1. art and entertainment
2. books and literature

“ZGODOVINSKOST LITERARNE NARACIJE: PRIMER EVROPSKEGA ZGODOVINSKEGA ROMANA”
“THE HISTORICITY OF LITERARY NARRATION: THE CASE OF THE EUROPEAN HISTORICAL NOVEL”
Mednarodna konferenca / International Conference
(program in povzetki referatov / programme and paper abstracts)
Slovensko društvo za primerjalno književnost
Slovenian Comparative Literature Association,
Oddelek za primerjalno književnost in literarno teorijo, Filozofska fakulteta, Univerza v Ljubljani
Department of Comparative Literature and Literary Theory, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana,
Inštitut za slovensko literaturo in literarne vede, ZRC SAZU
Institute of Slovenian Literature and Literary Studies, SRC SASA
Ljubljana, 27-28 November 2014
Prešernova dvorana ZRC SAZU (Novi trg 4)
Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Prešeren’s Hall (Novi trg 4)
UVOD / INTRODUCTION
Vanesa Matajc
Univerza v Ljubljani / University of Ljubljana
Pripoved, romanopisje, preteklost in zgodovina
Po M. Bahtinovi teoriji romana literarno vrsto roman še posebej opredeljuje nanašanje na
vsakokratno (nedovršeno) sodobnost oziroma na njena raznolika dojemanja resničnosti. Zato je
roman še posebej dovzeten za vsebinske in strukturne spremembe znotraj samega žanra. Te
vključujejo tudi spremembe v dojemanju preteklosti oziroma različne koncepte zgodovine. Roman jih
predstavlja oziroma (so)ustvarja v medbesedilnem razmerju do neliterarnih diskurzov, ki krožijo v
njegovi vsakokratni kulturi. Katere so pravzaprav te spremembe v sodobnem romanu, ki tematizira
preteklost in različne koncepte zgodovine v različnih podžanrih (od tradicionalnega in
modernističnega zgodovinskega romana, historiografske metafikcije v postmodernem zgodovinskem
romanu, romana, ki se nanaša na pričevanjsko literaturo, preko biografskega, avtobiografskega
romana, heterobiografije, dokumentarnega romana itn.)?
Sodobno mišljenje preteklosti opredeljuje pretežno poststrukturalistična paradigma. Del
postmodernega mišljenja in romana je (posebej v zahodni literarni kulturi) izrazil radikalen dvom o
možnosti dostopa do pretekle resničnosti in / ali predstavljal konec velikih zgodb zgodovine (npr. v
romanih, ki jih oblikuje historiografska metafikcija). Ob tem je treba upoštevati mednarodne
zgodovinske okoliščine v obdobju po II. svetovni vojni in nato po padcu berlinskega zidu, ki so na
različne načine izpostavile prav problem preteklosti in zgodovinopisja v različnih kulturnih skupnostih.
Mednarodni procesi politične emancipacije ali vsaj okrepljenih identitetnih konstrukcij različnih
nacionalnih in etničnih skupnosti ob izteku modernosti so poudarjali pomen zgodovinskih preteklosti
teh skupnosti, kar je bolj ali manj intenzivno soustvarjal tudi žanr romana (npr. zgodovinskega
romana ali romana, ki se v prevladi drugih žanrov nanaša na preteklost neke skupnosti). To zanimanje
romana za predstavljanje preteklosti se zdi razvidno na primer v okviru evropskih literarnih kultur
(slovenske, hrvaške, bosanske … , češke, slovaške … estonske, latvijske … katalonske, baskovske itn.)
in / oziroma v postkolonialnih literarnih kulturah (v prostorih Afrike, Bližnjega vzhoda, Indije, Latinske
Amerike, deloma Kanade in ZDA, deloma v prostorih, ki jih manj ali bolj opredeljuje postsovjetska
situacija itn.). Ob pomnoženih ideoloških interpretacijah preteklosti sta roman in znanstveno
zgodovinopisje v medsebojnih nanašanjih soustvarjala nove koncepte zgodovine oziroma metode za
predstavljanje preteklosti. Za tiste podžanre sodobnega romana, ki se nanašajo na preteklost, se zdijo
ključne zlasti tiste sodobne zgodovinopisne usmeritve, ki izpostavljajo na primer »male zgodbe«
posameznikov, osebno (pričevanjsko) doživljanje preteklosti, preteklost vsakdanjega življenja,
zamolčane zgodovine posameznih skupnosti (ustna zgodovina, mikrozgodovina, zgodovina vsakdana,
postkolonialno zgodovinopisje). S temi medbesedilnimi razmerji med sodobnim romanom in
sodobnim znanstvenim zgodovinopisjem se preteklost pomnožuje v različne koncepte zgodovine in
pojavlja kot polifonija interpretacij. Glede na Bahtinovo domnevo, da literarno vrsto roman
opredeljuje prav polifonija njegovih »jezikov« (ki se nanašajo na njegovo sodobnost), lahko sodobni
roman načeloma učinkovito soustvarja te sodobne, pomnožene koncepte zgodovine in se prenavlja z
vsebinsko-strukturnimi inovacijami, ki zajemajo zgodbo (vprašanje, katero vrsto zgodovinske zgodbe),
diskurz in raznolika medbesedilna razmerja, pripovedovalca, literarne karakterje, načine, kako se
predstavljajo (v čigavi perspektivi in / ali s čigavim glasom oziroma glasovi) itn. To je razberljivo v
sodobnih zgodovinskih romanih in v romanih drugih žanrskih dominant, ki se očitno navezujejo na
snov preteklosti.
Cilj mednarodne konference je analizirati vsebinsko-strukturne spremembe v modernih in sodobnih
romanih, ki se nanašajo na preteklost, ter jih primerjalno soočiti z vidika različnih literarnih kultur, v
katerih nastajajo. S primerjavo podobnosti in razlik lahko ta raziskava oblikuje preglednejšo podobo
sodobnega zgodovinskega romana in tudi posebnosti, ki jih ustvarjajo različni (tudi novejši) podžanri
sodobnega romana s snovjo preteklosti.
Narrative and Novel Writing, History and the Past
In respect of M. Bakhtin's theory of the novel, the novel as a literary genre seems to be characterized
especially by referring to its contemporary conditions that are susceptible to constant change and
openness to the future. Therefore, the novel reveals its extreme flexibility in forming thematicstructural changes and renewals of the literary genre. These changes also include changes in
considering the past, i.e. creating or accommodating different concepts of history. The novel
represents / creates them in the intertextual relations to the non-literary discourses that circulate in
the culture in which it appears. What actually are these changes that can be perceived in the
contemporary novel when it (re-)presents the past and different concepts of history in its different
sub-genres, such as the traditional and modernist historical novel, the post-modern historical novel
that appears as historiographical metafiction, the novel that refers to the literature of testimony, the
biographical, autobiographical and heterobiographical novel, the documentary novel, etc.?
Contemporary thinking about the past is predominantly characterized by the post-structuralist
paradigm. One direction of this post-modern thought and the novel (especially in the western literary
cultures) articulates the radical doubt concerning the possibility of accessing past reality and / or
intensively represents the end of the great narrations of histories (for example, in novels that are
structured as historiographical metafiction). However, international historical conditions in the
period after World War II and after the perestroika need to be taken into account too. These
historical conditions have pointed out the very problems with the past and the historiography of this
past in different cultural communities. International processes of (historical-political) emancipations
or at least the processes of strenghtening the identity constructions of different national, ethnic or
social communities at the end of modernity pointed out the meaning of their historical past. This
strengthened sense for history was more or less intensively co-created by the novel, either by the
genre of the historical novel or the novel which under the predominance of another sub-genre refers
to one community's past. This interest of the novel for re-presentations of history can be perceived,
for example, in the frameworks of European (national-)literary cultures, such as Slovenian, Croatian,
Bosnian … Czech, Slovak … Estonian, Latvian … Catalan, Basque, etc., as well as in the post-colonial
literary cultures on the territories of Africa, Latin America, Canada and the U.S.A., India, and in
cultural spaces that are more or less characterized by the post-soviet historical situation, etc.
