Bridges we built... Ex-Yugoslavian literature

[Mladen]

I have considered for a while how to celebrate my 10 000th post, and since this idea has been pondering on my mind for quite some time, I decided to finally make it reality.

Talking with fellow ex-countrymen on the board, we came to conclusion that we should represent our nations in the best possible way. Removing the stench of war crimes, atrocities and sad part of our history with all accompanying stereotypes from the good names of the former Yugoslav republics became sort of a mission of mine, and after introducing some of the posters with our natural beauties, cuisine and music, literature of course is the next step. I was fortunate enough to find some other interested individuals who will help me in presenting you some of our finest authors and their works. For, the six ex-Yugoslav republics have so much to offer in terms of literary works created throughout the centuries of our past.

From the folk poems celebrating the fight for freedom to the novels, dramas and lyric poetry that profoundly examine human nature, I believe that many of you will find a lot to read. We will try to be as wide as we can presenting some perhaps unknown literary works, giving perhaps the full scope of what literature in Balkan looks like. We also invite you to ask us anything you want, give us your sincere opinions and perhaps some suggestions. Without some specific order, we will talk about some pieces that personally have affected us.

With hope you will find this thread satisfactory, allow me to welcome you and wish you good reading.

[Mladen]

For the beginning of this thread, I thought of presenting, in couple of sentences for each, two of my favorite Serbian writers. These two gentlemen have been truly the peak of literary work in the time they created, and they are Ivo Andric and Petar II Petrovic Njegos

The work of Ivo Andric is probably the most known to foreigners given that he is the only Nobel Prize Winner from the area of ex-Yugoslavia (received it in 1961 for his work on the novel "The Bridge on Drina"). Andric's work is something so wonderful and amazing that he certainly, without any doubt deserves the title of the best he so proudly had during his life. I am not literary critic, but what I can say about his work is that he has wonderful ability to speak about the ordinary people. His heroes are so memorable due to their extraordinary ordinary lives. They are plainly men and women found in times of war between great forces, occupation and their own personal struggles. Andric taught us, perhaps like GRRM did in ASOIAF, that "the boot is the boot" no matter who is wearing it and that being occupied by Turks or Germans doesn't differ a lot. He taught us about immortality of the art, wonderfully seen in his novel "The Bridge on Drina" where a piece of architecture is a witness to all the pains throughout the centuries the people around it have suffered. There are so many great things to say about Andric, but alas, I will end here, with some words of wisdom from Mr. Andric:

One shouldn't be afraid of the humans. Well, I am not afraid of the humans, but of what is inhuman in them.

Between the fear that something would happen and the hope that still it wouldn't, there is much more space than one thinks. On that narrow, hard, bare and dark space a lot of us spend their lives.

From everything that man erects and builds in his urge for living nothing is in my eyes better and more valuable than bridges. They are more important than houses, more sacred than shrines. Belonging to everyone and being equal to everyone, useful, always built with a sense, on the spot where most human needs are crossing, they are more durable than other buildings and they do not serve for anything secret or bad.

In this society we all suffer, men and women alike, but the roles are divided in this way: When we suffer because of women, it is always because women are not the way we want them to be. When women suffer because of us, it is always because we are the way we are. But most importantly, we all suffer and torture ourselves very often, for a very long time, very cruelly and meaninglessly.

What doesn’t hurt – is not life; what doesn’t pass – is not happiness.

On the other hand, Petar II Petrovic Njegos is someone who speaks about that heroic, that eternal in humans. His opus is amazing going from "The Mountain Wreath" in which he speaks about the fight for freedom to "The Ray of Microcosm" which is basically Njegos' "Lost paradise" or Dante's "Divine Comedy". Njegos, although became controversial due to misinterpretation of his work during 1990s, was truly a beacon of Serbian literature and someone, if you are patient enough, you should all read.

The quotes of Njegos will come soon, when I go through of my English version of "The Mountain Wreath"

[sologdin]

good thread.

most of the ex-pats whom I know in the US (including supruga) have appreciated hemon's lazarus project (as a non-immigrant, hemon did not affect me in the same way). I've enjoyed pavic.

i rather liked the day tito died: contemporary slovenian short stories.

received as a gift a fantastic photography book (in english): extraordinary slovenia from some friends abroad.

everyone should read tito's cookbook, of course!

supruga is big fan of selimovic.

[Lummel]

Tito's cookbook?

I enjoyed the Milorad Pavic that I've read, Ivo Andric is on my mind as somebody to read (and has been for at least twenty years, perhaps my dying thought will be, I ought to have seen the Docter afterall read The Bridge on the Drina), still fancy reading some Milovan Djilas though I suppose that doesn't count as literature.

[Mladen]

Thanks, sologdin...

I had terrible first experience with Pavic in high school, but when I read it a year ago, I was so in love it... One of those books you simply have to bow to

And I am also a huge fan of Selimovic, and "Death and the Dervish" has really impacted me...

Tito's cookbook?

I enjoyed the Milorad Pavic that I've read, Ivo Andric is on my mind as somebody to read (and has been for at least twenty years, perhaps my dying thought will be, I ought to have seen the Docter afterall read The Bridge on the Drina), still fancy reading some Milovan Djilas though I suppose that doesn't count as literature.

Oh, yeah... There is a Tito's cookbook which proved us that in those happy times, we weren't exactly all equals :)

Lummel, I am sorry, but you have to read Andric. You are like Andric-soul of the General ASOIAF forum (or that is how I see you). And if you don't, I promise I will mention it in your eulogy...

[sologdin]

djilas is great. rebecca west has the definitive outsider travelogue.

tito's cookbook: http://www.amazon.com/Titos-Cookbook-Anja-Drulovic/dp/8674364772

[Larry.]

I'm not of Yugoslav descent, but I am very interested in the literature produced by those that are. Enjoyed Andrić, Pavić, and Selimović (read in translation) and have learned the rudiments of the language(s) enough to read (very slowly, with a dictionary or translation on hand) Goran Petrović, Zoran Živković, David Albahari, and Danilo Kiš. Recently started Miroslav Krleža's Hrvatski Bog Mars for a WWI-related reading/review project and the stories are excellent so far.

But there's always much more to read, so I'll be paying close attention to this thread (it even got me to log in to post for the first time in a long while).

[Buckwheat]

Thanks for starting the thread, Mladen!

Will read it carefully later and add some thoughts. :)

[Buckwheat]

Hmmm, well, I am pretty sure most of Slovene books are not translated into English or any other languages most users of this site understands. But I would mention Alamut by Vladimir Bartol, as I happen to know that this is the Slovene novel that has been translated in most other languages. And in my opinion, it also has the most compelling storyline of those that I have read. I need to mention that it is far from "representative" of a classic Slovene piece of literature, though.

The story is set in mediaeval Persia, on the fortress called Alamut. Young Tahir wants to join the elite assassin force there and gets admitted to the castle. In the other storyline, we follow Halima, an unknowing girl who has been brought into a beautiful garden among a group of other girls, who are now being spoilt and trained only to do one, that is to please men. And above all, there is the controlling mastermind of the religious and military leader Ibn Saba with his unique philosophy and the ability to trick others into believing what he shows them and make them do as he wants.

It is a story about power struggle, manipulations and illusions and what people will do for the things they believe are worthy. The style of the language is really simple (probably part of the reason the book was also successful in other countries - easier to translate), but the story is amazing.

In this society we all suffer, men and women alike, but the roles are divided in this way: When we suffer because of women, it is always because women are not the way we want them to be. When women suffer because of us, it is always because we are the way we are.

Well that was not nice of him. :P

[Mladen]

Well that was not nice of him. :P

I like that quote... Perhaps I am misinterpreting it, but he gives women more credit than might appear :)

OK, for the poetry fans here, I recommend Serbian 19th and 20th century poets (I will be looking for some of the poems written by these poets translated in English)

Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj

Djura Jaksic

Branko Radicevic

Laza Kostic

Jovan Ducic

Milan Rakic

Vladislav Petkovic Dis

Aleksa Santic

Branko Miljkovic

Desanka Maksimovic

Vasko Popa

I hope I will find some of the best poems translated in English and that I will be able to post them here... But, you have names and wiki links for start...

[Buckwheat]

I like that quote... Perhaps I am misinterpreting it, but he gives women more credit than might appear :)

Well, that is just one quote, and the other sections of the novel might be different.

But for me that is not a nice quote. :P Let us not concentrate this thread on that though.

Have some Prešeren in English. Actually the German version has some other poems too, and a longer part of the Baptism.

[honeyed chicken]

So where would you suggest a total outsider start in order to be introduced to the region and its literature?

I take it that Tito's Cookbook is not about cooking?

[Buckwheat]

So where would you suggest a total outsider start in order to be introduced to the region and its literature?

I take it that Tito's Cookbook is not about cooking?

Well probably just with any of the texts mentioned here ... there is not one "literature" of the region. I must admit I know nothing but Slovene literature here. They are all different. Hell, I could not tell what is totally typical for Slovene literature and cannot name one representative title that somehow represents it all. Because it is just a bunch of texts connected by what language they were written in originally. So you can start wherever. :P

And yes, Tito's Cookbook is partly a real cookbook. :)

[sologdin]

the cookbook is culinary arts and history: the intersection occurs at marshal tito's state dinners. there's a narrative of the diplomacy and a recipe. good photographs for both aspects.

[DormeDwayne]

I'm sorry to go slightly off-topic, but Buckwheat, are you by any chance Slovene?

