Costas Montis’ Afentis Battistas etc.: Narrative as a Defeat

Abstract

In his novel Afentis Battistas etc. (1980) Kostas Montis gives a mythical aspect to his personal experiences as well as the collective experiences of the Cypriot people. All the while, the author-narrator struggles with the possibilities of the narration and constantly feels that the narrative escapes him, that it is the one leading the writing. At the end, he admits to the reader that the narrative fails to reach an outcome since he, himself, has failed to establish his ancestors’ identity.