ՄՈՆՏԱԺԸ ՈՐՊԵՍ ՊԱՏՈՒՄԻ ԿԱԶՄԱԿԵՐՊՄԱՆ ԿԱՌՈՒՑՎԱԾՔԱՅԻՆ ՍԿԶԲՈՒՆՔ ՄԱՅՔԼ ՔԱՆԻՆԳՀԵՄԻ ԱՐՁԱԿՈՒՄ («ԺԱՄԵՐԸ» ԵՎ «ԸՆՏՐՅԱԼ ՕՐԵՐ» ՎԵՊԵՐԻ ՕՐԻՆԱԿՈՎ)

Abstract

This article examines montage as a fundamental narrative principle of postmodern fiction. Drawing on Jean-François Lyotard’s critique of metanarratives, David Harvey’s analysis of postmodern fragmentation, and Jacques Derrida’s theory of collage, the study argues that postmodernism does not eliminate narrative but radically restructures it, replacing unified explanation with heterogeneous, localized, and fragmented narrative forms. Meaning emerges not through the organization of linear cause-and-effect relations, but through juxtaposition and repetition. Within this theoretical framework, the article analyzes Michael Cunningham’s The Hours (1998) and Specimen Days (2005) as paradigmatic examples of literary montage. Cunningham rejects singular narration by juxtaposing temporally and culturally disconnected lives, destabilizing identity and continuity through recurring characters and motifs that function as fragments rather than coherent unities. Through the strategy of positioning these narrative units within a single textual space, montage becomes a central condition of the postmodern work’s existence.