The Mouth and the Tongue – or the Dictator and the Dentist: The Head and its Parts as Figures in Andrea Tompa’s Prose

Abstract

In this paper I attempt to give a reading of Andrea Tompa’s two novels by examining one chosen chapter from each work, hoping that the investigation will provide insights into the work as a whole. I will approach the text through close reading and examine the poetic and semantic role of the body parts that appear in the text. In The Hangman’s House, the focus will be on the mise en abyme and we will have a better understanding of the metaphoric process. In Home, an essayistic travel novel, the interplay of literal and metaphorical meanings and the question of allegory will be raised. The contrast between medical themes and an artistic approach reveals the relationship between language and home, and the strangeness inherent in that which is one’s “own”.