”kära hjärtanes HÖR INGEN MIG” Självreflexivitet och genrearv i Ellen Nordmarks Epos

This thesis examines how Ellen Nordmark’s Epos (2024) relates to the epic genre. Rather than
categorizing the work within a single, fixed genre, I employ close reading to analyze how it
comments on, questions, and reformulates conventions on the epic genre. Particular attention
is given to how Epos both reveals and reconfigures the epic tradition, and how the text
emphasizes oral and aural modes of expression. The thesis also considers the function of the
title Epos in relation to the work in how it creates expectations of genre and how these
expectations are both acknowledged and rejected. As a metaliterary text, Epos actively
negotiates with the legacy of the epic tradition while rethinking the genre through a
deterritorialized framework inspired by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. Ultimately, the essay
aims to illuminate how Epos, through its ironic self-reflexivity, multilingualism,
posthumanism, and (critique of) digitality, demonstrates the potential of the epic as a dynamic
and contemporary literary form.