Anja Zidar o romanu Zabubljena Ane Marwan

Roman Zabubljena avtorice Ane Marwan ni delo, ki bi ga bilo moč v zamaknjenem stanju prebirati in potem o njem enako zamaknjeno premišljevati. Vsakič ko se nekje ustavi, se kmalu za tem tudi obrne. Kontrapunkt slogovno uokvirja strukturo romana in določa njegov tempo, zaradi česar se na nobeni izmed pripovednih linij ni mogoče predolgo ustaviti. Zabubljena je več kot zgolj preizkus v romaneskni formi – v slovenski literaturi je potrditev, da je roman kljub vsemu predvsem protejska oblika, nedefinirana oziroma vseskozi definirajoča se.

Najglasnejši glas romana je Rita, ki je mlado dekle na samem vrhuncu pubertete in je metaforično zabubljena – buba, ki postaja odrasel metulj. A lastnost bube je, da se skriva pod plastmi materiala, kar velja tudi za Rito. Roman se tako odpre s predstavitvijo Ježa, profesorja v srednjih letih, čigar vsakdan razburka razkritje ženine nezvestobe, odrešitev pa se kaže ravno v Riti, hčerki ene izmed njegovih prijateljic, ki se naposled prelevi v pripovedovalko, nato pa že v kreativno silo za samim Ježem. Pri tem je poleg njenega subjektivnega izrekanja o svoji zunanjosti poudarjeno dejstvo, da ji nad ustnicami poganjajo svetli brki, kot da bi bili nekakšno tipalo, prek katerega se Rita usredinja v svet.

Če je zabubljenost lahko analogija procesa adolescence, se ustvarja posrečen paradoks med Rito, ki odrašča, in Rito, ki razmišlja o sami sebu. Tista, ki naj bi odraščala, ima namreč veliko preveč izdelana mnenja o temah, kot so uspeh, medosebni in partnerski odnosi, pozicija ženske v sodobnem kapitalističnem svetu, predvsem pa odnos tega sveta do umetnosti in brezdelja. Namesto da bi dihotomija motila, daje besedilu časovno globino, saj se s tem odpira vprašanje, ali je zabubljenost res samo odraščanje ali pa je zabubljenost lahko kateri koli trenutek, ki nastane pred odločilnim. Z vsako digresijo v otročjost in naivnost se namreč pripovedovalka še toliko bolj zaleti v temeljna vprašanja o svetu, ki jo obdaja, pri čemer je najbolj intrigantno prav vprašanje, kaj pomeni umetnost v sodobnem svetu.

Rita nekoč pripomni, ali mačke vedo, da se z njimi igramo, ko se z njimi igramo, in podobno bi bilo moč parafrazirati to, kar se dogaja v romanu. Lik Ježa se pojavi v začetku romana in nato spet proti koncu, a tisto je že neki drugi Jež, ki s tistim z začetka nima veliko skupnega. Vprašanje resničnosti je suspendirano, nadomešča ga vprašanje, kdo obvladuje diskurz. V Zabubljeni ga obvladuje Rita, zaradi česar prihaja do novih in novih pripovednih ravni, s katerimi se Rita razkriva in pa zopet zakriva. Pripovedovalka je tako v vlogi človeka, bralec pa v vlogi mačke – a prav ko je to razmerje izpostavljeno, se razblini tudi iluzija igre, kot takrat, ko nekdo izpostavi blef v igrah s kartami.

S tem je nakazana jasna možnost, da je Ritino pripovedovanje predvsem blef in ne toliko način, skozi katerega si kot mlad človek želi razjasniti svet. Bolj kot razjasnitvi resničnosti, ki, kot je bilo prej zapisano, zares obstaja zgolj skozi obvladovanje diskurza, služi še večjemu odtujevanju zaradi utesnjujočih norm, pri čemer se zdi, da med slednjimi prevladuje zlasti patriarhat z zahtevami, kakšna bi morala biti Rita kot odrasla ženska v višjem srednjem sloju: kot denimo gospa Klammer bi morala biti plehka, pasivna, višek samoaktualizacije pa bi ji morala predstavljati vrsta petičnih zabav, namenjenih arbitrarno določeni skupini ljudi iz skupnosti, ki naj bi imela avro elite, a bi predvsem služila partikularnim subjektivnim interesom. Za globlja čustva in višje ambicije taka skupina nima posluha – s tem ko se Rita postavi v umobolnico, kjer obširno in cinično debatira s psihiatrom o svojih mnogih boleznih in simptomih, se pravzaprav posmehuje tipični sceni iz 20. stoletja: histeričarka na kavču, psihoanalitik zamaknjen ob njej. Ker je Rita tista, ki usmerja diskurz, ni torej njen psihiater Puhar tisti, ki bo zmagal, temveč ona: sam je razgaljen kot zgolj vase zaverovani zaostali moški, ki je še vedno prepričan, da smisel življenja izhaja iz sledenja poslanstvu – to je za ženske zgolj v okviru partnerske zveze in otrok.  

Vsebinsko blefiranje pa podpira tudi slogovni kontrapunkt, zaradi česar se bliža ne le žlahtnemu postmodernizmu, temveč postmodernosti. V razpiranju raznolikih pripovednih ravni dominantni slog in glas ostaja pripovedovalkin, ta pa se obenem še vedno razvija. Kontrapunkt nastaja na preseku opisovanja sveta, zlasti obnašanja likov (gospa Klammer, Jež v vseh pojavitvah, Ritina sovrstnica Anja), in komentiranju tega obnašanja in njegovo interpretiranje, ki je pogosto cinično. Pri tem so pogosto predelani različni slovenski pregovori in rečenice ne le iz ljudske kulture, temveč tudi iz reklam in z interneta. Pri kontrapunktiranju ne gre za izkazovanje mojstrstva jezika, temveč razkrivanje metaforično-metonimičnih plasti, skozi katere lahko deluje jezik – namesto avtorice je torej v ospredju jezik sam, ki ga avtorica zgolj osvetljuje.

