The Problem of Time in the Novels by Immigrant Francophone Writers (Milan Kundera, Andreï Makine, Amin Maalouf)

Abstract

The article presents a comparative analysis of the novels by immigrant writers Milan Kundera, Andreï Makine and Amin Maalouf from the perspective of time. The identity crisis of the immigrant character leads to the change in the perception of History and of the time linearity. Circular time that encompasses the past, the present and the future dominates. The analysis of the novels’ structure, chronotope, symbols, mythologemes and of the language of the corpus shows the change in the narrative discourse of the immigrant novel and in the representation of time as an aesthetic category. Key words: time, chronotope, immigrant novel, Kundera, Makine, Maalouf.