A city as the key to interpreting a novel by Alessandro Baricco

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present the term 'city' both as a constructive element and a key to interpreting the same-named novel. The paper is focused on the term's etymology and contemporary definitions, and on the novel's interpretations in the postmodern framework. In order to understand all the layers, the intertextual and intermedial theories are also important. Gould and his governess Shatzy Shell are the main characters of the novel. Gould is a teenager who has been recognized as a genius, which has brought him loneliness and desire to achieve success. That loneliness could be compared to some descriptions of postmodern cities, and on the other hand the cities could be compared to postmodern literature. The novel's most important city is Closingtown - a city that does not appear on any map. It is a town in the West where the time has stopped. The town is compared to a fragmented postmodern literary work and this novel, as Baricco said, is a representation of what a city might be. A double postmodern language game is present in the novel. The first is related to the Closingtown as a Western city and Shatzy's aspiration to write a western. The second is related to the comparison of the Closingtown and the postmodern text. Someone in the city has torn up time, which can be reflected in the fragmented narration, and it can be read that the citizens have a choice between leaving the town and patching time. The choice requires a dedicated reader who will deduct the story from the patchwork; as the citizens patch time, the dedicated reader finds a new patch of the overall story. These language games have a reflection on a game that uses physical strength and strategic approach - boxing. The interpretation game is also possible if we take into consideration intertextuality and intermediality that require a dedicated reader who is able to understand and enjoy all the segments that construct this complex novel.