Together with ideologically multiplied interpretations of the past, the novel and scientific
historiography in their mutual referring to each other have co-created new concepts of history, i.e.
the methods of representing the past. For those sub-genres of the contemporary novels that refer to
the past seem to be of crucial meaning especially those contemporary historiographical directions
that point out ,for example, the »small stories« of the individuums , a personal (testimonial)
experiencing of the past, the past of different everyday lives or life-stories, the suppressed histories
of different social communities or cultural minorities, such as oral history, micro-history, history of
everyday life, post-colonial historiography, etc. In these intertextual relations between the
contemporary novel and contemporary historiography, the past multiplies itself in different concepts
of history and appears as a polyphony of interpretations. In respect of Bakhtin's presupposition that
the novel as a literary genre is characterized by the polyphony of its »languages« (referring to its
contemporaneity), the contemporary novel can effectively co-create these multiplied concepts of
history, re-newing itself by thematical-structural innovations that include cathegories such as story
(different kinds of historical story), discourse and different intertextual relations, narrator, literary
characters and the ways in which they represent themselves (in whose perspective and / or by
whose voice(s)?), etc. This can be perceived in contemporary historical novels and in novels that
under the predominance of another sub-genre clearly refer to the past.
The aims of the international conference are to analyze the thematical-structural changes in modern
and contemporary novels that refer to the past and comparatively confront them in respect of the
literary cultures in which they appear. In comparing their similarities and differences, this research
can lead to a clearer image of the contemporary historical novel, as well as of the specialities
represented by different (and also newer) sub-genres of the novel that refer to the past.
POVZETKI REFERATOV / PAPER ABSTRACTS
Vladimir Biti
Univerza na Dunaju / University of Vienna
Zgodovina proti Spominu: domovina-v-premikih v izseljenskem pisanju Saše Stanišića in Ismeta
Prcića
Izseljenci se zde obsojeni na podvojeni nikjer. Domovina, ki so jo za vselej zapustili, obstaja le v
negotovih spominih, dežela, v kateri so se naselili, pa postaja vse prej kot domača. V tako posebni
resničnosti navadno domišljija izrinja zavest. Nekdanja in sedanja domovina, podvrženi vsiljeni
fikcionalizaciji, se začneta vznemirjajoče prekrivati, kar zabrisuje meje njunih identitet. Ob tako
obojestranski prostorski zmedi njuna spremešanost ustvari posebno konstelacijo après coup in déjà
vu vtisov, ki se pomnožujejo tudi v časovno izruvano domovino-v-premikih. V svojem prispevku bom
skušal predstaviti različne konfiguracije le-te v izseljenskem pisanju Saše Stanišića in Ismeta Prcića,
dveh nekdanjih Bosancev, ki zdaj pišeta v nemščini oz. ameriški angleščini. Ker njuna izgnanska zavest
ne more dospeti do nobene stalne destinacije ustaliti Ker njuna izseljenska zavest ne more dospeti
do nikakršne čvrste ustalitve ne v jezikovnem ne v kulturnem smislu, kakor utemeljujem, je
primorana v trajno tavanje, ki v končni fazi preobraža literaturo v begavoturo [literature ̶
loiterature], zaznamovano s ponavljajočim se in prekinjanim meandriranjem.
History vs. Memory: The Homeland-on-the-Move in the Exile Writing of Saša Stanišić and Ismet
Prcić
Exiles appear to be sentenced to a double nowhere. Their irrevocably abandoned homeland exists
only in uncertain memories, whereas the newly inhabited land comes to be all but familiar. In the
presence of such an extraordinary reality imagination usually replaces consciousness. Subjected to
enforced fictionalization, the past and the present homeland enter the process of a disquieting
overlapping which blurs their identity boundaries. Next to such mutual spatial dislocation, their
intermingling creates a peculiar constellation of après coup and déjà vu impressions, spawning also a
temporally uprooted homeland-on-the-move. In my contribution I will try to reconstruct the latter’s
various configurations in the exile writing of Saša Stanišić and Ismet Prcić, two former Bosnians now
writing in German resp. American English. Inasmuch as their exilic consciousness cannot reach any
firm destination neither in linguistic or cultural sense, my argument goes, it is forced to permanent
wandering which, in the final analysis, transforms literature into a loiterature characterized by a
repetitive and discontinuous meandering.
John K. Cox
Državna univerza v Severni Dakoti (ZDA), Fulbrightov štipendist na Univerzi v Szegedu / North Dakota
State University (USA), Fulbright fellow at the University of Szeged
Zgodovina kot književnost in književnost kot zgodovina: razmišljanje o zgodovinskosti pisanja
Erzsébet Galgóczi, Danila Kiša in Ismaila Kadareja
Dela nekaterih avtorjev iz komunističnih režimov je koristno preučevati z vidika zgodovinskosti, torej
kot zgodovinska dela in dela, ki so pisala zgodovino. Kadare, Kiš in Galgóczi so si podobni po tem, da
so v svojih delih v ospredje postavljali pomembna politična in zgodovinska vprašanja, pojave »iz
resničnega sveta«, s katerimi so se srečevali v svojem življenju; poleg tega so bili njihovi literarni
prispevki na nacionalni ravni (in širše, še posebno v primeru Kiša) epohalni zaradi inovacij ali drugih
posebnosti. Primerjava podobnosti in razlik v tematskih in formalnih značilnostih del teh piscev iz
zelo različnih okolij Albanije, Jugoslavije in Madžarske nam ponuja raznolike uvide v duhovno in
družbeno zgodovino (materialna kultura). Od otomanske okupacije in običajnega prava, prek
holokavsta in izginulega srednjeevropskega družbenega sloja, do kmetijskih reorganizacij in
trdovratne bede podeželja v eni od ljudskih demokracij se zdi, da bi bila dela teh treh odličnih
prozaistov lahko veliko bolj enotna, kot je videti na prvi pogled.
History as Literature and Literature as History: Thoughts on the Historicity of the Writings of
Erzsébet Galgóczi, Danilo Kiš, and Ismail Kadare
The work of certain authors in communist regimes can be usefully examined from the point of view
of historicity, that is, as both historical and history-making. Kadare, Kiš, and Galgóczi are all similar in
foregrounding in their works important political and historical issues, “real-life” phenomena that
they encountered in their own lives; in addition, their literary contributions, viewed at the national
level, (and beyond, especially in the case of Kiš) were epochal in innovation or other types of
importance. By comparing and contrasting the thematic and formal preoccupations of these writers
from the very different countries of Albania, Yugoslavia, and Hungary, we can gain quite varied
insights into both intellectual history and social history (material culture). From Ottoman occupation
and customary law, through the Shoah and a vanished stratum of Central European life, to the
agricultural reorganizations and stubborn rural misery of one of the people's democracies, the work
of these three great prose writers is arguably much more of a unity than might first appear.
Jeanne E. Glesener
Univerza v Luksemburgu / University of Luxemburg
Revizije nacionalne preteklosti v luksemburškem romanu po letu 1980
Osemdeseta leta 20.stoletja predstavljajo pomenljivo zarezo v luksemburški trijezični književnosti v
francoščini, nemščini in luksemburščini: nastop mlajše generacije piscev, ki si prizadeva prekiniti s
povojno estetiko predhodne generacije, sprosti ustvarjalno energijo brez primere v vseh žanrih, zlasti
v romanu. Dobesedno gre za čas novih začetkov, ki jih opredeljuje poudarek na novih tematikah in
snoveh, raziskovanje postmodernih pripovednih form in, nenazadnje, vzpon romana v
luksemburškem jeziku. Da slednji obravnava preteklost dežele v maternem jeziku, je bilo neizbežno,
vsekakor pa se ni pričakovalo, da to počne tako zelo nekritično. Zgodovinski diskurz v književnosti
tega časa se je še vedno spopadal z izkušnjo okupacije v tretjem rajhu in roman, večidel pisan v
nemščini, je obtičal v prevladujočem mitizirajočem diskurzu preživetja, ki so ga podpirale
konzervativne politične oblasti. Obenem je zabrisoval druge zgodovine, najočitneje zgodovino
priseljenskih skupnosti, ki v Luksemburgu obstajajo vse od vzpostavitve jeklarske industrije konec 19.
stoletja. Ta zgodovina je, skupaj z zgodovino Luksemburga v obdobju druge svetovne vojne, terjala,
da se jo napiše.
