TIME IN THE NOVELS OF MILOS CRNJANSKI - Nottingham eTheses

CHAPTER FIVE
bein~-in-time.
Both Dnevnik 0 Carnojevi~u and Roman 0 Londonu
express non-linear versions of time. in which time is
expressed as it is felt and experienced by the
characters. , The
. diarist of the first novel
exists at a point between memory and dream.
Milolevi~
describes the whole novel 'as' closed;
Carnojevi6eva avantura opisuje zatvoren
kru~. Na njenom po~etku je jednoli~nost
i besmislenost postajanja i ista ta
jednoli~nost i besmislenost je i na kraju
svih putovanja (105).
Carnojevi6's adventure describes a closed
circle. At its inception is the monotony
and senselessness of existence. and that
same monotony and senselessness is at the
end of all his journeys.
However. there is the su~~estion
of a limited salvation
at the end.
Time. like the diarist. is at a point
between the intransient moment personified by th~
raJ/",..
• and the irrecoverable past personified by
Raji6. In Roman 0 Londonu. Rjepnin expresses his
desire for a return to the past.
This return can only
be accomplished throu~h
death, and his suicide presents
a symbolic vision of rebirth. But, as a symbol it is
not a solution to the existential crisis faced by
Rjepnin. The very different portrayals of bein~-in-time
-
in Crnjanski's first and last novels present time as a
medium throu~h
which consciousness becomes aware of
self, and in which memory. will, and desire become
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