Seductive Lines: The Use of Horizontal Bars by Josipovici and Coetzee, and the Art of Seduction

Gabriel Josipovici's "Mobius the Stripper" and J. M. Coetzee's Diary of a Bad Year share one very distinct characteristic: both narratives employ horizontal bars to separate diferent veins of narrative. Yet, while Josipovici and Coetzee employ the lines for different purposes, the linguistic and visual play in the case of both fctions is the same. With help from Roland Barthes's comments on the nature of sexiness and striptease, the nature of these horizontal lines becomes clearer: these horizontal bars represent the "unseen" narrative behind the visible narrative, the seductive underlying stories that tempt the reader to piece together the separate narrative veins.