V svojem referatu se nameravam posvetiti povezavi med revizijskimi zgodovinskimi diskurzi in
tematsko-strukturno inovacijo v romanih schacko klak (1988) Rogerja Manderscheida in La mémoire
de la baleine (1993) Jeana Portantea. Medtem ko prvi, pisan v luksemburščini, prinaša subtilno
ponovno preučitev konfliktne zgodovine Luksemburga in Nemčije v 20. stoletju, drugi beleži
zgodovino italijanskih priseljencev od konca 19. stoletja, ki jo je nacionalna zgodovina doslej
zapostavljala. Kljub različnim vsebinam, sta si romana blizu na mnogih ravneh. V osnovi sta oba
prevprašujoča, z ozirom na takšno reprezentacijo preteklosti, ki vodi v širše koncepte nacionalne
zgodovine, segajoče onstran povsem nacionalistične agende. Na pripovedni ravni oba romana druži
dvojno-pripovedna struktura otroškega pripovedovalca in pisateljske figure, ki oba izvajata
pripovedovanje zgodbe/zgodovine. Ta struktura neizogibno vodi v opuščanje linearne pripovedi,
značilne za roman predhodne generacije, in v izgradnjo kompleksnega fragmentarnega pripovednega
ogrodja. Vprašanje, na katerega se osredinjam, je, kako se v revizijskih zgodovinskih diskurzih, ne
glede na kontekst in vsebino, struktura in oblika odražata v individualni subjektni poziciji in
identitetnih konstruktih.
Revisiting the nation’s past in the Luxembourgish novel from the 1980s onwards
The 1980s constitute a significant caesura in Luxembourg’s trilingual literature in French, German
and Luxembourgish: enter a young generation of writers whose endeavour to break with the postwar aesthetics of the previous generation leads to an unprecedented creative energy in all the
genres, especially the novel. It is quite literally a time of new beginnings marked by the emphasis on
new topics and themes, the exploration of postmodern narrative forms and last but not least the rise
of the novel in the Luxembourgish language. That the latter should explore the country’s past in the
mother tongue was inevitable; that it should do so in an eminently critical vain certainly was less
expected. Historical discourse in literature at the time was still trying to come to grips with the
experience of occupation by the Third Reich and the novel, mainly written in German, had got stuck
in a dominant mythologizing discourse of survival supported by conservative political positions. It
also blended out other histories and most notably that of the migrant communities whose existence
in Luxembourg dates back to the establishment of the steel industry at the end of the 19th century.
That history along with a revised history of Luxembourg during World War II clamoured to be
written.
In my presentation, I wish to examine the link between revisionary historical discourses and
thematic‐structural innovation in the novels schacko klak (1988) by Roger Manderscheid and La
mémoire de la baleine (1993) by Jean Portante. Whereas the first, written in Luxembourgish, offers a
subtle re-examination of Luxembourg’s conflicted history with Germany in the 20th century, the
second records the history of Italian immigration since the end of the 19th century, which had
hitherto been neglected by national historiography.
Despite their diverging subject matter these novels converge on many levels. Both feature
underlying interrogations as to the representation of the past which result in expanded concepts of
national history that reach beyond a purely nationalistic agenda. On the narrative level, both novels
share a dual‐narrative structure, carried by a child narrator and a writer figure who are both in
charge of (hi)story telling. This structure necessary leads to an abandonment of a linear time
narrative, characteristic of the novel by the previous generation, and the construction of a complex
fragmentary narrative framework. The question I shall be concentrating on is how, apart from
context and content, structure and form reflect on individual subject’s position and identity
constructs in revisionary historical discourses in literature.
Andraž Jež
Inštitut za slovensko literaturo in literarne vede ZRC SAZU / Institute of Slovenian Literature and
Literary Studies, SRC SASA
Nacionalna zgodovina ̶ orožje imperializma ali odpora zoper imperializem? Polifonija glasov v
Joyceovih »Kiklopih«
Članek se osredinja na dileme, ki jih odpira poglavje Joyceovega Uliksa Kiklop. V precep vzame zlasti
stališča do irskega nacionalnega preporoda in strategij konsenzualno nujnega odpora do britanskega
imperializma v začetku 20. stoletja. Ta se skozi prizmo polifonije glasov, ki na vseh ravneh interpolira
v osnovno problematiko poglavja (tj. Bloomov besedni dvoboj z gorečimi irskimi nacionalisti), kažejo
kot kompleksen sklop nastavkov, ki jih članek dalje razvija z joyceoslovjem, postkolonialnimi
študijami, predvsem pa z revizijo slednjih pri Slavoju Žižku, ki tudi teoretično utemelji dialektično in
na prvi pogled protislovno pozicijo Joyceovega pripovedovalca.
National History – A Weapon of Imperialism or of the Resistance Against It? Polyphony of Voices in
James Joyce’s “Cyclops”
The article deals with dilemmas, triggered by »Cyclops« chapter in James Joyce's Ulysses. It especially
stresses different positions on the Irish national revival as well as on the strategies of consensually
necessary resistance to the British imperialism at the beginning of the 20th century. Through the
polyphony of voices that interpolates the basic problematic of the chapter (i.e. Bloom's verbal duel
with ardent Irish nationalists) on all levels these positions appear as a complex set of possible starting
points that are developed later on in the article with the help of joyceology, postcolonial studies and
especially Slavoj Žižek's revision of the latter. Žižek unwillingly theoretically explains the dialectical
and seemingly controversial position of Joyce's narrator.
Benedikts Kalnacs
Inštitut za književnost, folkloro in umetnost, Univerza v Latviji / Institute of Literature, Folklore and
Art, University of Latvia
Velike postkomunistične pripovedi? Postkolonialni pogled na latvijsko zgodovinsko fikcijo
Referat se osredinja na tekstni in kontekstni vidik latvijskega zgodovinskega romana. S tekstnega
vidika se posveča (1) spremembam v pripovednem oblikovanju najsodobnejših besedil v primerjavi s
prejšnjimi pristopi. Opaziti je mogoče, kako postopoma stabilen pripovedni tok zgodovinskih
romanov bolj in bolj nadomešča fragmentarizacija in kako se pripovedovalčeva perspektiva oži; (2)
izbira vsebin odraža spremembe v pripovedi. Sodobna pripovedna proza se bolj kot na velike
zgodovinske figure in dogodke osredinja na podobe vsakdana, zgodovinske situacije pa so
predstavljene z vidika navadnih ljudi v vsakdanjih okoliščinah. Drugo perspektivo odpirajo vidiki
konteksta, ki opredeljujejo razvoj latvijske pripovedne proze. V tem oziru se bom posvetil (1) položaju
zgodovinskega romana v žanrski hierarhiji latvijske pripovedne proze. Utemeljujem, da je bil v
zgodovini latvijske književnosti zgodovinski roman dokaj marginalen pojav, naloga oblikovanja
nacionalne identitete pa je pripadla drugim, pretežno krajšim zvrstem pripovedne proze, sorazmerno
s primerjalno poznim vzponom latvijske fikcije; (2) v okviru te utemeljitve je pomembna predstavitev
širših, zlasti regionalnih in vzhodno-srednjeevropskih kontekstov. V ta proces bom vključil tudi
koncepte postkolonialne teorije. Za moje utemeljitve bo posebej pomembna misel, da so tako
imenovane velike zgodovinske pripovedi še vedno bistvenega pomena za tiste kulture, ki si
prizadevajo, da bi po izkustvu kolonialne travme odkrile svoje potlačene glasove, četudi ob nastopu
postmodernizma morda izgubljajo svojo moč.
Great Post-communist Narratives? A Postcolonial Perspective on Latvian Historical Fiction
The paper focuses on both textual and contextual aspects of Latvian historical novel. From the
textual point of view, the attention is paid to (1) the changes in the formation of narrative in most
recent texts compared to earlier approaches. It can be observed how gradually the stable narrative
flow of historical novels is more and more substituted by fragmentation and the perspective of the
narrator narrows; (2) the choice of plots mirrors changes in the narrative. Contemporary fiction
focuses more on the depiction of the everyday instead of great historical figures and events, and
historical situations are represented as seen through the perspective of ordinary people in everyday
circumstances. Another perspective is provided by contextual aspects which determine the
development of Latvian fiction. In this respect I will concentrate (1) on the position of the historical
novel in the genre hierarchy of Latvian fiction. I argue that the historical novel has been a rather
marginal phenomenon in the history of Latvian literature, and the task of the identity formation of
the nation has been also ascribed to other, predominantly shorter fictional forms thus to a degree
reacting to the comparatively late rise of Latvian fiction; (2) within this line of argument, it is
substantial to introduce broader, especially regional and East-Central European contexts. I will also
involve concepts of postcolonial criticism in this process. Especially important for my argument will
be the idea that, even if the so-called great historical narratives might be losing their strength with
the advent of postmodernism, their presence is still crucial in those cultures that are trying to
recover their suppressed voices after having experienced the trauma of colonialism.
