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This paper reflects on depictions of islands in two novels by the Austrian author Raoul Schrott (born 1964): his first novel, Finis Terrae: Manuscripts, from 1995, and the later Tristan da Cunha or Half of the Earth from 2003. I argue that Schrott’s concepts and explorations of islands strongly influence the presentation and organisation of his texts. Finis Terrae and Tristan da Cunha exhibit distinctly different concepts of the insular. Whereas the earlier text accentuates a frail, fragmented, and almost mythical condition, the later novel Tristan evokes a plethora of Western topoi about islands and heavily relies on dualities. In both cases, island concepts are also reflected in narrative gestures: oppositions are central to interpreting and analysing Tristan da Cunha, and Finis Terrae revolves around fragmentation, vagueness, and loss. Islands are thus not only objects in the texts—they also determine the design and structure of the texts.

This paper reflects on depictions of islands in two novels by the Austrian author Raoul Schrott (born 1964): his first novel, Finis Terrae: Manuscripts, from 1995, and the later Tristan da Cunha or Half of the Earth from 2003. I argue that Schrott's concepts and explorations of islands strongly influence the presentation and organisation of his texts. Finis Terrae and Tristan da Cunha exhibit distinctly different concepts of the insular. Whereas the earlier text accentuates a frail, fragmented, and almost mythical condition, the later novel Tristan evokes a plethora of Western topoi about islands and heavily relies on dualities. In both cases, island concepts are also reflected in narrative gestures: oppositions are central to interpreting and analysing Tristan da Cunha, and Finis Terrae revolves around fragmentation, vagueness, and loss. Islands are thus not only objects in the texts--they also determine the design and structure of the texts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article introduces a few theoretical proposals concerning the problem of truth in fiction, an aspect imported into literary theory from a philosophical context. From a "picture picture" of language to language as a game, the referential power of language is debated with a view to establishing its relevance for a theory of fiction. The segregationist approach proposed by Frege and Russell is balanced by that of Searle and offered a satisfactory resolution from Lewis' possible world perspective. Moreover, a pragmatist such as Rorty sees the mutual benefit deriving from a Parmenidean tradition of factuality for a literary culture whose experimental nature constantly questions a seemingly solid relationship between language and the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the subtitle, ‘La novela de la memoria’, which prefaces the Spanish poet José Manuel Caballero Bonald's memoirs, Tiempo de guerras perdidas and La costumbre de vivir. It considers how this enigmatic phrase may help the reader to understand what exactly Caballero Bonald aims to represent in his autobiography. Many critics have argued that autobiography is doomed to factual inaccuracy. This article discusses whether an author can produce a more verisimilar account of his or her life by acknowledging this in order honestly, yet fictionally, to rewrite episodes from the past. Initially, in an attempt to understand ‘La novela de la memoria’, it considers what autobiography is, drawing on a number of theorists, most importantly Philippe Lejeune. It then focuses on intentionality and factuality within autobiography as a genre and, more specifically, within Caballero Bonald's work. By reflecting on the representation of fact and fiction in Tiempo de guerras perdidas and La costumbre de vivir, it moves beyond current views that emphasize their literary quality and focuses on the author's desire to express the complexity of memory through their content. Ultimately, it demonstrates how ‘La novela de la memoria’ is something other than autobiography – a representation of the past in which Caballero Bonald accesses the essence of his memories and of the self. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the key features --historical, rethorical and related to genre-- that characterizes one kind of audiovisual text with scarce cinematographic tradition. The film-essay proposes a personal and nonsystematic discourse, using different tools: a personal style, a visible editing that privileges the word, or the filmic presence of the author. In this way, the film essayist builds its reflection inside the images, putting forward his/her way of thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]