With the People from the Bridge
English edition
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| Author | Dimitris Lyacos |
|---|---|
| Original title | Με τους ανθρώπους από τη γέφυρα |
| Translator | Shorsha Sullivan |
| Cover artist | Gudrun Bielz |
| Country | Greece |
| Language | Greek |
| Series | Poena Damni |
| Genre | World literature, Postmodernism |
| Publisher | Shoestring Press |
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Publication date
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2014 |
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Published in English
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2014 |
| Pages | 64 |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | Z213: Exit |
| Followed by | The First Death |
With the People from the Bridge (Greek: Με τους ανθρώπους από τη γέφυρα) is the second part of the Poena Damni trilogy by Greek author Dimitris Lyacos. The book deals with the theme of loss and the return of the dead in the context of Christian teleology. The text is encased in a post-theatrical ritual drama form, drawing on various philosophical and literary sources as well as ancient and modern Greek folklore. The plot-line centers around an Orpheus-like journey of the main protagonist LG who joins his deceased companion in the grave and is subsequently led by her to a liminal realm ahead of the imminent Resurrection Day. The work has been categorized by critics to belong to both the Modernist and the Post-Modernist tradition, while at the same time bearing strong affinities to a variety of canonical texts, among others Homer, Dante, Kafka, Joyce and Beckett.
With the People from the Bridge follows the main line of narrative of Z213: Exit, the first book of the Poena Damni trilogy. The work opens with a first-person account of the narrator of Z213: Exit, who recounts his arrival at a derelict train station named Nichtovo in search of a place where, he has been told, an improvised performance is being staged by, what appear to be, a band of social outcasts. The narrator joins the few members of the audience present and goes on to record in his journal the setting as well as the events taking place "on stage” as the performance is about to begin. A group of four women in the role of a and three other protagonists (LG, NCTV, Narrator) are making their final preparations in front of a dilapidated car among machine parts and the noise of a generator. As the lights "on stage" are lowered the performance sets off with the Chorus's opening monologue followed in turn by the sequence of recitations of the other characters. The story unfolds during the timeline of a calendar day dedicated to the dead, a kind of All Souls' Day or Saturday of Souls. The plot-line originates in the Bible incident (Mark, 5:9), according to which the Gerasene demoniac begs Jesus to spare him from his torments. In the play enacted, LG assumes and expands on the role of the demoniac, recounting his past condition and describing how he has ended up taking residence in a cemetery. In a kind of simultaneous narration, LG recounts how he has opened the grave of his deceased companion (NCTV), prompted by voices he has been hearing. He enters, finds her body inside and feels compelled to stay with her, eventually making the realization that she is gradually coming back to life. Meanwhile, the Chorus are making preparations in anticipation of the yearly visit of their deceased kin and LG and NCTV eventually join them after having broken off from a crowd of revenants aroused on the occasion of the Soul Saturday. As the day comes to an end, LG and NCTV leave and become again part of the crowd they had broken off from. Despite trying to hold on to each other they are finally absorbed in an indefinite collective of souls moving ahead and cross “the bridge between the worlds" as a Christian-like resurrection appears on the horizon. The book concludes with the epilogue of the on-stage(internal) Narrator recounting the process by which a mob gathered in a cemetery unearths two bodies, ritually “killing” the female by driving a stake in her chest, in a manner akin to handling vampires in the Slavonic tradition. A final narrative twist is offered by the presence of a tabloid clipping which delivers the reader back to a stark and gruesome every-day reality.
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