The Role of Gaps in Character Identity Construction

Abstract

Being one of the most essential elements of the narrative, the character is shaped in its construction not only by the information present in the text but also by the existence of gaps. Taking Wolf Schmid’s definition of the gap as a starting point, this article proposes a differentiation between two fundamental types of character-related gaps. Beyond those gaps that refer to the character’s characterization, omissions that impact the character’s ontological status also emerge. The article aims to show how gaps influence the construction of the character to such a great extent that its identification is affected to the point of non-identification. By analyzing the text of the novel Mein Name sei Gantenbein (1954) by Max Frisch, I demonstrate that gaps can hinder the possibility of identifying the character and, therefore, his ontological status.