״Traces of My Happiness's Gaze ״

Between Language as a Theme and Language as a Method in Shimon Adaf's Prose

Abstract

The relationship between language and the world is a major focus of Adaf's work, motivating many different processes. The voices of narrators and characters present different possibilities of speech-acts that reveal its mechanisms and make them accessible to readers. Along with the variety of speech-acts, human mechanisms that are embodied in the language but not conditioned upon it are also revealed. Inspired by Wittgenstein and Bakhtin's insights, the article focuses on Adaf's prose, seeking to discover the unique characteristics of its tongue and the existential insights it reveals. It examines the differences between methodical expressions and thematic expressions of language, the Adaf's prose characteristics that were inspired by the concepts of chronotope, Bakhtin's discourse and dialogue and the author's dominant voice in his works.