On the relationship between visual and narrative elements in Mileta Prodanović’s prose: technology as formal and thematic challenge

Abstract

The paper deals with the relationship of visual and narrative elements in two novels by Mileta Prodanović: Ultramarin and Kolekcija. The introduction presents some of the assumptions of visual culture and its impact on everyday life and work. It also endeavours to explain the concepts of “image”, “likeness” and “visual/ mental representations”. In this sense, the author shares the opinion of William Thomas Mitchell, who believes that the image should not be taken as a picture – something visible, but as a spiritual resemblance, both within the religious context, and beyond. By examining the meaning and characteristics of visual and textual symbols, the author prepares the theoretical groundwork for the first chapter in which she deals with the novel Ultramarin. Here, visual and narrative elements are viewed as perfectly supplementing one another, with the mutual aim of creating a work of art. Prodanović’s methods of overlapping symbols, images and words are interpreted in the light of modern image theories and journey motifs - both physical and mental. In the second chapter, the paper deals with the novel Kolekcija, where the visual element demonstrates its power to the limit of human comprehension and beyond, entering the domain of science fiction. In this part of the paper, the author examines Prodanović’s storytelling skills that bridge the technological gap between the two historical moments in the novel, with particular emphasis on the universality and timelessness of the story and symbols. The third part is the concluding part, where the success of Prodanović’s experiment is summarised.