Abstract
The monograph is a discussion of Karen Blixen’s texts in the light of ‘play theory.’ By investigating the functions of various topoi of play and games, and tracing some of Blixen’s most common playful strategies, it suggests that play is the dominant principle of Blixen’s textual universe which otherwise seems to defy generalisation. Viewing play as a by and large social phenomenon, the study contributes to deconstructing the image of Blixen as a high brow, elitist author. Instead, the reader is invited to approach her texts as playgrounds of generous interaction, which one can enter from many interesting angles – in the true spirit of play.
Highlights
A literary scholar who sets out to study a particular writer’s oeuvre will often dream of finding the key – some final ‘truth’ or ‘essence’ – that could unlock the writer’s texts and even enable her to mediate them to others.1 In her pursuit, she will be likely to reduce the multifaceted artistic universe to a system of dominant themes, images, narrative patterns, generic or ideological schemes that can be accessed and processed by her own mind
No less ambiguous is Blixen’s relation to the Danish literary tradition, which is reflected in the practice of introducing her in histories of literature by way of contrasting her writing to her contemporaries
A game of piquet, for example, becomes a model for the narrative structure in “Tales of Two Old Gentlemen,” suggesting new possibilities for interpreting the story, and reminding the reader that this reading will soon be challenged by a new interpretation
Summary
Chapter One Generic Simulation or the Relationship Between Karen Blixen’s Texts and the Oral Tale 101. 1. The terms ‘story’ and ‘tale’ in studies of Blixen’s work 103 2. “Scheherazade of our times” – truth or illusion? Oral narrative as an enacted genre 117. Chapter Two The Dancing Novella: Between the Canon and its Carnivalesque Subversion 123. Some patterns of architextual transformations in Blixen’s novellas 131 3. “Babette’s Feast” – a model novella or its parody? 1. “Babette’s Feast” vs James Joyce’s “The Dead” 169 2. Surprises of the surprise ending: Blixen’s “The Heroine”. Notes 191 List of Karen Blixen’s texts mentioned in the book 237 Selected bibliography 245 Santrauka lietuvių kalba 257 Index 261
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