Literatura in elektronska komunikacija: intermedialnost sodobnega romana

The article addresses the question of intermediality, which fundamentally defines the narrative structure in some postmodern novels, whose narrations are entirely structured as “quotation” mediated in the form of e-mail. This method of narration, which explicitly “quotes” the direct speech spoken (and also written) by two or more fictional characters (i.e., dialogic partners) is reminiscent of drama, or the play, as a model of communication. By occupying the narrative structure of these postmodern novels, drama as a model of communication cancels out the authority of the fictional narrator, who may make comments on the “quoted” e-mails exchanged, giving the fictional recipient the assurance of some sense of transcendence in this dialogue. However, the very position of this hidden fictional narrator can serve as an indirect comment on the consequences of widespread e-mail communication, which takes place in virtual space. The electronic media that make this kind of communication possible reestablish virtual space as specific conditions of contact through which the addresser and addressee appear as virtual identities. The virtual identities of the two or more fictional characters that create the narration through successive e-mail exchanges begin to be confronted with the presupposed “real” identity of their dialogic partners. This anxious tension between the “real” and “virtual” presences leads to ontological uncertainty, which is considered a basic characteristic of postmodern literature. From this perspective, the intermedial narrative structure of some postmodern novels, which “quote” communication in the form of e-mail, perfectly confirms McLuhan’s postulate that the medium is the message