When we started, they told us it was almost impossible, but we adore such impossible missions, and this was one of them," said Prof. Dr. Tatjana Đurišić, President of the Council of the Nikšić National Library "Njegoš" at the opening of the third "Carnival of Novels", which will last until May 26.
The event is also a kind of tribute to Miodrag Bulatović, one of the most prominent writers of South Slavic literature of the 20th century, a representative of carnival literature. As part of the Carnival, an award named after Miodrag Bulatović was established and will be awarded biennially. The prize was awarded for the first time last year and was awarded to Jovica Aćin for the novel "Pilgrimage to Sodom" for the best novel published in 2021 and 2022 in the field of carnivalized, grotesque and fantastic literature.
"The establishment of the award named after Miodrag Bulatović is a big deal, not only for Nikšić, but also for Montenegro, which owes him a lot and has never repaid him. He belongs to those writers who annoy as long as they are alive, and it is precisely such writers who are most often silenced, and the biggest danger is that it will remain so," said Đurišić, adding that the aesthetic quality of Bulatović's text was such that he could not remain silent.
"In the time we live in, ideas are the least valuable. Idealessness is the new philosophy of the contemporary moment, so the conceptual and ideological complexity of Miodrag Bulatović's texts is something that deserves special attention," Đurišić pointed out.
Carnival, according to her, abolishes all restrictions, that is, the anti-culture that occurs at the moment when everyone is "fed up with the prohibitions imposed by the culture, and when it is necessary to vent."
"The heroes of Miodrag Bulatović are freed from all restrictions and it is through them, thus freed from restraints, and the grotesque worlds that these 'free' beings inhabit, that the writer breaks down all kinds of dogmas. "Miodrag Bulatović simply summoned all monsters, people-monsters, to show you the ugliest possible face of reality, in order to force you to return to humanity," said Đurišić.
Three years ago, the "Njegoš" National Library founded the aforementioned event dedicated to the concept of carnivalization in art, as well as the concept of an inverted image of the world, which is at the base of carnivalized, grotesque and fantastic literature, with the aim of illuminating literature through an unusual concept of promotions, displays and lectures and art from the unusual angle inherent in carnivalization as a process.
"Carnivalized literature uses myth to talk about current issues. It abolishes the time of great heroes, the heroic age and lofty speech on serious topics, whereby a critical attitude towards myth brings freshness to this literature, and this is achieved through a series of critical procedures: parodying genres, demeaning high rhetoric - secularizing language, desecrating characters and destroying great ' theme", said Bojana Obradović, MA, director of the "Njegoš" Library.
Carnival affirms literary creativity Miodrag Bulatović, a distinctive and iconic writer, who, with his narrative genius, shaped an authentic carnelianized expression, accentuated by subversiveness. According to the Director of the Library, Bulatović "offers a new reading of history".
"He does not deny, but overestimates, makes unusual and problematizes. He is rewriting history. It plays with historical facts. He laughs, but also shocks, he ridicules, but also criticizes... The prose structure of this writer is a mosaic of fantastic, parodic, grotesque, magical, ironic, satirical and farcical narrative reality in which he challenged inviolable values in a way that had not been seen before seen in our literature", said Obradović.
As she said, for the third year already, they "denormalize reality and gather representatives of art and science in order to deal with the concept of carnivalization, grotesque, fantasy and other procedures inherent in artistic expression."
"I am especially glad that we managed to make a successful correlation between literature and other arts in which these motifs are present... With this prestigious literary event, which reminds us of the universal value of literature and the importance of creativity, which connects literature with scenography , movement, fine and performing arts and which brings together significant creators, the Library continues to promote the true values contained in the concepts of culture, art, education and science, which makes us proud and responsible, because participating in the process of designing and realizing cultural and educational content in the same time is both an honor and an obligation of everyone who represents a cultural institution", said Obradović.
A welcome letter from the President of the Municipality of Nikšić, Marko Kovačević, who was supposed to open the event but was justifiably absent, was read by his adviser for tourism, culture and religious affairs, Miljan Mijušković.
"In the life of a space and a community, culture is an issue of essential importance, and for anyone who manages processes, those cultural workers who have initiatives of enormous importance for improving the quality of the cultural life of the community are of inestimable value. One such idea that turned into action was the idea of the management of the National Library 'Njegoš' from Nikšić to organize a literary event called 'Carnival of Novels'. With the third edition of this manifestation, we see that continuity has been built, that it is becoming a tradition, that its program is more and more substantial", stated Kovačević.
As he pointed out, Nikšić received a manifestation that other cities do not have and the opportunity to become one of the literary centers of Europe through its development.
"We are also counting on this event in the process of Nikšić's candidacy for the European Capital of Culture in 2030, because we see the potential it has in innovative approaches to creating cultural content," said Kovačević with gratitude that the Municipality was also "ennobled by the opportunity" to be a sponsor of the event.
In front of the Ministry of Culture and Media, Dr. Jelena Jovanović Nikolić, Acting Director General of the Directorate for Cultural and Artistic Creativity, spoke, who said that their mission, as creators of public policies in the field of culture, is to continuously invest in cultural and artistic creativity, and thus they open up possibilities for literature to be more present and accessible. She expressed her satisfaction that the event is growing and developing, convinced that in the coming period the Carnival will continue to make the literary and cultural life in Montenegro richer with its program content, and that through the promotion of such literary forms, interest in reading fiction will also grow.
She reminded that the term carnivalization was introduced into literary-theoretical science by Bakhtin, "highlighting the specific way in which the world and human life is conceptualized".
"Carnivalization is the key reference point of every counterpoint of the universe, and in the final consequence, it represents a certain kind of movement, within the existential search, but not the solution of all those existential puzzles that fall on man. That's why it is always open to improvement... The grotesque and the fantastic in literature often serve as a means of deconstructing reality and discovering deeper truths," said Jovanović Nikolić, emphasizing that the grotesque and carnivalization are key terms in literature that together create a unique aesthetic and social dynamic. .
After the welcoming words, the audience in the City Hall, where all the programs will be performed during the Carnival, had the opportunity to watch the stage play "Beauty of the Freak" performed by Milica Kekić Martinović and Nikola Vasiljević. The moderator of the evening was Nina Marković.
During the Carnival, the audience will have the opportunity to look at the paintings of Miš Vemić, while the area of the City Hall is enriched with sculptures by the sculptor Marko Petrović Njegoš.
The event, which is held as part of the Nikšić cultural scene, was supported by the Municipality of Nikšić and the Ministry of Culture and Media.
Bonus video:
