Fabulation in Paul Auster's Mr. Vertigo

Abstract

The present narratological research aims to discern and analyse fabulist qualities of Paul Auster's Mr. Vertigo. The term 'fabulation' was coined by Robert Scholes in 1967 to refer to a number of non-romantic and non-traditional novels of the 20th century, which paradoxically and simultaneously incorporate the supernatural and the natural. The central questions of the article are: what are the supernatural and natural elements of narrative and what semantic and thematic roles do they play in the context of the narrative? To answer the questions, first the postmodern novel, Auster's literary career, and the synopsis of the novel are introduced, and then the juxtaposed realistic and fantastic features of the novel are specified. The article concludes that the conjunction of the heterogeneous elements serves two purposes: to create a metaphor for the hardships of self-realisation and identity-formation and to build up a sense of universality and ubiquity to the otherwise documentary-like historical details.