The Labyrinth as an Anti-Home in Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves

• Authors: Magdalena Solarz
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

This paper examines the spatial model of a house as a labyrinth in Mark Z. Danielewski’s experimental novel House of Leaves in relation to Yuri M. Lotman’s concept of an anti-home. The aim of the paper is to analyze the spatial organization of the house presented in the novel and its influence on the characters. It also examines the connection between the mental state of the inhabitants and the changing nature of the labyrinth by demonstrating how the subversive spatiotemporal organization of domestic space accounts for the transformation of the novel’s protagonists. 

Keywords

EN

Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves, home, anti-home, labyrinth

• Publisher: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej
• Journal: New Horizons in English Studies
• Year: 2017
• Issue: 2

Dates

published

2017

online

2017-08-17

Contributors

author

Magdalena Solarz

• Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (UMCS) in Lublin

editor

Aneta Okuń-Jaśkowiak

editor

Adam Głaz

editor

Lidia Kniaź-Hunek

editor

Anna Bendrat

editor

Ewelina Prażmo

editor

Przemysław Terejko

editor

Piotr Szczypa

editor

Grzegorz Czemiel

editor

Ewa Antoszek

editor

Justyna Galant

editor

Marta Komsta

editor

Edyta Frelik

editor

Agata Waszkiewicz

editor

Anna Oleszczuk

editor

Agata Waszkiewicz

other

Aneta Okuń-Jaśkowiak

References

• Aguirre, Manuel. 2008. “Geometries of Terror: Numinous Spaces in Gothic, Horror and Science Fiction.” Gothic Studies 10 (2): 1–17.
• Bemong, Nele. 2003. “Exploration # 6: The Uncanny in Mark Z. Danielewski’s ‘House of Leaves.’” Image & Narrative. http://www.imageandnarrative.be/inarchive/uncanny/nelebemong.htm.
• Boothroyd, David. 2015. “Metaleptic Transgression and Traumatic Experience: The ‘empty Rooms, Long Hallways, and Dead Ends’ of House of Leaves.” Lund: Lund University. http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/7445282.
• Danielewski, Mark Z. 2000. House of Leaves. 2nd edition. New York: Pantheon.
• Hamilton, Natalie. 2008. “The A-Mazing House: The Labyrinth as Theme and Form in Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves.” Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction 50 (1): 3–16. doi:10.3200/CRIT.50.1.3-16.
• Jones, Ryan. 2014. “Labyrinthine Literature: Reality versus Perception in Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves” Scribd. https://pl.scribd.com/document/304168593/Labyrinthine-Literature-Reality-versus-Perception-in-Mark-Z-Danielewski-s-House-of-LeavesLabyrinthine-Literature-Reality-versus-Perception-in-Mark.
• Lotman, Yuri. 2001. Universe of the Mind: A Semiotic Theory of Culture. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
• Majlingová, Veronika. 2011. “The Use of Space in Gothic Fiction.” Master’s Thesis, Brno: Masaryk University, Faculty of Arts. https://theses.cz/id/h0tty6?furl=%2Fid%2Fh0tty6;so=nx;lang=en.
• Slocombe, Will. 2015. “‘This Is Not For You’: Nihilism and the House That Jacques Built.” MFS Modern Fiction Studies 51 (1): 88–109. doi:10.1353/mfs.2005.0015.

Identifiers

DOI

10.17951/nh.2017.2.89