From Space to Place in G. Plesea’s Novel Bitter Be Thy Bread

Abstract

The main goal of the present study is to analyze—from a cultural studies perspective—the debut novel Bitter Be Thy Bread (Aruncă pâinea ta pe ape) of the Romanian-American writer Gabriel Plesea. To this end, the concepts of ‘space’ and ‘place’ will be first decoded and then applied to the aforementioned novel. Special emphasis will be placed upon the process of exile and its representation in the book as a transition from the individual’s sense of alienation to a subsequent rediscovery of one’s true identity.