The Subtypes of Second-person Narration according to Monika Fludernik in Italo Calvino’s novel “If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler”

Abstract

The article examines the functioning of second-person narration in Italo Calvino’s novel “If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler” (1979). The aim of the study is to analyze the subtypes of second-person narration identified by Monika Fludernik, their realization in the text, their interaction with one another, and their influence on the construction of the reader’s experience. The analysis demonstrates that the novel employs four of the six subtypes of second-person narration distinguished by Fludernik: generalized “you”, reader-addressee “you”, character “you”, and observer “you”. Each subtype performs a specific narrative function; however, its significance is determined not by autonomous existence but by a complex system of interaction with the others. These subtypes do not replace one another sequentially but coexist, overlap, and intertwine throughout the text. Drawing on D. Herman’s concept of double deixis, the article shows that the second-person pronoun simultaneously addresses both the Reader-character and the implied reader. The further complication of this structure leads to the emergence of multiple deictic ambiguity and immersive second-person narration, described by A. Bell and A. Ensslin. The study concludes that second-person narration in Calvino’s novel not only constructs a new type of reader, combining immersive involvement with reflective awareness of the reading process, but also anticipates the hypertextual and ludic logic of digital culture, transforming the novel into a model of the transition from the printed book to a networked textual architecture.