Tomasz Umerle
Contingency and its consequences in Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne
Abstract:
My paper proposes a new approach to the famous novel by Laurence Sterne Tristram Shandy. In my reading of this work I use the category of contingency which I define by referring to the German philosopher Odo Marquard and literary theories of a monographer of the contigency in literature and film Rafał Koschany. These are the basic inspirations for reflections on Tristram as a character, and simultaneously, narrator in the novel.
In my view contingency manifests itself in Sterne's work in a two-fold manner it affects Tristram's life and narration. I will try to focus on the different ways in which these manifestations relate to each other.
Key words:
Sterne, Tristram Shandy, contingency, novel, narration
DOI: 10.15503/jecs20101-70-83
