339-347

The persona of Phonissa and the Narrator: Some Comments.

• Παπαλεοντίου, Λευτέρης

Literary criticism has characterized the narrative persona of Papadiamandis' Phonissa through a variety of, sometimes contradictory, attributes: at times the author has been identified with the heroine and at others with the narrator. But there is no need to equate and identify the author either with the narrator or with the characters in the narration. In this article, it is claimed that the persona of Phonissa is justified in literary terms mainly because the heterodiegetic-extra diegetic narrator does not distance himself from her ironically; he does not comment on her, he merely shows her passions. Occasionally, in fact, he allows her «transparent mind» to dominate, her unarticulated discourse and her voice, through a consonant psycho-narration and with free indirect speech. It is with these considerations in mind that we must read the «open» ending of the novel: the death of Phonissa does not constitute a (condemnatory or theological) comment on the part of the author or the narrator. This is why, therefore, the heroine is left lost «between divine and human justice».

• Languages and Literature

• Φιλολογία