Přehled o publikaci

The paper analyses the concept of time, space and gender-transcending romantic love as portrayed in the novel The Stone Gods (2007) by Jeanette Winterson. The narrative consists of three interconnected stories set in various times and spaces that are bound together by a protagonist Billie/Billy Crusoe and his/her lover Spike/Spikkers who always fall in love in the most improbable places when facing economic or ecologic destruction. Even though the whole novel bears the signs of dystopia, it nevertheless includes multiple poetic passages that emphasize the human connection as the basis of humanity, even when one of the lovers is a Robo sapiens. Love is thus seen as an ultimate human and humanist feature that serves as a solid and stable point of reference in a world that often does not make sense. In the novel Winterson embraces human past and potential future and folds it into a fluid and omnipresent history of mankind and love without prejudice that is presented as the only meaningful alternative to consumerism, bigotry, or consumerism. The flourishing romance is also connected with attempts to save the last virgin lands and nature, the paradises that are threatened to be lost. Winterson thus brings back to life the Romantic connection between self, nature, love, and meaning, and contrasts it with the postmodern dystopian warning about the extent of ecological and political crisis mankind is facing.