Sreten Asanović, Nomina, Plima, Ulcinj, 2011
By: Ivana Ančić
English version will be available soon.
Dejan Stojiljković: Constantine’s Crossroads (Laguna, 2010, second edition)
By: Lamija Neimarlija
Constantine’s Crossroads is Dejan Stojiljković bestseller which received awards such as Svetosavski pečat (2010) and Miloš Crnjanski (2009), while also shortlisted for the Nin Award for Best Novel of the Year (2010).
The novel features elements of horror, action, fantasy and history. The plot is set in Niš, occupied by the German armed forces in 1944, with raging conflicts between chetniks and partisans. It also deals with the search for the sword of Constantine (by Adolf Hitler’s orders) that brings world domination to the person who owns it, and is hidden in the underground tunnels somewhere in Niš.
Along with the search that is assigned to Major Heinrich Kahn, we also follow Colonel Otto von Fehn who is trying to catch a beast that is killing his soldiers so viciously and savagely leaving behind a grotesque collection of dead meat, coagulated blood and crushed bones. Moreover, we also follow the ‘fates’ of the chetniks who had returned from the war, e.g. Major Nemanja Lukić, traitor Dragutin Stevanović, all those unfortunate soldiers who came back from the war and do not know where to go nor what to do, or even if what they had gone to war for is their country or not, as the author explains.
While trying to expose the historical facts behind the story, Dejan Stojiljković points out in the ‘Appendix’ at the end of the book how every Field Command 809 officer mentioned in Constantine’s Crossroads is a historical figure, apart from the two soldiers in the prologue scene. Their formations and ranks are also authentic. The author, after third-person narration which reveals a historian’s authority, presents facts in the epilogue about the other participants in the events in Niš during that time: Niš capitalist Krsman Teofilović, chetnik officer Nemanja Lukić, anti-communist Svetoslav Petrović Nišavac… In an interview for The Evening News, the author explained that the novel speaks ‘on more levels’ and, despite the media’s insistance, it cannot be placed on the shelf alongside the pseudochristian thrillers (the Dan Brownian literature). On the contrary, it can be categorized as a classic – with “Crnjanski, Andrić, Pekić and his ‘Rabies’, and Selenić.” The only difference between him and the classics he mentions, is the fact that Stojiljković does not manage to integrate the many side episodes into a complex plot and that his novel accumulates worn-out procedures from different literary genres.
Although the world of the novel seems to be represented in a fragmentary and messy way at first, (a common ‘means’ of modern literary expression, recognized by the critics as comic book structure), the narrator observes the event from outside, from afar, there is a time distance and he perceives the events as a whole, trying to hide an ideological stance towards certain characters, for example, closeness or emotions in case of the good vampire Nemanja Lukić, the penitent Dragutin Stevanović, other nationalists and a few SS officers.
Combining a history novel with trivial genres sounds very appealing if we take into account the postmodernist removal of boundaries between low and high brow literature and culture, or the particular relation to historiography, as with ‘historiographic metaficion.’ However, Dejan Stojiljković’s attempts are aimed at remembering certain historical facts, trying to reveal the truth about its past to the Serbian culture, which he holds responsible for the active construction of collective identity of the Serbian people.
Critics that have applauded Stojiljković’s novel do not seem to be bothered by the plot that is wrapped in a veil of mystery, that is to say, a tendency for the unexpected and different, represented by the clichés found in romantic novels, horror stories, comic books etc. which also ‘solve’ the more complex questions of focalisation and its role in keeping the reader informed while creating tension. The members of the Miloš Crnjanski Award for 2007-2009 jury believe Dejan Stojiljković included all the details that bring the atmosphere of war to the reader, that the narrator very successfully shifts focus from the German headquarters to the various aspects of life in Niš, encompassing, to an appropriate degree, those aspects that help us see the inner dynamics and drama of life in the city… then they say the author very skillfully portrays the life in occupied Niš, especially when it comes to character gallery etc. In this way, the content of the novel is treated as a novelty, without dealing with the issue of how certain material is mediated. According to the traditional model of established modes of communication, content is observed independently of form. Besides, what remains unsaid is the fact that Constantine’s Crossroads advocates a collectively standardised consciousness, under the flag of naivety and factualness, while nothing is being said of the traditional system of historical values that the novel promotes by glorifying great historical figures and events: Constantine is one of the main reasons why Christianity is one of the most dominant religions in the world today. Moreover, it is doubtful whether Christianity and Christians would even exist today had it not been for Constantine the Great and whether Europe as we know it today, with its history, accomplishments and values in general, would even be what it is today if the foundations for those values had not been laid precisely by the great statesman born in Niš.
Fantastical elements within the novel (corresponding to the classic metaphors from horror literature, e.g. vampire, werewolf etc.) serve to free the reader from mental and social frustrations. Identification matrixes (nationalism, anti-communism) are in a happy relationship with the recipient’s consumerist attitude of the capitalist society, in this case, today’s capitalist society in Serbia: while being directed to novelties, there is permanent daily consumption of fiction. The fantastical helps evoke forgotten or taboo knowledge, according to the classic fantasy of the preromantic and romantic type: the legend of rural vampires from the Niš area that the author tries to explain in detail in the final part of the book by offering historical facts. So, this unconscious aspect of social reality is validated by a noteworthy realistic tendency, exposing historical material that is supposed to reveal what really, truly happened.
