The Chronotope of Enchantment

In this article Mikhail Bakhtin's conception of chronotopes, the interconnectedness of time and space in literature, is applied to explore how enchantment influences temporal and spatial relationships and the image of man in narrative. The article examines the ways in which enchantment changes man's relation to the human world and the otherworld, how it affects his perception, his sense of the body and its location in space, and his notions of time and of his personality. I utilize Swedish-language legends collected in Finland in the 1800s and 1900s as a case study. These legends are related to religious texts, which provide a basis for the construction of what might be labeled "the human chronotope." The religious concept of free will turns out to be an important component of this human chronotope.

Enchantment, in contrast, may be characterized as a subversion of those traits most intimately connected with the human chronotope, specifically as they are derived from the teachings of the Christian church. As a result, enchantment is a flying in the face of God and a denial of His power. Nevertheless it is the power of God that returns everything to normal and brings the enchanted individual back to the human, Christian realm through the process of disenchantment. Furthermore, in a Christian conception, human life is a twisted and distorted reflection of eternal life, which it cannot accurately reflect and fathom. The relationship of human life to eternal life is thus parallel to the relationship of enchantment to human life, and human life and enchantment do not seem so different from each other after all.