genre

The article describes the philosophical problem in the novel "Time Shelter" by Georgi Gospodinov, in relation to the literary techniques through which it is realized. The claim is that the novel has an exceptionally strong philosophical concept, offering a dystopian transformation of the contemporary regime of time - presentism. However, in its literary realization, the narrative style deprives the dystopia of its radicalism.

The article addresses two main issues. The first one relates to the narrative techniques of “outsideness” (Bachtin’s вненаходимость/vnenakhodimost’) and the ability of literature to penetrate the characters’ otherwise inscrutable inner meaning and make it accessible to comprehension. The second analyzed question brings attention to the “opaque” modern institutions and the institutional roles into which they place individuals. The study argues that, in the Bulgarian context, literary representations of institutional roles remain populist and simplistic. Furthermore, it highlights how emerging Bulgarian literature cannot cope with the formalized meaning of the modern institutional system in the country. The examples are literary depictions of the court, the judicial system, and the judicial roles from the period 1880 – 1905.