention will be paid to how a particular image of the human body is formed, as well as the factors that have a direct impact on it.