This paper reads Larry Beinhart’s novel The Librarian (2004) and its nonfiction companion Fog Facts (2005) as a double attempt at writing that is politically invested in representing reality but that nevertheless is openly aware of the postmodern crisis of representation. In this sense, I read both books as indicative of a broad cultural search for forms of writing that engage their readers’ reality without simply attempting to return to a less complicated moment before postmodernism. The paper situates both books within crucial textual contexts: a broad ‘epistemic panic’ about the facts and reality at the time, a surge of political nonfiction published in response to George W. Bush’s Presidency, and a longer tradition of political fiction. Tracing how the novel struggles with its nonfiction aspects and how the nonfiction book relies on fiction to make its point, I then look at how the two books evoke political affect to have a realist appeal of sorts despite their insistence on the precarious nature of all realist representation. Reading both books as distinctly popular, mass-market products and thus bringing together the debate around post-postmodernism from literary studies with an interest in reading pleasures informed by popular culture studies, I argue that the two books constitute decidedly popular attempts at a new, meta-aware yet politically engaged textuality.

Este trabalho consiste na análise do romance Aravim Rokdim (Árabes Dançantes), do escritor árabe israelense muçulmano Sayed Kashua, e tem como foco central a questão identitária que envolve o árabe israelense conforme visto nessa obra. Publicado em 2002, o romance conta em hebraico, idioma que tem como leitor majoritário o judeu, a história de uma família de árabes israelenses. Este estudo é desenvolvido com base nas teorias provindas dos Estudos Culturais e Pós- Colonialistas, segundo as quais no ser humano coexistem múltiplas e antagônicas identidades. Esse fato é exponencialmente visto nesse árabe cidadão israelense apresentado no romance de Kashua, que convive com sentimentos de culpa devido à sua dupla-lealdade e conflitantes fidelidades: por um lado, ele aceita sua cidadania israelense; por outro, além de ser membro de um povo cujas muitas nações se opõem à existência do Estado de Israel, ele possui parentes nos territórios ocupados por Israel na Guerra dos Seis Dias (1967) que não tiveram direito àquela cidadania. Esses sentimentos complexos e ambivalentes são intensificados devido ao contexto sociopolítico do romance: a Segunda Intifada (2000-2006). Nesse período da moderna história de Israel, a desconfiança do judeu e do Estado de Israel em relação à fidelidade do cidadão árabe israelense para com seu Estado foi exacerbada. Surge dessa combinação um romance político inusitado, que se utiliza do humor e da autoironia para contar ao seu leitor a história do árabe israelense que vive preso entre duas sociedades, que se sente um estrangeiro em seu próprio meio e, mesmo assim, não desiste de buscar um novo lugar identitário para si próprio. / This work consists of an analysis of the novel Aravim Rokdim (Dancing Arabs) by Arab-Israeli Muslim writer Sayed Kashua, which focuses on the identity issues surrounding Arab-Israelis portrayed in the work. Published in 2002, the novel is written in Hebrew and recounts the history of an Arab-Israeli family. This study is based on the theories derived from the Cultural and Post-Colonial Studies, according to which human beings simultaneously experience multiple and antagonistic identities. This fact can be observed exponentially in this Arab citizen of Israel introduced by Kashua, as he lives with feelings of guilt due to his twin-loyalties and conflicting allegiances: if, on one side, he accepts his Israeli citizenship, on the other, he is not only a member of a people whose many nations oppose the existence of the State of Israel, but has relatives living in territories occupied by Israel in the Six-Day War (1967) who were denied the right to that citizenship. These complex and ambivalent feelings are intensified by the social-political context of the novel: the Second Intifada (2000-2006), a period in modern Israeli history when the distrust of Jews and the State of Israel regarding the allegiance of Arab-Israeli citizens to the State was exacerbated. These circumstances result in a unique political novel that uses humor and self-irony to tell the reader the story of an Arab-Israeli that lives trapped between two societies, that feels like a foreigner among his own people and that tirelessly seeks a new place to call his own.

