The tribute to Borislav Pekić, which was prepared by the "Radosav Ljumović" National Library these days, should have reminded of his creative voluminousness as well as his public activity! In this social engagement, no less significant than the literal one, Pekić was of the opinion that "personal morality is the basis of all politics... Whoever starts sacrificing his virtues will end up sacrificing other people's lives. If they consider you a moral person, you must remain so at the cost of your head... Politics is public morality... Morality is private politics."
It should have been, but it didn't happen, to remind about his "literary group" which included Danilo Kiš, Mirko Kovač and Filip David. The famous four who talked, wrote and openly communicated their views on everything important were not only gathered around the analysis of their manuscripts, but because of their worldviews they also had similar life experiences, i.e. persecutions! Filip David wrote: "... it is a tragic fact that Kiš died in Paris, Kovač in Rovinj, and Pekić spent his best writing and life years in London. They had, each in their own way, deep but also traumatic relationships with to this environment of ours to which they gave a lot in the literary and artistic sense".
What was it that they had in common, for which they were once persecuted, and today they try to keep it quiet? How is it that Kiš, Pekić, Kovač and David "were different in many respects, but in important matters loyal to certain values"? Since written or publicly spoken words cannot be forgotten, it should be remembered that they described the social disturbances that we experience again and again in a recognizable, stylistic and thematic way, and which irresistibly remind us of the "fear of freedom", which Pekić effectively described in the script for the movie "The Fourteenth Day". The jailers of our destinies are those with whom we live and who scare us again and again with a difficult life story, announce dramatic events and constantly cry over the past for which they exclusively blame others. They persistently provoke us with myths! "Miracles are not required to help, but to change, and these greatest ones are not required to pervert the present, but to build the future by deconstructing it," says Pekić.
Pekić's Argo is not looking for the golden fleece of the future, but wants to sail in the waters of global conflicts and avoids adapting to new circumstances. Through the magical-ironic description of Jesus' miracles in Judea, Pekić's "Time of Miracles" shows with strong symbolism that all our past, and even current, misfortunes stem from ideological attachment and intolerance. Imposed dogmatism, especially the one that constantly refers to the alleged threat and persecution, is like a dumbass who, after speaking about everything he really wants and thinks, is crucified, while historical revisionism is like a cured leprous woman who in the end no one accepts anymore because she "inside" still sick! Even today's confrontations in Montenegro have an undertone of the time when Pekić left these spaces of ours where, unfortunately, we are all "equal in the outcome, but separated in the reasons for our suffering".
In the words of Mirko Kovač: "Kiš died before the fall of the Berlin Wall and before the wars that started from Serbia, I am convinced that he would have known how to take sides, he had a sense of what is just, and he wrote great pages about nationalism and nationalists many years ago before the vampires started their war campaigns. Pekić was disappointed when he lost with a ratio of six to one to Duke Šešelj, now a war criminal, and that as a democratic candidate in the parliamentary elections. He contacted me from London sometime in early 1992, I was already in Rovinj, he told me that he had left Belgrade forever and that he would never return there. Unfortunately, he died that year. He was a great man and a great writer."
The idea of celebrating the date of Pekić's birth in Podgorica every year is a very good one, because that event would remind us to read again and again and have a "nemusti dialogue" with the former convict for crimes against the people and the state. It is also obvious that through the establishment of a suitable literary manifestation, Pekić's "clear and unequivocal belonging to Serbian culture" is to be emphasized, so it is possible and finally we can hear or read someone's review of his interpretation of the Serbian nation.
Perhaps in the end, some will understand and accept that the "Golden Fleece" of our everyday life is actually a difficult reality that we must change with a joyful acceptance of life and its challenges. We don't have to accept a "civilization that doesn't communicate with the authentic spirit of humanity", but neither do we have to accept the banal mythologizing of anything and everything. In a stuffy Balkan tavern, which because of its politics is more like a brothel, the windows should be open all the time. "We should look straight. Because if we wanted to look behind us, we would get eyes on the back of our head. We should love the land of our children, not our grandfathers. Because honor will not depend on where we come from, but where we are going."
Maybe finally some of us accept that "not understanding what was yesterday is a guarantee that we will understand even less what awaits us, and least of all what we are doing today", as well as that "unfortunateness is only what does not have to be, and yet happens" because she is "always provoked by people." Which people?
Due to those who hiss that "Defense and the Last Days" will follow us, and then scare us again with "1999", we noticed recently that "Rabies" has periodic reruns in the Balkans. Due to the fact that we did not know, and still do not know, "How to put a vampire to rest", we had frequent "Years that were eaten by grasshoppers", and because of this, we will continue to receive "Letters from abroad" from our younger, educated and talented people.
Bonus video:
