I. Introduction

While Gottfried von Strassburg’s Tristan and Isolde and Don DeLillo’s The Body Artist were written eight centuries apart, the narratives have a common theme. Both texts focus on the evolving relationship of two couples, and this relationship is embedded in the notion of distance. In each case, distance is a physical variable, as well as a psychological one. Gottfried’s Tristan and Isolde and Don DeLillo’s Lauren Hartke and Rey Robles undertake a similar journey, with regards to separation from one another and in their reactions to such separation.

We will look at the texts’ language, grammar, narrative structure and use of symbolism to analyze the relationship between distance, technology and communication in Tristan and Isolde and The Body Artist.

In both instances, this tri-fold relationship represents a chain of events around which the narrative is structured. Initially, communication between the characters establishes their relationship to one-another, and distance is the defining parameter of that relationship. Then, we observe how technology impacts this initial distance, as the relationship is altered. In the case of Tristan and Isolde, technology brings the couple together. When it comes to Lauren and Rey, technology tears them apart. Communication is used to convey the symbolism of that technology to the reader. Finally, through communication between the characters, or in reference to another character, a new relationship to distance is established, as each protagonist attempts to redefine-and make peace with- reality.