Seta Knop
Univerza v Ljubljani/ University of Ljubljana
Med zgodovinskim in biografskim: porevolucionarna Rusija v dokumentarnem primežu Danila Kiša,
Jurija Trifonova in Lada Kralja
Prispevek se osredotoča na različne pripovedne tehnike, ki so jih v svojem pristopu k zgodovinski
tematiki (v vseh treh primerih gre za Rusijo v dvajsetih in tridesetih letih prejšnjega stoletja)
uporabljali Danilo Kiš v zbirki pripovedi Grobnica za Borisa Davidoviča (1976), Jurij Trifonov v leto
pozneje objavljenem Starcu in Lado Kralj v letos izdanem romanu Če delaš omleto. Za izhodišče
jemlje Kiša, ki je v vseh svojih delih tematiziral prav način združevanja fikcije in resničnosti in se pri
izmuzljivem odnosu med njima obilo zatekal k (psevdo)dokumentarnim postopkom, ki so s prepletom
pravih in lažnih likov, imen, dogodkov in pričevanj mejo med njima, če jo je sploh mogoče potegniti,
dokončno zabrisali. Na podlagi njegove avtopoetike, ki jo je najbolj razdelal v Uri anatomije,
odgovoru na polemike ob izidu Grobnice, se prispevek loteva drugih dveh romanov, ki fikcijo
podobno kot Kiš »podpirata« tudi z dokumentarnim gradivom, obenem pa ju v nasprotju z njim druži
bolj izsledljiva biografskost, saj gre v obeh primerih za neke vrste roman s ključem. Razlike v tem,
kako se tega lotevata (pri Trifonovu temelji pripoved na spominskih drobcih, ki neizogibno razkrijejo
svojo rašomonsko plat, pri Kralju pa narativni potek razvojnega romana spodkopljejo elementi
nadnaravnega in fantastičnega), vodijo do spraševanja o tem, ali sploh obstaja kaj takega, kot je
objektivna resničnost, ali pa tisto »tako je bilo«, tako kot pri Kišu, kot takšno obstaja le v
romanesknem delu in je zgodovinska resničnost (ali pa bi bilo bolje reči: zgodovinska pravičnost)
dosežena šele z literarno mistifikacijo.
Between History and Biography: Post-revolutionary Russia in the Documentary Grip of Danilo Kiš,
Yury Trifonov and Lado Kralj
The paper focuses on the different narrative techniques used to approach historical subject-matter
(the Russia of the 1920s and 1930s) in the collection of stories A Tomb for Boris Davidovich by Danilo
Kiš (1978), the novel The Old Man, written just a year later by Yury Trifonov, and the novel When
Making an Omelette, written in 2014 by Lado Kralj. Its starting point is Danilo Kiš, who – in all of his
works – thematises the seamless merging of fiction and truth. Emphasising the elusive relation
between them, he makes abundant use of (pseudo)documentary sources which intertwine real and
fictional characters, names, events and testimonies, thus ultimately blurring the line between these
two spheres if there ever had been one. On the basis of his autopoetics as laid down in The Anatomy
Lesson, his answer to the polemics following the publication of the Tomb, the paper proceeds to the
other two novels, which also 'support' their fiction with documentary sources but share, in contrast
to Kiš, a more traceable biographical element, since both represent a kind of roman a clef. The
differences in their approach (Trifonov bases his narration on fragments of memory which inevitably
reveal their Rashomonic aspects, Kralj undermines the narrative course of the Bildungsroman by
supernatural and fantastic elements) arouse questions about the so called 'objective reality': can we
ever detect how things 'really were'? Or do they exist as such – again, just as in Kiš – only in the
literary work, so that the historical truth (or should we say: historical justice?) can only be achieved
through literary mystification?
Dejan Kos
Univerza v Mariboru / University of Maribor
Literarna naracija med zgodovinskostjo in nezgodovinskostjo
Literarno naracijo zaznamuje arbitrarnost spremenljivih zgodovinskih okoliščin na več ravneh. Tok
časa ne preoblikuje le produkcijskih estetik, temveč tudi recepcijske perspektive, mehanizme
literarnega posredništva in epistemološka izhodišča literarnozgodovinskih refleksij. Niti temeljni
kriteriji literarnosti (npr. pisnost, fikcionalnost fikcijskost ?, estetskost) pripovednim besedilom ne
zagotavljajo identitete, ki bi presegala poljubnost njihovih zgodovinskih manifestacij. To pa ne
pomeni nujno, da je literarna naracija izključno zgodovinski pojav. Funkcionalno je namreč vpeta v
mehanizme družbene konstrukcije realnosti, ki so v svoji težnji po optimiziranju orientacijskih
zmožnosti ahistorični.
Sleherna konstrukcija sveta je spričo svoje semiotične narave prostor potencialno neskončnih
simbolnih interpretacij. Ker prekomerna kompleksnost otežuje orientacijo, skušamo semiotično
odprtost prekriti z mehanizmi kontekstualizacije. Vtis stabilnega in obvladljivega okolja vzdržujejo
predvsem postopki ontologizacije, referencializacije in verifikacije simbolnih svetov. Vendar pa tudi
prekomerno omejevanje kompleksnosti privede do orientacijskih težav. Z njim namreč izgubljamo
fleksibilnost. Zato sleherna kultura razvija komunikacijske (oz. pripovedne) postopke, ki tudi v pogojih
kontekstualizacije skrbijo za semiotično odprtost. Zdi se, da je prav »resemiotizacija« diskurza o
dejanskem svetu nezgodovinsko jedro literarne naracije.
Literary Narrative between Historicity and Ahistoricity
Literary narrative is characterised by the arbitrariness of changing historical circumstances on several
levels. The flow of time not only transforms the aesthetics of production, but also reception
perspectives, the mechanisms of literary mediation and the epistemological bases of literaryhistorical reflections. Not even the fundamental criteria of literariness (e.g., written form, fictionality,
aesthetics) can provide narrative texts with an identity that would reach beyond the arbitrariness of
their historical manifestations. However, this does not necessarily mean that literary narrative is
exclusively a historical phenomenon. That is to say it is functionally integrated in the mechanisms of
the social construction of reality which are ahistorical in their tendency to optimize orientation
abilities.
On account of its semiotic nature, each construction of the world represents a space of potentially
infinite symbolic interpretations. Because excessive complexity makes orientation more difficult we
try to cover up the semiotic openness with mechanisms of contextualization. The impression of a
stable and manageable environment is primarily maintained through the processes of ontologization,
referentialization and verification of symbolic worlds. However, an excessive restriction of complexity
leads to orientation problems as well; because of it flexibility is lost. Therefore, every culture
develops communication (or narrative) processes which reveal semiotic openness even in conditions
of contextualization. It thus seems that the “re-semiotization” of the discourse about the real world
is the ahistorical core of literary narrative.
Alenka Koron
Inštitut za slovensko literaturo in literarne vede ZRC SAZU / Institute of Slovenian Literature and
Literary Studies, SRC SASA
Pisanje o holokavstu med zgodovino in fikcijo: Primer Littellovega romana Sojenice (Les
Bienveillantes)
Vse od izida (september 2006) so mednarodno uspešne Sojenice Jonathana Littella predmet
kontroverz: pohvalne geste in mnenja, na primer da je avtor temeljito preučil historično gradivo in da
gre za estetsko dovršen roman, se krešejo z izrazito odklonilnimi. Med slednjimi velja za posebej
moteče, da je pisatelj za pisanje o holokavstu in nacistični Nemčiji izbral perspektivo nacističnega
zločinca in ne žrtve. Po mnenju zagovornikov romana, pa nasprotno, prav ta provokativna odločitev
predstavlja nov mejnik v izročilu pisanja o holokavstu. V prispevku se ukvarjam z vprašanjema, ali je
Littellov protagonist Max Aue, množični morilec in literarno kultiviran izobraženec, dozdevni morilec
matere in očima in incestuozni brat ter hkrati prvoosebni pripovedovalec, ki gradi pripoved na
dvojnosti zgodovine in fikcije, sploh primeren medij obujanja spomina na holokavst in ali morda
spodnaša konvencije zgodovinskega romana, na katerega se Sojenice sicer opirajo. Ob tem se
dotaknem nekaterih širših ozadij vprašanj, ki presegajo območje literarne stroke in vključujejo etične,
filozofske, kulturne in zgodovinske vidike.
