Monday, March 7, 2011

The Museum of Unconditional Surrender

The pieces of the narrative are arranged in what at first seems like a random order, with no beginning, climax, or resolution. Each short piece is a different thought of the author, interaction with another person, or story about the city of Berlin and her time spent there. I think Ugresic intentionally writes this way to show what it was like for her to be living in exile at the time. This structure illustrates disconnect, which Ugresic must have been feeling as she spent her time away from her home country. Throughout the short pieces, there is a pattern of the tragic and almost depressing state of Berlin. Whether she is describing the empty station, how Berlin is a "mutant-city", or how its loneliness is "acute and unambiguous," she is emphasizing how Berlin feels to her. I think she is trying to portray the loneliness and emptiness that she is literally feeling inside, through these outside descriptions of the city.

1 comment:

  1. I agree, you can definitely feel from the writing how disconnected and foreign she feels. The organization is like we're getting a glimpse into her random reflections. We end up getting a full picture of her impression of Berlin by combining the interpretations of stories themselves and also recognizing how they lead from one to another.

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