White In. White Out. The Noticeability of Text. Conspicuous Text

Authors

  • Sabine Frost Erfurt University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7557/13.1180

Keywords:

Snow, Whiteout, narrative texts,

Abstract

The term ‘whiteout' is usually understood as a weather condition in polar or mountain regions affecting visibility through diffuse lighting. In this case, however, the idea of ‘whiteout' is not merely taken as a motif, but as a way to describe disruptive effects in literary texts. The term ‘whiteout' is used here to point out how ‘snow'-in the broadest sense-pervades the structure and language of narrative texts from the 19th to the 21st century. The
texts in question deal with snowstorms and snow drifts; they send their protagonists on polar explorations and mountain expeditions; heros get lost in snow or suffer from extreme frost.

Author Biography

Sabine Frost, Erfurt University

Sabine Frost studied General and Comparative Literature at Erfurt University, Germany. She currently works in Berlin on her PhDthesis entitled Whiteout. Snow and Whiteness in Literature since 1800.

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Published

2008-02-01

How to Cite

Frost, Sabine. 2008. “White In. White Out. The Noticeability of Text. Conspicuous Text”. Nordlit, no. 23 (February):89-101. https://doi.org/10.7557/13.1180.

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Section

Articles