Writing on Holocaust between History and Fiction: the Case of Jonathan Littell's novel The Kindly
Ones (Les Bienveillantes)
Since it was published in September 2006, Jonathan Littell's internationally bestselling novel The
Kindly Ones (Les Bienveillantes) has been subjected to controversies: affirmative gestures and
opinions, as for example, that the author had thoroughly studied historical materials and that the
novel is aesthetically distinguished, are in sharp contrast with the explicitly unfavourable ones. These
are especially troubled by the fact that the writer has chosen the perspective of a Nazi criminal for
writing on Holocaust and Nazi Germany, and not of a victim. On the other hand, the approving
opinions see exactly this provocative decision as the new turning point in the tradition of the
holocaust writing. In my paper, I address the question of whether Littell's protagonist Max Aue, a
mass murderer and literary cultivated intellectual, supposed murderer of his mother and step-father
and an incestuous brother, and at the same time also the first-person narrator, who forms the
narration on the duality of history and fiction, can be a convenient medium for reminiscing about
Holocaust; and whether he might subvert the conventions of the historical novel which The Kindly
Ones are based on. I also discuss some broader backgrounds of the questions which transcend the
field of literary studies and include ethical, cultural, and historical aspects.
Madli Kütt
Univerza v Tartuju / University of Tartu
Živeti preteklost kot metafora: pisanje in ponovno pisanje preteklosti v Proustovem Znova
najdenem času (Le Temps retrouvé) in njegovo prevajanje v estonščino
Proustovo pisanje preteklosti je metaforično. Spozna, da lahko oživi ali ponovno živi pretekle
trenutke, vendar le, ko se to zgodi od znotraj, nehote in metaforično. To pomeni, da podobe
preteklosti vzrastejo iz njegovega spomina preko čutne analogije, vonja, zvoka, igre svetlobe in senc v
trenutku sedanjosti, ki ga nekaj druži z drugim, preteklim trenutkom. V pisanju ta dva trenutka
postaneta en sam, simultano obstajata združena v metaforo. To osebi ne daje le možnost, da
ponovno doživlja preteklost, marveč tudi možnost, da uzre resnično vrednost teh trenutkov, ki v
njihovi prvi pojavitvi ni bila zaznavna. To je, po Proustu, naloga pisatelja in umetnika – pisati
preteklost tako, da nevidno postane vidno.
Prevajalski proces podvaja izkušnjo pisanja. Razkriva relacijsko naravo metafor in včasih razkrije v
razvidnost tudi tisto, kar v izvirnem pisanju ni tako očitno. V svojem referatu bom s treh vidikov
obravnavala, kako estonski prevod preoblikuje Proustovo metaforično pisanje: dinamiko spominskih
prostorov, vizualnost izkušanja preteklosti in vidik nehotnosti te izkušnje. Prevod lahko v tem
primeru razumemo kot povečevalno steklo, ki razkriva pomen teh treh vidikov v Proustovem pisanju
preteklosti, obenem pa deluje kot ustvarjanje novega fikcijskega sveta, ki teži k vzpostavljanju svojih
lastnih pravil glede dinamike, vizualnosti in nadzora.
Living the Past as a Metaphor: Writing and Re-Writing the Past in Marcel Proust’s The Time
Regained (Le Temps retrouvé) and Its Translation into Estonian
Marcel Proust’s writing of the past is metaphorical. He realises that he can revivify or relive the
moments of the past, but only in if it happens from the inside, involuntarily, and metaphorically. This
means that the images of the past arise from his memory due to a sensual analogue, a scent, a
sound, a play of light and shadows in a present moment that has something in common with another
moment in the past. In writing, these two moments become one, existing simultaneously, united into
a metaphor. This not only gives a person a chance to relive the past, but also gives them a chance to
see the real value of these moments which was unperceived when they first occurred. This is,
according to Proust, the task of a writer and an artist – to write the past so that invisible becomes
visible.
The process of translation doubles the experience of writing. It brings forth the relational nature of
the metaphors, and also, sometimes, makes visible the things that are not so obvious in the original
writing. In my paper, I will be discussing three views on how the Estonian translation transforms
Proust’s metaphorical writing: the dynamics of memory spaces, the visuality of experiencing the past,
and the involuntary aspect of these experiences. The translation can be seen here as a sort of a
magnifying glass which shows the importance of these three aspects in Proust’s writing of the past,
but it also acts as a creation of a new fictional world that tends to bring its own rules regarding
dynamics, visuality and control.
Andrej Leben
Univerza v Gradcu/ University of Graz
Vojni narativi v koroški (slovenski) literaturi
V preteklih štirih desetletjih so koroški (slovenski) avtorji obravnavali vojno tematiko z zelo različnih
perspektiv, še zlasti v zvezi z drugo svetovno vojno. Prispevek uvodoma prinaša kratko preliminarno
tipologijo teh pisav, s posebnim ozirom na biografijo avtorjev, strukturo pripovednega dogajanja,
geografsko razsežnost literarnega prostora, pripovedno instanco, glavne like in medbesedilne vezi z
aktualnimi medijskimi, zgodovinopisnimi in spominskimi diskurzi v prostoru, v katerem ta besedila
nastajajo ali na katerega se nanašajo, pa tudi na jezik, v katerem so napisana. Posebnosti sodobnih
koroških (slovenskih) pisav o drugi svetovni vojni bodo predstavljene na primeru romanov Boštjanov
let Florjana Lipuša, Der Heimat treu (Domovini zvest) Ferdinanda Skuka, Graparji Antona Haderlapa,
Immer noch Sturm (Še vedno vihar) Petra Handkeja in Engel des Vergessens (Angel pozabe) Maje
Haderlap.
War narratives in Carinthian (Slovene) literature
In the past four decades Carinthian (Slovene) authors have treated the topic of war from very
different points of view, especially in connection with the WW II. The paper begins with a brief
preliminary typology of these writings with a special emphasis on the authors’ biographies, plots of
the stories, the geographic dimension of the literary space, the narrator, the main characters, and
the intertextual ties to current media, historiographical and memory discourses in the area where
the texts are created or which they refer to, as well as to the language which they are written in. The
features of contemporary Carinthian (Slovene) writings about the Second World War will be
presented with novels Boštjanov let (Boštjan’s Flight) by Florjan Lipuš, Der Heimat treu (Faithful to
the Homeland) by Ferdinand Skuk, Graparji (Raviners) by Anton Haderlap, Immer noch Sturm (Storm
Still) by Peter Handke, and Engel des Vergessens (Angel of Oblivion) by Maja Haderlap.
Vanesa Matajc
Univerza v Ljubljani/ University of Ljubljana
Medbesedilna razmerja med postmodernim znanstvenim zgodovinopisjem in literarno pripovedjo:
sodobni slovenski koncepti revizije preteklosti
The Intertextual Relations between the Post-modern Scientific Historiography and Literary
Narration: Contemporary Slovene Concepts of Revisiting the Past
Katja Mihurko – Poniž
Univerza v Novi Gorici/ Univesrity of Nova Gorica
Dialog z zgodovino kot pomemben dejavnik pri oblikovanju identitete v dveh slovenskih romanih
V slovenski književnosti je veliko romanov, ki v ospredje postavljajo čas druge svetovne vojne in so v
njih osrednje osebe moški liki. Šele v novem tisočletju se pojavita dva romana, v katerih sta v
ospredju ženski lik in njen glas: Saga o kovčku (2003) Nedeljke Pirjevec in Da me je strah? (2012)
Maruše Krese. V obeh besedilih vojna zaznamuje družinsko življenje obeh protagonistk. Dominika
(Dominka) v Sagi o kovčku v vojni dozori iz otroka v dekle, ki tenkočutno opazuje osebe iz svojega
intimnega sveta: očeta in mater, ki v vojni vihri spet najdeta pot drug do drugega, a se v nič manj
krutem povojnem času povsem odtujita. Tudi Maruša Krese pripoveduje zgodbo svojih staršev, ki v
določenem trenutku postane tudi njena. V obeh romanih je zgodovinska resničnost ozadje, na
katerem se izgrajuje pripovedovalkina identiteta. Razcep med sistemom vrednot, ki se oblikuje v
prelomnem vojnem času in se po zmagi vse bolj preobraža v svoje žalostno nasprotje, zaznamuje
obe protagonistki. Tudi oni se znajdeta v konfliktu med humanističnimi ideali, v katere njuni najbližji
še vedno verjamejo ter vsakdanjim, povojnim pragmatizmom, ki te ideale pervertira zaradi lastnih
koristi. Prav zaradi intimnih, družinskih vrednot, ki se prekalijo v vojnem času, se spremenita v
upornici, v odnosu do ozkosrčne družbe se izoblikuje njuna osebnost – jaz, ki ne pristaja na
konvencije, zlaganost ali konformizem, s čimer avtorici ustvarita nove podobe ženskosti.
