Om inteendeel te sê: oor selfskepping - wanneer lewe en vertel deurmekaar raak

Abstract

To say ‘on the contrary’: On self-creation - when life and narration mergeIn Brink’s novel, Inteendeel (On the Contrary) of 1993, Estienne Barbier rewrites his life while imprisoned in the Dark Hole. A close relationship between life and narration thus develops. This problematic relation is often foregrounded in metafictional texts. On the one hand, mimetic representation of reality is undermined, while on the other, the textuaiity, the linguistic quality of life, is emphasized. The dialogic character of self-creation prevents this metafictional text, in which self-creation also plays an important role, from being narcissistic. It is also argued that self-creation and metafictional comments are processes by means of which the aesthetic dimension and life merge, with the hope of creating a more humane world.