As for Slovene literature, I would add Ivan Tavčar's Autumn Blossoms, which I know has been translated into English. Bartol's Alamut is an excellent suggestion, but Tavčar is more typical of the older school of Slovene literature. As for folk tales, I believe Janez Trdina's Tales from Gorjanci's Hills has been translated into English.

[Buckwheat]

I'm sorry to go slightly off-topic, but Buckwheat, are you by any chance Slovene?

As for Slovene literature, I would add Ivan Tavčar's Autumn Blossoms, which I know has been translated into English. Bartol's Alamut is an excellent suggestion, but Tavčar is more typical of the older school of Slovene literature. As for folk tales, I believe Janez Trdina's Tales from Gorjanci's Hills has been translated into English.

Yup, there are some of us on the forum. ;) You too?

Autumn Blossoms is so saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad ... makes me depressed. :crying: But yes, it defnitely is more typical - farm environment of upper Carniola, descriptions of farming, village festival ... obviously. (I am personally not a fan of it.)

I have not read Trdina in a long time, and I remember I was not too thrilled with Tales from Gorjanci, but then that was in primary school. :dunno: Might be I would like them better now.

If anybody wants something more "typical" - meaning descriptions of village life, with farmers and their lives, usually without wider political stories, but with lots of praising the beautiful nature of the home landscape, I would recommend the author Janko Kersnik most. I like Kmetske slike / Farm Pictures (???). Only I cannot find any translated edition of it, which probably means there is none.

[DormeDwayne]

Yes, me too! I'm so happy, I thought I was the only one :)

As for 'typical' rural Slovene literature, Feri Lainšček has been translated into English, I believe. That might be a good place to start, too. Fair warning, though - as Buckwheat mentioned, most Slovene literature is melancholic at best.

[Buckwheat]

"Melancholic" is a generous word here. :lol:

For who wants to laugh at their literature, I would recommend two dramas by Ivan Cankar:

Za narodov blagor (For the Good of the Nation) is a political satire mainly making fun of those politicians that change which party they root for on a whim.

Pohujšanje v dolini šentflorjanski (Sin in the Valley of St. Florian ???? - no idea how to explain that title in English) is well ... just absurd.

Alas, the combined efforts of amazon and cobiss cannot find an English translation of any of dramas by Cankar.

Also I am probably the only one who actually finds those two funny. :leaving:

[Kobayashi Maru]

<Andric and Njegos>

Excellent choice Malden and great idea for the thread :) I will try to contribute as much as I can.

For starters those two gentlemen along with already mentioned Selimovic and Pavic are my favorite. I remember reading their books as mandatory reading in high school and falling in love with books and reading. They shaped me as a reader in some way and they set some pretty high standards when it comes to separating good literature from only ordinary literature.

Andric can set the atmosphere and surroundings in his novels that makes one feel as if they were right there in the book. All his characters are so real and he lets us gaze in their souls so deeply you feel like you've known them your whole life. I am yet to read Andric's book that I don't like. From Bridge on Drina to Jelena,woman who wasn't there,from Damned yard to Aska and the wolf...they were all superb. I especially like Aska even though it's only a short story. It's about a lamb who is faced with a wolf and to save it's life the lamb starts dancing (you might like this Buck) and she dances for her life...read the rest...

Mesa Selimovic was born in my home town,Tuzla and I grew up listening about him every time we passed by his house. I've only red his Dervish and the Death and I remember thinking to myself...this is the most beautiful thing I've ever red. The way the words were flowing of the page,the way he was forming the sentence it felt like music,it felt like closest to perfection I encountered.

Njegos' Mountain wreath is hard to read to some people but it's worth it. Some people see book written in verse and they give up. Too soon if you ask me. I cry every time I read sister's lament for a brother (part of which Mladen has as his signature).

Reading Pavic is like reading magic. Even when he writes about ordinary everyday situation it sounds like magical world. I love it. I like Hazar dictionary very much,but my absolute favorite is a collection of his short stories named Horses of St. Marco (it's the title of one of the stories in the book).

I also feel folk poems you've mentioned should be represented here too. During the five Centuries Serbia was under Ottoman Empire and during this time those song preserved our language. One of my favorite was about Banovic Strahinja. These songs are how we describe them prose in verse. The verse is 10 syllable one. They are divided in five cycles depending on what is the theme of the song.

But for me that is not a nice quote. :P Let us not concentrate this thread on that though.

Are you kidding me he practically said both women and men suffer because of men and their flaws and expectations and not because of women. He basically said women are perfect. Don't get what's wrong with that?

So where would you suggest a total outsider start in order to be introduced to the region and its literature?

I take it that Tito's Cookbook is not about cooking?

Cookbook was mostly about cooking though.

[Buckwheat]

Are you kidding me he practically said both women and men suffer because of men and their flaws and expectations and not because of women. He basically said women are perfect. Don't get what's wrong with that?

I did not understand it that way, I think it implies that women are supposed to be the way men want them to be.

But I really do not want to argue over that. :)