A Dialogue with History as an Important Factor of the Shaping of Identity in Two Slovene Novels
In Slovene literature, numerous novels give prominence to World War II and the main protagonists
in those novels are male. It was not until the new millennium when two novels which put a woman
and her voice in the foreground emerged: Saga o kovčku (The Suitcase Saga) (2003) by Nedeljka
Pirjevec and Da me je strah? ( That I am Afraid?) (2012) by Maruša Krese. In both texts, the war
leaves a mark on the family life of both protagonists. In Saga o kovčku (The Suitcase Saga), the main
protagonist Dominika, sometimes called Dominka, matures from a child into a young girl who
sensitively observes the people from her intimate life: her father and mother who in the maelstrom
of war rekindle their love, but grow apart again in the equally cruel post-war time. Maruša Krese also
narrates her parents’ story which in a certain moment becomes her own story. In both novels, the
historical accuracy is the background against which the narrator’s identity is shaped. Both
protagonists are affected by the split between the values formed in the crucial war time and what
these values wistfully turn into after the victory. They find themselves in a conflict between
humanistic ideals their families still believe in and the everyday post-war pragmatism which perverts
these ideals for its own benefit. It is because of the vanishing intimate family values that they turn
into rebels who do not acknowledge conventions, falsity or conformity. Their personalities are
formed in relation to the narrow-minded society and in this way the authors create new images of
womanhood.
Marcello Potocco
Univerza na Primorskem/ University of Primorska
Spremembe historične narative v kanadski literaturi
V slavnem “Sklepu” k prvi izdaji Literarne zgodovine Kanade (1967) Northrop Frye ponavlja opazko
Victorja Hopwooda, da kanadska literatura – drugače kot evropske literature – ni osnovana v mitu,
marveč kot svoje arhetipsko bistvo in kot proto-obliko narodne literature jemlje zlasti historično
izročilo: poročila prvotnih raziskovalcev, trgovcev in pionirjev. Ta specifična okoliščina se zdi bistvena,
ko obravnavamo odnos kanadske literature do historičnih snovi, saj se zdi, da kanadska literatura
pogosto historizira mit, na drugi strani pa mitizira zgodovino. Historizacijo mita lahko najpogosteje
zaznamo v šestdesetih letih 20. stoletja, v liriki avtorjev, ki so tematizirali nacionalno identiteto (John
Newlove, Al Purdy, deloma Margaret Atwood). Za razliko od tega pa je mitizacija zgodovine še jasneje
zaznavna v kanadski pripovedni književnosti, začenši z anahronističnimi poizkusi E. J. Pratta v
štiridesetih in petdesetih letih 20. stoletja, da bi ustvaril uspešno historično epsko verzno narativo.
Spričo pomanjkanja zgodovinskega romana pred šestdesetimi leti 20. stoletja, je Prattova obravnava
zgodovine toliko bolj zanimiva in pomembna. Vendar je mitizacija zgodovine opazna tudi v
kanadskem pripovedništvu v kasnejših generacijah, izmed katerega bom kratki obravnavi podvrgel
dva med seboj različna, a dovolj zgovorna primera, ki obdelujeta tudi historično snov, čeprav ju ne bi
mogli opredeliti kot zgodovinska romana.
Changes of Historic Narrative in Canadian Literature
In the famous “Conclusion” to the first edition of Literary History of Canada (1967), Northrop Frye
reiterated Victor Hopwood's observation concerning the historical basis of Canadian literature. In
contrast to European literatures, Canadian literature was in Hopwood's opinion not founded in myth,
but in the historical narratives of the first explorers. I find this specific circumstance to be crucial with
regards to the literary treatment of historical subjects, since Canadian literature tends to historicise
myth as well as mythicise history. While the historisation of myth can often be seen in Canadian
literature, e.g., in the lyric poetry of the 1960's that thematised national identity (John Newlove, Al
Purdy, partly Margaret Atwood), the mythisation of history is even more clearly observable in
Canadian narrative literature, starting with the anachronistic attempts of E. J. Pratt to write epic
poetry in 1940's and 1950's. The lack of proper historical novel in Canadian literature prior to 1960's
makes Pratt's treatment of history even more intriguing. The mythisation of history is also well
observable in the Canadian fiction of later generations. I shall try to briefly demonstrate this feature
using two very diverse examples of Canadian novel that essentially cannot be classified as historical
novels but do take into account historical subjects.
Tone Smolej
Univerza v Ljubljani/ University of Ljubljana
Roman med zgodovinskimi dokumenti in fikcijo o komunistični preteklosti: Zapisnik Vladimirja
Kavčiča in To noč sem jo videl Draga Jančarja
Referat se najprej posveča obravnavi romana Zapisnik (1973) Vladimirja Kavčiča, ki je sestavljen kot
zbirka šestindvajsetih pričevanj partizanskega komisarja Brodnika. Opis viharnega političnega odziva
na natis romana temelji na arhivskih virih. Naslednje delo, ki ga obravnava razprava, je roman Draga
Jančarja To noč sem jo videl (2010), ki preko petih pripovedovalcev obnavlja zgodbo graščaka, ki je bil
likvidiran v času vojne. Oba romana predstavljata vrh slovenskega polifonega romanopisja.
The Novel between Historical Documents and Fiction on the Communist Past: the Case of Vladimir
Kavčič's Zapisnik (The Record) and Drago Jančar's To noč sem jo videl (I Saw Her That Night)
The paper begins by examining Zapisnik(The Record,1973) by Vladimir Kavčič, structured as a
collection of 26 testimonies on Partisan Commissar Brodnik. The description of the stormy political
reaction after its publication is based on archival sources. The other work addressed in the study is
Drago Jančar's novel To noč sem jo videl (I Saw Her That Night,2010), which employs five narrators to
recount the story of a manor owner liquidated during the war. Both novels are considered peaks of
Slovene polyphonic novel-writing.
Simona Škrabec
Samostojna raziskovalka/ Independant Scholar, Barcelona
Katalonski primer ali nedostopnost preteklosti
V zadnjih letih je katalonska družba doživela pravi prevrat v svoji samopodobi. Katalonija poleg
Škotske dandanes predstavlja najvidnejše gibanje na mednarodnem odru, ki si prizadeva sprožiti
razmislek o pojmu naroda in nacije znotraj same Evrope. Politični proces je na katalonsko literaturo
vplival na dva zelo različna načina. Po eni strani je mogoče opaziti določena prizadevanja k
spodbujanju literarnih del, ki naj bi nadomestila pomanjkanje narodno zavednih zgodb. Uradna
kultura še vedno sanja o tem, da bo nekoč napisan »veliki« roman o Barceloni v najbolj
tradicionalnem duhu 19. stoletja, a k sreči to zaenkrat še ni nikomur uspelo. V zadnjem času so se
pojavili tudi pravi zgodovinski romani z namenom obujanja spomina na pozabljena poglavja, kakor je
na primer obleganje Barcelone iz leta 1714, z namenom, da bi literatura vzpostavila močno čustveno
vez s preteklostjo. Roman Alberta Sáncheza Piñola Victus (2013) je doživel sicer velik prodajni uspeh
in je bil tudi zelo promoviran, a ta knjiga ne predstavlja nobene resnične inovacije v literarnem
smislu, ki bi lahko spremenila smer katalonske proze. Povojni katalonski roman je dejansko stopil na
popolnoma drugačno pot od ustvarjanja Velikih zgodb: če pomislimo samo na Mercè Rodoredo in
Josepa Plaja v prvih povojnih letih ali pa na Jesúsa Moncado in Quima Monzója v osemdesetih, če naj
omenimo samo najbolj znane avtorje, potem je jasno, da si je katalonska proza vedno prizadevala
vzpostaviti razdaljo do samoumevnega posnemanja resničnosti, iskala je nove pripovedne načine in
se vedno spopadala z dvomom, »kdo vendar smo mi«. Zaradi tega je katalonska povojna literatura
ena najzanimivejših in najinovativnejših tradicij v Evropi. Tudi v sodobnih proznih delih, ki so jih
ustvarili avtorji rojeni po letu 1960, je mogoče jasno razbrati, kako težko je za Katalonce obnavljati
lastno preteklost. Seveda je napačna trditev, da narodi brez priznane politične identitete nimajo
zgodovine, vendar pa je res, da pomanjkanje trdnega političnega okvira postavlja pod vprašaj samo
trdnost sveta. Najbolj zanimivi katalonski pripovedniki danes govorijo o preteklosti kot o nečem, kar
jim ni neposredno dostopno. Tako je nastala cela vrsta romanov, v kateri preteklosti dejansko ni. O
preteklosti je mogoče govoriti le, v kolikor gre za osebni spomin nekoga, ki je v danem trenutku
prisoten. Le če danes nekdo vidi ali se dotakne ostankov iz nekdanjih časov, ti sploh obstajajo. Ta
pripovedna strategija čas dejansko izbriše in vse dogajanje prenese v neposredno sedanjost – tako da
se čas spremeni v prostor, edini mogoči zorni kot pa postane pogled junaka, ki si ni sposoben ustvariti
celostne podobe svojega lastnega sveta.
