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/lp/university-of-north-carolina-press/remaining-relevant-after-communism-the-role-of-the-writer-in-eastern-HrDuM7ChuI
- Publisher
- University of North Carolina Press
- Copyright
- Copyright © 2007 the Southern Comparative Literature Association.
- ISSN
- 1559-0887
Abstract
his uncle, the illegitimate son of a common grandfather, an immigrant from Bul- garia. As the novel changes course to focus on Sebastian Chrest-Jones’s mysterious disappearance, the novel’s r fi st story line recedes into the background for several chapters. But the two plots reconnect toward the end thanks to Fa Chang, Chrest- Jones’s lover, and to her twin brother Xiao Chang. Murder in Byzantiu mig m ht disappoint the real aci fi onados of detective c fi tion, at least those who like their thrillers light and simple. Kristeva’s novel is anything but that. Part academic novel, part psychoanalytical treaty on childhood scars, part historical novel on the Crusades, part travel narrative, part political essay on the state of the world today, part philosophical meditation on identity, this is a rich and complex work. If Murder in Byzantiu mam nages to retain a unity of purpose in spite of its apparent eclecticism, it is primarily because it is a book by Kristeva on Kristeva, the most autobiographical of her novels, according to an interview she gave to the newspaper Le Monde. Direct autobiographical references abound in the novel: “Julia Kristeva” makes several appearances as a character; Stéphanie Delacour
Journal
The Comparatist – University of North Carolina Press
Published: May 29, 2007