Sentence Length in Two Novellas by Judith Katzir

This study deals with the special structure of two novellas by Judith Katzir, "Light-houses inland" and "And the clouds are floating, floating." Although both were written and published in 1998, a key syntactic feature of each sentence length is quite distinct. While in the first one the sentences are notably long, in the second one they are remarkably short. Usually interpreted as a subconscious clement of an author's style, this article contends that in these two works by Katzir, sentence length is employed as a conscious tool. The author chooses the language rhythm according to the rhythm of the events.

One goal of short sentences is to introduce quick consecutive actions, creating a "staccato" rhythm. In contrast, long sentences are used to describe the hero's meandering thoughts, skipping from present activities to past events. Another reason for this peculiar difference is the adoption of syntax as a device characterizing the hero—while the first story is told by an elderly man, the second one is told by a young woman. It seems that the writer is especially sensitive to the adaptation of the language structure to the hero's personality and the novel's contents.