The Catalan Case or the Inaccessibility of the Past
In recent years, Catalan society has been experiencing a true revolution in its self-representation. At
this moment, Catalonia is one of the most visible protagonists on the international stage and is,
together with Scotland, currently leading a review of the concept of the national state within Europe.
This political process can be seen in the literature produced in the Catalan language in two very
different ways. There is a certain tendency to encourage the production of works that would remedy
the lack of national narratives. Official culture still hopes to be one day able to celebrate the «great»
novel about Barcelona in the most traditional spirit of 19th century narrative, though fortunately this
project has not as yet had any success. There have also been recent historical novels that have tried
to recover the forgotten chapters of the past, as for example the siege of Barcelona in 1714, and
arouse through literature some kind of emotional link with the past. Albert Sánchez Piñol’s novel,
Victus (2013), though written in Spanish, was commercially successful and widely promoted, but it
does not represent any kind of a real innovation that could influence the models of Catalan
literature. The post-war Catalan novel actually took the opposite path from that of the construction
of Great Narratives: in the case of Mercè Rodoreda or Josep Pla just after the war, or Jesús Moncada
or Quim Monzó in the 1980s, to mention only the most familiar authors, Catalan prose has always
questioned the capacity of representing reality, searching for new forms of narration and introducing
doubts about ‘who we are’. This has made Catalan post-war literature one of the most interesting
and innovative traditions in Europe. The recent prose output from authors born after 1960 shows
even more clearly how difficult it is for Catalans to reconstruct the past. It is of course not true that a
people without a recognized political identity has no history, but the lack of a stable political
framework calls the stability of the world itself into question. The most interesting young Catalan
novelists take the past as something that is not immediately accessible. Furthermore, there is a
whole range of prose works in which the past does not exist anymore. It is only possible to talk about
the past when there is somebody who remembers, sees and touches some kind of a vestige from
other times. This narrative strategy actually suppresses time and converts all the action into the
immediate present — so that time actually becomes space, and the only possible point of view is that
of a single person who is unable to construct a complete picture of his own world.
Andrei Terian
Univerza Luciana Blaga v Sibiuju/ Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu
Na pragu Orienta: romunska historiografska metafikcija v poznem komunizmu in postkomunizmu
Referat raziskuje preobrazbe romunskega zgodovinskega romana v zadnjih tridesetih letih, pri čemer
se nanaša na notranjo dinamiko žanra in na njegova razmerja s sorodnimi diskurzi. Razpravo
začenjam z omembo, da se je kanonizirana oblika romunskega zgodovinskega romana vzpostavila v
prvi polovici 20. stoletja v pisanju Mihaila Sadoveanuja, ki je spopolnil tako herojsko (v trilogiji Frații
Jderi/ Bratje Jder, 1935-1942) kot tudi anti-herojsko različico romunske zgodovinske fikcije (Zodia
Cancerului sau Vremea Ducăi-Vodă / Znamenje raka ali časi princa Duca, 1929). Da bi komunistični
režim v drugi polovici stoletja , legitimiziral svojo oblast, je spodbujal razrast herojske različice
nacionalne preteklosti in jo prikazoval ne le v uradnih zgodovinskih obravnavah, marveč tudi v
številčnih propagandnih fikcijah (npr. filmih, romanih, zgodovinskih “legendah” itn.)
Kot odgovor na to politiko so se v Romuniji od šestdesetih do osemdesetih let 20. stoletja tri zvrsti
romana namerile k dekonstrukciji uradnih metapripovedi: roman parabola (Eugen Barbu, Eugen
Uricaru) s problematiziranjem zank, ki jih nastavlja oblast, ter razmerja med posameznikom in
družbo, retrofikcija (Gabriela Adameşteanu, Constantin Ţoiu), ki se, bolj z nostalgičnega kakor
kritičnega vidika, usmerja k ponovnemu odkrivanju “buržoazne” faze romunske zgodovine (18211944), ter, nenazadnje, historiografska metafikcija (v Tache de catifea / The Velvet Man Ștefana
Agopiana, 1983, ter O sută de ani de zile la porțile Orientului / Stoletje na pragu Orienta Ioana
Groșana, 1992).
Moj referat se ukvarja s slednjim podžanrom zgodovinskega romana: prikazuje, kako literarne
tehnike, kot so kronološko zavlačevanje in odlašanje, ironija in absurdnost, metalepsa in ezopski
jezik, polifonija in medbesedilnost, prispevajo k spodkopavanju zmagoslavne različice romunske
zgodovine, ki ji je komunistični režim poskušal poveriti uradno veljavnost. Obenem razprava v dvojni
primerjalni analizi ̶ med Agopianovim in Groșanovim romanom na eni strani ter med Zilele regelui /
Kraljevi dnevi (2008) Filipa Floriana na drugi, kakor tudi med Florianovim metafikcijskim romanom in
zgodovinopisnim esejem, uspešnico Luciana Boiaja De ce este România altfel / Zakaj je Romunija
tako drugačna (2012) ̶ razpoznava mutacije, ki so se pojavile v romunskem zgodovinskem romanu v
postkomunizmu. Sklep moje analize je, da so konstantna dekonstrukcija nacionalnih tabujev, bahavo
razkazovanje orientalizma in oživljanje mita o romunski izjemnosti simptomi krize, ki vpliva ne le na
tradicionalni žanr zgodovinskega romana, marveč tudi na postkomunistično romunsko nacionalno
identiteto v celoti.
At the Gates of the Orient: Romanian Historiographical Metafiction in Late Communism and Postcommunism
The paper investigates the metamorphoses of the Romanian historical novel over the last three
decades, referring both to the internal dynamics of the genre and to its relations with similar
discourses. This study begins by recalling that the canonical form of the Romanian historical novel
was set in the first half of the 20th century through the writings of Mihail Sadoveanu, who
elaborated the heroic (in Frații Jderi/ The Jder Brothers trilogy, 1935-1942) as well as the anti-heroic
versions of Romanian historiographical fiction (Zodia Cancerului sau Vremea Ducăi-Vodă/ The Sign of
the Cancer or Prince Duca’s Times, 1929). In the second half of the century, with the aim of
legitimizing its own power, the communist regime encouraged the proliferation of heroic version of
the national past and represented it not only in official historical treatises but also in a number of
propaganda fictions (e.g. movies, novels, historical “legends”, etc.).
From the 1960s until the 1980s, three forms of the historical novel intended to deconstruct the
official meta-narratives emerged in Romania in response to this policy: the parable novel (Eugen
Barbu, Eugen Uricaru) which problematized the traps of the authorities and the relationship between
the individual and society; the retro-fiction (Gabriela Adameşteanu, Constantin Ţoiu) which aimed to
recover from the “bourgeois” phase (1821-1944) of Romanian history from a rather nostalgic than
critical perspective; and, last but not least, the historiographical metafiction (in Ștefan Agopian’s
Tache de catifea/ The Velvet Man, 1983, and Ioan Groșan’s O sută de ani de zile la porțile Orientului/
One Hundred Years at the Gates of the Orient, 1992).
