"Det är med förändringarna man mäter tidens gång" : Tid, rörelse och genre i Hjalmar Söderbergs Martin Bircks ungdom.

Sammanfattning: This essay consists of an inquiry into the concepts of “time” and “movement” in Hjalmar Söderberg’s second novel, Martin Bircks ungdom, as well as a discussion of what the consequences of this inquiry are with regards to genre. The analysis is based on close reading, an adaptation of Michail Bachtin’s concept of the “chronotope” and, to a lesser extent, the narratological work of Gérard Genette. Through the analysis an interpretation of the novel is formed. This interpretation is then related to genre theory, especially that of Bachtin and Tommy Olofsson. In the discussion of genre, the results of the textual analysis are found to corroborate the hypothesis that Bachtin’s “novel of experience” is the category and tradition that Martin Bircks ungdom should be placed into.