Against that background, this paper demonstrates the need for a narratology that considers the interaction between narrativity and other modes, like lyricality. Next, the focus on lyricality reveals new interpretative possibilities for “Homunculi”. First, it situates the prose text in a wider tradition of lyrical, ritualistic texts. Approaching “Homunculi” with lyricality as an interpretative lens has theoretical as well as analytical advantages. The focus on lyricality enables a working definition of the ritualistic. Formally, the ritualistic is memorable, non-representational language. Semantically, it is characterised as an impersonal quality of language. The ritualistic involves both semantic and formal aspects. The ritualistic quality associated with this mode can be defined as a recurrent combination of lyrical tendencies.
I define lyricality as a literary mode that consists of lyrical tendencies, which can be realised in different ways. This article focuses on the lyrical elements in “Homunculi” and associates them with the ritualistic. Moreover, the text thematises rituals, which hints at the presence of a ritualistic quality that is often linked with lyrical texts. These features are conventionally associated with lyrical poetry, rather than with narrative texts. The title story of the collection mainly experiments with formal conventions: it foregrounds rhythmic repetition and musicality, and deviates from grammatical rules. The stories challenge narrative conventions. Homunculi (1967) is the first short story collection by the Flemish-Belgian experimental writer Claude C.
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