My paper explores the latter subgenre of the historical novel, showing how literary techniques such
as the dilation and suspension of chronology, irony and absurdity, metalepsis and Aesopian language,
polyphony and intertextuality contributed to the undermining of the triumphalist version of
Romanian history the communist regime tried to validate as official. At the same time, this study
identifies, through a double comparative analysis – between Agopian’s and Groșan’s novels, on the
one hand, and Filip Florian’s Zilele regelui/ The Days of the King (2008), on the other; as well as
between Florian’s metafictional novel and Lucian Boia’s best-selling historiographical essay De ce
este România altfel/ Why Romania is so different (2012) –, the mutations that occurred in the
Romanian historical novel during post-communism. The conclusion of my analysis is that the
constant deconstruction of national taboos, the ostentatiously displayed Orientalism and the revival
of the myth of the Romanian exceptionalism are the symptoms of the crisis that affects not only the
traditional genre of the historical novel, but also the post-communist Romanian national identity as a
whole.
Dragoş Varga
Univerza Luciana Blaga Sibiu/ Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu
Popularna fikcija za popularno demokracijo: potrošništvo in propaganda v romunskem
zgodovinskem romanu v komunizmu
Referat predstavlja kritično in primerjalno analizo dveh romunskih avtorjev zgodovinskih romanov: to
sta Ioan Dan in Rodica Ojog-Brașoveanu. Čeprav ne veljata za kanonizirana pisatelja in se celo niti ne
omenjata v najbolj veljavnih zgodovinah romunske književnosti, pa ju romunski bralci popularne
pripovedne proze dobro poznajo. Med njunim življenjem in pisanjem je tudi precej podobnosti. Njuni
življenji opredeljuje uporništvo, do neke mere v trkih in pod pritiski komunistične ideologije, ker sta
njuni porekli veljali za “nezdravi” in sta bila primorana kot nekvalificirana delavca opravljati
najrazličnejša dela. Zdi se, da je njun literarni uspeh posledica neke vrste eskapizma iz neposredne
resničnosti, obnavljanje (v vseh uradnih zgodovinah opisane kot izključno veličastne) preteklosti v
vznemirljivih pripovedih, ki prepletajo dokumentirano zgodovinsko resničnost z umišljenimi
hipotezami in spektakularnimi zapleti. Njun recept se nadaljuje z evropskim romanom intrige [cloakand-dagger novel] (Walter Scott, Alexandre Dumas, Michel Zévaco, Paul Féval, Rafael Sabatini),
literarnim žanrom, ki se je v romunski književnosti pojavil s pomenljivo zamudo, v relativno revno
tradicijo romunskega romana.
Za tem eskapizmom pa Danovi in Ojog-Brașiveanujini romani še vedno pošiljajo subliminalno
“protokronistično” sporočilo z ozirom na uradno ideologijo, ki je, da bi vzdrževala lepo samopodobo
naroda, povzdigovala večvrednost romunskega “značaja”: bistroumnost, običaje, gastronomijo itn. To
pojasnjuje, čemu avtorja umeščata pustolovščine svojih junakov v najreprezentativnejše trenutke
romunske zgodovine, s katerimi se je v polni meri okoriščala komunistična propaganda. Obdobje, ki
ga Dan obuja v svoji trilogiji (Skrivni sel, Vitezi in Viteška skrivnost, 1974-1976), je vladavina Mihaija
Viteazu(l)a (Mihaija Hrabrega, princa, ki naj bi glede na komunistično zgodovinopisje za kratko
obdobje v letu 1600, »združil« tri romunske kneževine (Vlaško, Transilvanijo in Moldavijo) pod eno
oblast. Zgodovinski romani Rodice Ojog-Brașoveanu (Tajni kancler, Oči mlade častite gospe, Srebrna
kronika, Tajni agent “Altîn beja”, Orel onkraj luninega krajca, 1978-1988) pa pričarajo vladavino
Constantina Brâncoveanuja, med letoma 1688 in 1714 vlaškega princa, ki so ga na otomanskem
dvoru poznali pod imenom “Altîn-bej” (»zlati princ«), zaščitnika kulture, ki so ga Otomani z njegovimi
štirimi sinovi obglavili v upanju, da bodo odkrili neznansko bogastvo, ki si ga je nakopičil. V svojem
referatu razmišljam o dvoumnem statusu in mejah popularne fikcije v komunizmu: na eni strani je
krepila veličastno podobo nacionalne preteklosti, ki jo je spopolnjevala komunistična propaganda, in
na drugi razprla eskapistično razsežnost, ki je pripomogla k spodkopavanju “sivega” realizma,
pripovednega obrazca, ki ga je priznaval režim.
Popular Fiction for Popular Democracy: Consumerism and Propaganda in Romanian Historical
Novel under Communism
The paper performs a critical and comparative analysis of two Romanian authors of historical novels:
Ioan Dan and Rodica Ojog-Brașoveanu. Although they are not considered canonical writers and they
are not even mentioned in the most authoritative histories of Romanian literature, they are wellknown to the Romanian readers of popular fiction. Moreover, there are many similarities between
their life and works. Both authors had riotous biographies, clashing to some extent with the
communist ideology and its constraints because they were of “unhealthy” origins and were forced to
work various jobs as unqualified workers. Their literary success seems to be the result of some kind
of escapism from the immediate reality by reconstructing the past (described in all the official
histories as an exclusively glorious one) into exciting narrations that combine documented historical
reality with fictional hypotheses and spectacular plots. Their recipe develops into the European
cloak-and-dagger novel (Walter Scott, Alexandre Dumas, Michel Zévaco, Paul Féval, Rafael Sabatini),
a literary genre that emerged in Romanian literature with a significant belatedness, given the
relatively poor tradition of the Romanian novel.
Beyond this escapism, both Dan’s and Ojog-Brașiveanu’s novels still carry a subliminal
“protochronist” message with reference tothe official ideology, which celebrated the superiority of
the Romanian “character”in an attempt to preserve some national self-esteem: intelligence, habits,
gastronomy, etc. It is for these reasons that the adventures of their heroes take place during some of
the most representative moments of the Romanian history, fully exploited by the communist
propaganda. In Dan’s trilogy (The Secret Runner, The Knights and The Secrecy of the Knights, 19741976), the age evoked is the reign of Mihai Viteazu(l) (Mihai Bravu / Michael the Brave, the prince
who – according to the communist historiography – “united” the three Romanian principalities
(Wallachia, Transylvania and Moldavia) under a single rule for a short period of time in 1600.
On the other hand, Ojog-Brașoveanu’s historical novels (The Secret Chancellor, The Eyes of the Young
Titled Lady, The Silver Chronicle, The Secret Agent of „Altîn bey”, The Eagle Beyond the Sickle Moon,
1978-1988) conjure the reign of Constantin Brâncoveanu, prince of Wallachia between 1688-1714,
known at the Ottoman Court as “Altîn-bey” (“The Prince of Gold”), a patron of culture who was
beheaded together with his four sons by the Ottomans, who hoped to locate the immense fortune
he had amassed. My paper is a reflection on the ambiguous status and boundaries of popular
historical fiction under communism: on the one hand, it strengthened the glorious image of the
national past elaborated by the communist propaganda; on the other hand, it opened an escapist
dimension that contributed to the subversion of the “gray” realism the regime approved of as a
narrative formula.
KOREFERATI/ CO-SPEAKERS
Dr. Irena Avsenik Nabergoj
Inštitut za Inštitut za kulturno zgodovino, ZRC SAZU/ Institute of Cultural History, SRC SASA
Nekonvencionalna reprezentacija holokavsta v avtobiografskem romanu Imreta Kertésza
Brezusodnost (Sorstalanság, 1975) / Unconventional Representation of the Holocaust in the Imre
Kertész's Autobiographical Novel Fatelessness (Sorstalanság, 1975)
Nina Sivec
Doktorska študentka, Univerza v Ljubljani / Doctoral Student, University of Ljubljana
Pričevanjska literatura in vprašanje etike: primer romana Herte Müller Zaziban dih (Atemschaukel)/
Testimonial Literature and the Question of Ethics: The Case of Herta Müller’s The Hunger Angel
(Atemschaukel).
Dr. Tanja Tomazin
Samostojna raziskovalka, Tržič, Beograd/ Independant Scholar, Tržič, Belgrade
Postmodernizem in zgodovinskost v srbski književnosti : dvojni angažma srbskega postmodernizma /
Postmodernism and Historicity in Serbian Literature: The Double Engagement of Serbian
Postmodernism