Este trabalho consiste na análise do romance Aravim Rokdim (Árabes Dançantes), do escritor árabe israelense muçulmano Sayed Kashua, e tem como foco central a questão identitária que envolve o árabe israelense conforme visto nessa obra. Publicado em 2002, o romance conta em hebraico, idioma que tem como leitor majoritário o judeu, a história de uma família de árabes israelenses. Este estudo é desenvolvido com base nas teorias provindas dos Estudos Culturais e Pós- Colonialistas, segundo as quais no ser humano coexistem múltiplas e antagônicas identidades. Esse fato é exponencialmente visto nesse árabe cidadão israelense apresentado no romance de Kashua, que convive com sentimentos de culpa devido à sua dupla-lealdade e conflitantes fidelidades: por um lado, ele aceita sua cidadania israelense; por outro, além de ser membro de um povo cujas muitas nações se opõem à existência do Estado de Israel, ele possui parentes nos territórios ocupados por Israel na Guerra dos Seis Dias (1967) que não tiveram direito àquela cidadania. Esses sentimentos complexos e ambivalentes são intensificados devido ao contexto sociopolítico do romance: a Segunda Intifada (2000-2006). Nesse período da moderna história de Israel, a desconfiança do judeu e do Estado de Israel em relação à fidelidade do cidadão árabe israelense para com seu Estado foi exacerbada. Surge dessa combinação um romance político inusitado, que se utiliza do humor e da autoironia para contar ao seu leitor a história do árabe israelense que vive preso entre duas sociedades, que se sente um estrangeiro em seu próprio meio e, mesmo assim, não desiste de buscar um novo lugar identitário para si próprio. / This work consists of an analysis of the novel Aravim Rokdim (Dancing Arabs) by Arab-Israeli Muslim writer Sayed Kashua, which focuses on the identity issues surrounding Arab-Israelis portrayed in the work. Published in 2002, the novel is written in Hebrew and recounts the history of an Arab-Israeli family. This study is based on the theories derived from the Cultural and Post-Colonial Studies, according to which human beings simultaneously experience multiple and antagonistic identities. This fact can be observed exponentially in this Arab citizen of Israel introduced by Kashua, as he lives with feelings of guilt due to his twin-loyalties and conflicting allegiances: if, on one side, he accepts his Israeli citizenship, on the other, he is not only a member of a people whose many nations oppose the existence of the State of Israel, but has relatives living in territories occupied by Israel in the Six-Day War (1967) who were denied the right to that citizenship. These complex and ambivalent feelings are intensified by the social-political context of the novel: the Second Intifada (2000-2006), a period in modern Israeli history when the distrust of Jews and the State of Israel regarding the allegiance of Arab-Israeli citizens to the State was exacerbated. These circumstances result in a unique political novel that uses humor and self-irony to tell the reader the story of an Arab-Israeli that lives trapped between two societies, that feels like a foreigner among his own people and that tirelessly seeks a new place to call his own.

This paper reads Larry Beinhart’s novel The Librarian (2004) and its nonfiction companion Fog Facts (2005) as a double attempt at writing that is politically invested in representing reality but that nevertheless is openly aware of the postmodern crisis of representation. In this sense, I read both books as indicative of a broad cultural search for forms of writing that engage their readers’ reality without simply attempting to return to a less complicated moment before postmodernism. The paper situates both books within crucial textual contexts: a broad ‘epistemic panic’ about the facts and reality at the time, a surge of political nonfiction published in response to George W. Bush’s Presidency, and a longer tradition of political fiction. Tracing how the novel struggles with its nonfiction aspects and how the nonfiction book relies on fiction to make its point, I then look at how the two books evoke political affect to have a realist appeal of sorts despite their insistence on the precarious nature of all realist representation. Reading both books as distinctly popular, mass-market products and thus bringing together the debate around post-postmodernism from literary studies with an interest in reading pleasures informed by popular culture studies, I argue that the two books constitute decidedly popular attempts at a new, meta-aware yet politically engaged textuality.

