THE SUN IN TWO NOVELS BY IVAN CANKAR
This paper intends to cast some light on certain aspects of the motif of the Sun in two novels by Ivan Cankar, both on the basis of the frequency – absolute and relative – compared to other works and to other stars with which the Sun appears in the novels under examination and in relation to the context in which it is presented, to the attributes which accompany it and the continuity and development of its presence in the structure of the text.
For reasons of space not all the passages in which the Sun is mentioned have been quoted, but only those considered most significant and explicative of the question.
Per HMP (The House of Mary Help of Christians) 56 occurences of the Sun were identified, for MK (Martin Kačur: Biography of an idealist) 58. This number seems extremely high both if compared to the number of times the moon is mentioned (2 and 1 respectively) or other stars (10 and 3) and if compared to appearances of the Sun in other novels of more or less the same length, Slovene and non, from the same period, and taking into consideration their contents. Analysis of the most significant occurrences of the Sun has made it possible to clarify that in both novels under consideration only occasionally is its value purely astronomical or phraseological, whereas almost all of the time its role is more significant to the narrative, generally echoing the feelings of the characters, their dreams and their development. For other stars the opposite tendency was noted.
