3. DEFINITION OF TERMS

3. DEFINITION OF TERMS

The expression “literature of fact” was introduced by literary critics between the two world wars as a substitute for the 1930s prose narrative; it is in fact a contemporary literature narrative whose main purpose is to reliably embody authentic events utilizing reporting or memoir terminology characteristics for the contemporary novel.

In the Dictionary of literary terms (Słоwnik terminów literackich), edited by Janusz Slavinski, the expression “literature of fact” is defined as: “Contemporary narrative literature based on the document containing literary works, such as: novels, reports, biographies, autobiographies, memoirs…” At the heart of “literature of fact” lies the novel - reportage, which is defined as “a novel that, through the creation of novelist fiction, strives to form, let’s say, a kind of documentary that relates to events, phenomena, experiences… in a particular environment or historical process.” 11

In the book “General theory of literature” by Ljuben Andreev, it is pointed out that: “literary-scientific works are a kind of work that by their internal and external features are closely related to lyrical, epic and dramatic works, as well as to scientific literature. The literary-scientific type includes: travelogues, reports, diaries, journals, memoirs, etc. 12

In his book “General theory of literature”, Ljuben Andreev defines the term “travelogue” as: “A work that describes the impressions and experiences of traveling to unknown, little known or very famous settlements, regions and countries.” 13 (1991: 277) He believes that the travelogue provides a description of nature, of the journey, and of the people’s way of life, both in the past and present. The travelogues describe people’s culture, customs, historical data and the impressions they left on the travel writer.

Ljuben Andreev defines the term “reportage” as “work in which impressions of people and events from real, everyday life, are captured in a lively, dynamic, diverse style.” (1991: 284) He distinguishes between two types of reporting: journalistic and artistic. In the journalistic style with journalistic reporting, facts are drafted with short outlines and impressions of people and events are generally described, whereas in artistic journalism, impressions of people are described vividly, in more detail, and with emotional style.

11 Janusz Sławiński, M. Głowiński, T. Kostkiewiczowa: Słоwnik terminów literackich. - Warszawa; Kraków: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich -Wydaw, 2008 12 Ljuben Andreev: Opshta teoria na literaurata. - Skopje: Prosveten rabotnik, 1991, p. 274 13 Ibid., p. 277)

The purpose of both types of reporting is to present impressions more vividly and more impressively, in order to attract the reader’s interest.

A journal or a daily log is distinguished by its rich factual data that can serve as a source of information for studying the history of a nation, a society or a certain period of time. It keeps a record of impressions and events according to their chronology. According to Ljuben Andreev, “a journal is a kind of work in which the most important events are recorded chronologically in order by day, month, year.” (1991: 279)

In memoirs, through remembering the author recollects and writes down events and experiences in which he or she participated. Contained within those memories are also recorded some important personalities from the person’s social life. Hence in the work “General theory of literature” by Ljuben Andreev, we find the following definition: “Memoirs are literary-scientific works in which, by remembering, the author describes not only his life, but also the memories of other people’s lives, events and the time during which the person lived and worked.” (1991: 280) An attribute of memoirs is that they not only have historical but also artistic value.

A novel is a long epic work which deals with topics like society, history, or people’s everyday lives. The novel usually has several characters, among whom are the main characters and around whom the action is concentrated. They are the bearers of the directions the main action takes and attract the reader’s attention. There are also supporting characters in the novel.

In portraying the characters in the novel, a writer strives to describe their external appearance and internal experiences, thoughts, emotions, actions, etc., as vivid, malleable and embossed as possible. The novel usually deals with a single main theme but there may also be secondary themes that are related to the main theme. It usually covers a wide period of time and has a socio-historical basis. Hence, the novel, according to Ljuben Andreev, is defined as: “a great epic work in prose or verse, which comprehensively deals with events and the life of one or more people, or an entire society, over a long period of time.” 14 (1991: 213)

Chronotope literally means “time-space”. 15. In other words, the temporal and spatial connections are artistically expressed in literature in which the chronotope has essentially a genre connotation. According to the definition given by Kata Kjulafkova in her book “Poimnik na knizhenata teoria” (Glossary of book theory), “the literary chronotope is a model of a world personified in a recognizable, stylistically and culturally codified whole of space, time, character and story”. 16

In the Macedonian language Digital dictionary, under the term “symbol” we find: “object, action, etc., which serves as a conditional sign for a notion, an idea, an artistic character that conditionally conveys a thought, a conditional sign, the embodiment of all

14 Ljuben Andreev: Opshta teoria na literaurata. - Skopje: Prosveten rabotnik, 1991 15 Mihail Bahtin: Teorija romana. - Ljubljana: Cankarjeva zalozba, 1982 16 Editor: Kata Kjulafkova: Poimnik na knizhenata teoria. - Skopje: MANU, 2007, 616

characteristics ”. 17 This is a motive or a group of motives that provide meaning in order to achieve greater imagery in an expression and to give a wider significance to a specific object.

A fact represents true information, event, and is indisputable truth.

In the “Dictionary of literary terms” (Słоwnik terminów literackich), edited by Janusz Slavinski, the term “fact” is defined as: “that which takes place in reality, an event, an occurrence, a certain state that occurs in a certain time and space.” 18

These concepts are crucial in the analysis of “literature of fact” in novels based on specific events, historical documents, and documentary literature.

17 http://www.makedonski.info/show 18 (Janusz Sławiński, M. Głowiński, T. Kostkiewiczowa: Słоwnik terminów literackich. - Warsaw; Kraków: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich -Wydaw, 2008