Gaps in the Narrative of Modernist Poetry. Its Function and Ways of Interpretation

Abstract

Modernist poetry frequently relies on narrative gaps. Taking Slovak lyric poetry as a case study, this paper examines the function, structure, and representation of these gaps, demonstrating that they serve as a central meaning-making device in modernist poetry, which is largely founded on the unsaid. Furthermore, it addresses the representation of character, highlighting how female figures are often depicted as incomplete, thereby embodying narrative gaps in themselves. It shows the narrative pattern that recurs across multiple modernist poems: the depiction of an unknown woman observed by the poem’s speaker. The study presents the lyric narrative as inherently fragmentary, positioning narrative gaps as a constitutive component of its structure. Although the research focuses specifically on Slovak modernist poetry from the beginning of the twentieth century, its conclusions hold broader validity for modernist poetry as such. Ultimately, the modernist gap emerges as both an aesthetic strategy and a historical symptom as well.