Melancholy and Metamorphosis: The Self-Dissolving Aesthetics of László Krasznahorkai

Abstract

This paper examines the poetics of decay and the philosophy of language in the oeuvre of László Krasznahorkai, arguing that his prose unfolds as a sustained process of transformation, repetition, and self-reflection. His novels appear as variations on a single metaphysical theme—the impossibility of total expression and the ceaseless reconfiguration of meaning. Through recurring motifs and shifting perspectives, Krasznahorkai’s writing enacts the tension between the longing for linguistic precision and the inevitable failure of language to convey transcendence. Ruin emerges as a central metaphor, embodying both existential disintegration and aesthetic renewal. In dialogue with Anselm Kiefer’s visual art and Albrecht Dürer’s Melencolia I, Krasznahorkai’s work aligns with a Romantic and post-metaphysical tradition, thus also connecting to Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic visions—where melancholy functions as a generative creative force. Ultimately, Krasznahorkai’s art reveals a poetics of perpetual self-dissolution, where what collapses philosophically is redeemed through aesthetic form.