In Search of Emotions in The Illiterate by Agota Kristof

Abstract

In The Illiterate, Agota Kristof describes eleven important moments in her life where she exceeded various borderlines: she crossed temporal, spatial, linguistic, and identity frontiers. Although her writing is extremely simplified and devoid of expressivisms, this text arouses very strong emotions. The purpose of this communication is to review the linguistic means by which “The Illiterate” expresses and inspires emotions among its readers.