The novel aptly communicates with the strong and dark sides of the general readership: the desire to rule the world, to be right, to gain power… following the exact Serbian cultural model explained by Filip David when discussing nationalism as an ideology that is dominated by the spirit of the barbaric genius and xenophobia, ‘fear of the West’, of modernisation, based on cultural, historical and political prejudice, stereotypes, conservative thought, patriarchal and tribal heritage. The time distance (Second World War) in relation to the event portrayed makes involvement more intense, because, as Vincent Jouve said, the involvement is more intense as the distance between the fictitious subject and the subject that reads becomes more obvious. By offering a wide range of characters, SS officers, chetniks, vampires… through the scenes of mass murders, Dejan Stojiljković frees what the reading masses have supressed and reintroducing them to the inhuman and non-human.
This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of Criticize This! and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.
Sreten Asanović, Nomina, Plima, Ulcinj, 2011
By: Ivana Ančić
English version will be available soon.
OSMI I SEDMI PUTNIK, Aleksandar Bjelogrlić, Citadela, Agora, Zrenjanin, 201
By: Dalibor Plečić
English version will be available soon.
Stjepan Gulin, Paz’te sad, paz’te sad (Meandarmedia, Zagreb, 2011.)
Authors: Ivana Ančić
Igor Marojević, Kroz glavu (Dosije, Beograd, 2012.)
Author: Dalibor Plečić
Damir Miloš, Pisa. Povratak (Meandarmedia, Zagreb, 2011.)
Author: Morena Livaković
POLITIČKE I DRUŠTVENE KONSTRUKCIJE IDENTITETA U VIDEO-PERFORMANSIMA NA BEOGRADSKOJ SCENI 1970-ih
Esej Vladimira Bjeličića
Esej u celini možete pročitati na portalu SEEcult.org
Esej Tihane Bertek
Od promatrača do sudionika
GALERIJA KAPELICA I POST-JUGOSLAVENSKI BODY ART (1995–2010)
Esej – Bojan Krištofić
Esej o radovima Šejle Kamerić, Maje Bajević i Nebojše Šerića Shobe
Piše: Slađana Golijanin
ESEJ – Razvaline socijalizma kao inspiracija za muzejske eksponate Mrđana Bajića i skulpturalne dosetke Ivana Fijolića
By: Milena Milojević
Piše: Nino Kovačić
Gostujuća izvedba šibenskog HNK, Pir malograđana, prema tekstu mladog Bertolda Brechta (napisan 1919.) izvedena je po sljedećoj formuli: na Danima satire u satiričkom kazalištu Kerempuh gledamo satiričan komad. Prema reakcijama publike, bila je uspješna, ali teško se oteti dojmu da je smijeh bio formulaično zagarantiran, jer bi takav instruirani moment humora trebao zauzdati spontani smijeh. Je li se možda radilo o “malograđanskom” humoru?
Glumice i to, KNAP, Zagreb, premijera 12.5.2012.
Piše: Nino Kovačić
Glumice i to, nova predstava u zagrebačkom KNAP-u, neobičan su kazališni ‘slučaj’. Naime, predstavu su, dramaturški i režijski osmislile te, naravno, glumački ostvarile četiri mlade glumice. U trenutačnoj opće-društvenoj, pa tako i kazališnoj situaciji, kojom prijete olovni pojmovi poput recesije, prekarijata i outsourcinga (nedavno su najavljena i otpuštanja “hladnopogonskih” glumaca), one su, kako piše u najavi “nezaposlene i pune entuzijazma, odlučile su preuzeti stvar u svoje ruke i napraviti hit!”. Očito sklone postdramskom pristupu izvedbi koji se, između ostalog, bazira na ekipnoj work-in-progress metodi, izvedbenoj anti-iluziji i autoreferencijalnosti, glumice/autorice su se “trgnule” i napravile parodiju o tome kako rade predstavu, po ironičnom ključu: kad ne ide pravljenje predstave treba napraviti predstavu o tome kako se ne može raditi predstava.
“Nije život biciklo”, Biljana Srbljanović, režija: Anselm Veber, Produkcija: Šaušpilhaus Bohum, Nemačka; Sterijino pozorje 2012, selekcija Nacionalne drame i pozorišta
By: Tamara Baračkov
English version will be available soon.
„Grebanje, ili kako se ubila moja baka“, Tanja Šljivar, režija: Selma Spahić, Bosansko narodno pozorište Zenica/Bitef teatar-Hartefakt (Beograd), premijera: 7. septembar 2012. (Zenica), 11. oktobar 2012. (Beograd)
By: Tamara Baračkov
English version will be available soon.
„Sluga dvaju gospodara“, Karlo Goldoni, režija: Boris Liješević, Grad teatar Budva/Srpsko narodno pozorište Novi Sad/Narodno pozorište „Toša Jovanović“ Zrenjanin, premijera: 27. jul 2012.
By: Tamara Baračkov
English version will be available soon.