͹ͳ ͺʹͳ.ͳ͸͵.Ͷʹ‐͵ͳ.Ͳͻ ACONCEPTUAL MNEMOTOPE OF OS)JEK )N JASNA (ORVAT'S BIZARIJ Andrijana Kos‐Lajtman, )vana Buljubašić University of Zagreb, Croatia, J. J. Strossmayer University of Osijek, Croatia Abstract: The novel Bizarij (2009) preserves the cul‐ tural memory of the town of Osijek, while recycling fac‐ tion through fiction just as the author has done in her other novels (Az, Auron, Vilikon). We approach the novel as a post‐OULIPO (Ouvroir de littérature potentielle) narrative that shapes a conceptual romanesque struc‐ ture, primarily as grammatical code for subordinate conjunctions and their dependent and independent cla‐ uses in the Croatian language. Apart from the gramma‐ tical code for the structure of the novel and its con‐ ceptualization, as well as its 15 chapters, the novel pro‐ vides important ties between the narrators and the characters, and their elaborate distribution. A key figure is the phantasmagorical character of Isabella von Habs‐ burg, functioning as the novel’s recurrent theme, but also a Lacanian‐like point de capiton. The conceptualiza‐ tion of the romanesque structure is also achieved by a further elaboration of the symmetry motif, used at sev‐ eral discourse layers in various ways. The symmetry exists in the distribution of the narrators’ voices, as a key order of narration. The novel has 15 different narra‐ tors, and particular importance is given to the intercon‐ nection between the characters and the narrators as well as their ties to the socio‐historic periods they be‐ long to. It is the very order of the characters and/or narrators through different criteria – gender, the his‐ toric period, their profession, and their ethnicity – that gives the convincing and credible multi‐layered cultural memory of the town of Osijek. At the same time, it de‐ constructs some established notions and prejudices, and yet builds new, possible ways of perceiving the town or its history. A distinct, narrative set of methods charac‐ teristic for a scientific, lexicographical discourse type additionally proves our ‘reading’ of Osijek as a cultural mnemotope. Keywords: Bizarij, Jasna Horvat, cultural memory, re‐ cycling of faction, mnemotope ). )NTRODUCT)ON The novel Bizarij ȋʹͲͲͻȌ, written by contemporary Croatian author Jasna (orvat, preserves the cultural memory of a region, by situating the stories of ͳͷ chap‐ ters into different historic periods of the town of Osi‐ jek, thus recycling faction through fiction in the same way this author has done through her other novels ȋAz, Auron, VilikonȌ. Although her narrative strategies characteristic for fictional texts are superior here when compared to those characteristic for non‐fic‐ tional texts, on the one hand, the documentary mate‐