In the thesis I would like to focus on the very topical literary work: Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson who died in 2004. The trilogy consists of three parts: The girl with the dragon tattoo, The girl who played with fire and The girl who kicked the hornets' nest. The trilogy will be examined from the perspective of genre determination. With the professional literature I would like to describe each genre and it's possibility of use. I would also like to find a typical features of particular genre in different forms: situations, characters, conflicts, etc. One part of my thesis will be dedicated to the writer and his autobiography traits. I would also like to turn to the fourth part of the trilogy by David Lagercrantz. I will try to answer the question why the trilogy has been extended, what literature genre is characteristic for the writer and what changes have been made in content or formal features of the story. During my work I would like to compare the trilogy with other Nordic literature pieces to find the cause of increasing sale of this kind of literature nowadays.

Les littératures d’Afrique et des Caraïbes des années soixante-dix à quatre-vingt-dix comptent une série de romans ayant pour thème de prédilection la politique. Certains critiques y voient l’émergence d’un genre romanesque baptisée « nouveau roman ». D’autres en soulignent la confluence thématique dans des travaux se rapportant au roman dit « politique » ou « anti-utopiste ». Jusque-ici, il semble que la réception de cette forme d’écriture et son thème favori n’ont pas été mis en étroite corrélation avec le contexte historique particulier dans lequel ils s’inscrivent. Or, ce dernier est déterminant dans le cadre d’une meilleure connaissance de ces textes encore en quête de définition. En effet, les années soixante-dix à quatre-vingt-dix correspondent à la période des dictatures d’Afrique et des Caraïbes. Ce constat nous a amené à envisager une nouvelle réception de cette tendance romanesque sur un modèle universel : le « roman politique », pour ne retenir que ce concept. Pour l’expérimentation de cette hypothèse de recherche, dans le cadre d’une démarche comparatiste, le choix a été de confronter les « constantes » et les « variantes » de ces littératures à la lumière d’un corpus de six ouvrages. Ainsi, la représentation de la dictature a permis de découvrir un univers conflictuel clos institué par une pratique et une pensée politiques inédites. Le jeu des acteurs y est une tragédie dans un espace labyrinthique. Le tableau dévoile des individus désarmés et sous la domination d’un système à l’allure de monstre. L’image du « cercle de feu » illustre bien cette tragédie à grande échelle où toute tentative d’évasion rapproche l’homme de la mort. Un style d’écriture métonymique y entretient l’errance des personnages qui, sans cesse, butent contre les murs infranchissables de la dictature. Le discours littéraire n’y est pas qu’une plaidoirie en faveur de l’homme et de la liberté ; il y est également une dénonciation de la condition de l’écrivain et de l’asservissement de la littérature. / The literatures of Africa and the Caribs of the seventies in ninety count a series of novels having for theme of preference the politics. Certain critics see there the emergence of a romantic kind baptized "new novel ". Others underline the thematic confluence in works relating to the said novel "politics" or "anti-utopian". Up to now, it seems that the reception of this shape of writing did not put in narrow correlation its favourite theme with the particular historic context, which unites them. Now, this last one is determining within the framework of a better knowledge of these texts still in search of definition. Indeed, the seventies in ninety correspond to the period of the dictatorships of Africa and the Caribbean islands. This report brought to us to envisage a new reception of this romantic tendency on a universal model: the "political novel ", to retain only this concept. For the experiment of this hypothesis of search, within the framework of a comparative approach, the choice was to confront "constants" and "variants" of these literatures in the light of a corpus of six works. Therefore, the representation of the dictatorship allowed discovering a closed conflicting universe established by one new political practice and a thought. The set of the actors is there a tragedy in a space, which looks like a labyrinth. The board reveals moved individuals and dominated by a system to the speed of monster. The image of the "circle of fire" the illustrious property a large-scale tragedy where any escape attempt moves closer to the man of the death. A style of metonymical writing maintains the wandering of the characters there who, ceaselessly, stumble over the unbridgeable walls of the dictatorship. The literary speech is not there that a plea in favour of the man and of the freedom; it is there a termination of the condition of the writer and the subjection of the literature.