Roman Zabubljena je zaradi močne, a hkrati zavite družbene kritike polemično besedilo, saj vsebuje obsodbo določenega tipa (malo)meščanstva. S tem je pripoved položena v usta dvojno zaznamovane posameznice (prek spola in prek osebnih aspiracij) roman ponuja izzivalno alternativo moškemu pripovedovanju, saj ga razgalja kot omejenega. Predvsem pa je roman Zabubljena besedilo, ki ne meri na določen tip bralstva, niti ne na skupne vrednote, temveč skozi individualiziran lik vabi k individualnim izkušnjam.

Anja Zidar on Cocooned by Ana Marwan

The novel Cocooned by Ana Marwan is not a work that can be read in an entranced state and then reflected upon in the same entranced manner. Every time it stops, it also shifts. Counterpoint stylistically frames the structure of the novel and determines its pace, which makes it impossible to dwell on any of the narrative lines for too long. Cocooned is more than just an experiment in the form of a novel – in Slovenian literature, it is a confirmation that the novel is, despite everything, primarily a protean form, undefined or constantly defining itself.

The loudest voice in the novel is Rita, a young girl at the peak of puberty who is metaphorically cocooned – a pupa that is becoming an adult butterfly. One characteristic of a pupa is, however, that it hides under layers of material, which also applies to Rita. Therefore, the novel first introduces Jež, a middle-aged professor, whose daily life is disrupted by the revelation of his wife’s infidelity, and redemption is manifested precisely in Rita, the daughter of one of his friends, who eventually transforms into a storyteller, and then into a creative force behind Jež himself. Here, in addition to Rita’s subjective statements about her appearance, the fact that a light moustache grows above her lips is emphasized, as if it was some kind of sensor through which she focuses on the world.

If being cocooned can be an analogy for the process of adolescence, an apt paradox is emerging between Rita growing up and Rita thinking about herself. The one who is supposedly growing up has far too elaborated opinions on topics such as success, interpersonal and partner relationships, the position of women in the modern capitalist world, and especially the attitude of this world to art and idleness. Instead of coming across as artificial, the dichotomy gives the text a temporal depth, as it raises the question of whether being cocooned is really just growing up or it can be any moment that comes before the decisive one. With each digression into childishness and naivety, the narrator crashes into fundamental questions about the world around her, the most intriguing of which is the very question of what art means in the modern world.

Rita once remarks whether cats know we are playing with them when we play with them, and one could similarly paraphrase what is happening in the novel. The character of Jež appears at the beginning of the novel and then again towards the end, but that is already another Jež that has little in common with the one from the beginning. The question of reality is suspended, replaced by the question of who controls the discourse. In Cocooned, it is controlled by Rita, leading constantly to new narrative levels with which Rita reveals herself and hides again. The narrator is thus in the role of a human, and the reader in the role of a cat – but with exposing this relationship, the illusion of the game is also shattered, like when someone exposes a bluff in a card game.

This indicates the clear possibility that Rita’s narration is mainly a bluff and not so much a way through which, as a young person, she wants to clarify the world. Rather than clarifying reality, which, as previously noted, really only exists through the control of discourse, it leads to further alienation due to constricting norms which seem to be dominated by patriarchy in particular, imposing what Rita should be as an adult upper-middle-class woman: like Mrs. Klammer, for example, she should be shallow and passive, the height of her self-actualization being a series of opulent parties for an arbitrarily determined group of people from the (high) society, which should have the aura of the elite, but would primarily serve particular subjective interests. Such a group has no interest in deeper emotions and higher ambitions – by putting herself in a mental hospital, where she has extensive and cynical debates with a psychiatrist about her many illnesses and symptoms, Rita is actually mocking the typical 20th-century scene: the hysterical woman on the couch, the entranced psychoanalyst next to her. Since Rita is the one directing the discourse, it is not her psychiatrist Puhar who will win, but her: he is exposed as a self-absorbed, backward man who is still convinced that the meaning of life arises from following a vocation – for women, this is only in the context of a partnership and children.

Content bluffing is also supported by stylistic counterpoint, which brings it closer not only to noble postmodernism, but also to postmodernity. In expanding the various narrative levels, the dominant style and voice remain that of the narrator, who is meanwhile still developing. The counterpoint emerges at the intersection of describing the world, especially the behaviour of the characters (Mrs. Klammer, Jež in all appearances, Rita’s peer Anja), and commenting on this behaviour and its interpretation, which is often cynical. In doing so, various Slovenian proverbs and sentences are often adapted not only from folk culture, but also from commercials and the Internet. Counterpointing is not about demonstrating mastery of language, but about revealing the metaphorical-metonymic layers through which language can work – instead of the author, the language itself is in the foreground, which the author merely illuminates.

The novel Cocooned is a polemical text due to its strong and at the same time underlying social criticism, as it condemns a certain type of (petty) bourgeoisie. By handing over the narrative to a doubly marked individual (through gender and through personal aspirations), the novel offers a challenging alternative to male narration, exposing it as limited. Above all, the novel Cocooned is a text that is not aimed at a certain type of readership, nor at common values, but rather encourages individual experiences through an individualized character.