“A very long, unpredictable, and illogical route.” The Cosmogonical Mash-Up of Primo Levi’s The Truce

Abstract

This article highlights and analyzes the cosmogonical motifs in Primo Levi’s The Truce. Based on six different motifs, it underlines the role of creation myths in Levi’s attempt to polymerize his cultures. Levi sets a temporal concept “figure” and, by fusing different mythologies, epitomizes the epochal shift between pre- and post-Auschwitz, between Poland and Belarus. The intertextual dialogues between Biblical and classical literature create a significant and highly symbolic backdrop for Levi’s picaresque adventures during his return to Turin, signifying his first attempt to combine reality with literature, myth, and fiction.