The book "Windmills of Europe" dedicated to the perception of Miguel de Cervantes in the Slavic countries by the author Gojko Čelebić was promoted in the KIC "Budo Tomović" on the occasion of the founding of the Montenegrin Association of Hispanicists, for studying the Spanish language and fostering love for Spanish literature and civilization.
"It is very significant when a writer with experience as a novelist analyzes other novels and writers. The basis of this book is the author's doctoral thesis defended last year in Novi Sad.
This book is rich in facts, analysis and interesting presentation. The great importance of this book is also the footnotes, of which there are 1111, and each of them allows the reader not to deviate from the main flow of the presentation, and on the other hand, it allows him an excursion because he can read an appropriate anecdote from a certain area. Important questions are raised in those footnotes," said professor of the Faculty of Philosophy in Nikšić, novelist Radivoje Konstantinović.
"The most interesting is the reception of Cervantes, who the author observes from various angles"
About Cervantes with great knowledge
Referring to the first chapter in the book, which talks about Czech-Spanish relations, he said that the author speaks about Cervantes with great knowledge.
"The first chapter is seeing not only cultural connections but also connections in the field of art, then connections in the field of tradition with abundant data on religion in Spain and the Czech Republic. The most interesting is the reception of Cervantes, which the author observes from various angles.
"Many aspects can be chosen from this comprehensive book, and one aspect is humor"
One of those angles is translation, a less common but very significant angle. He analyzes the translations of Cervantes into the Czech language. The connections between Czech and Spanish culture seem distant at first glance, but the author reassures us and shows that these connections are reflected in the similarity of traditions," said Konstantinović.
The author of the book, Gojko Čelebić, said that the book was conceived as a history of ideas in Europe, including the idea of Europe itself.
"Many aspects can be chosen from this extensive book, and one aspect is humor. As part of the history of ideas from Cervantes to the present day, the key for me was the idea of laughter that Cervantes inherited from earlier times, which he radically denied, killing the chivalric novel as an epic form. and opening a new page of the modern European world and a new European destiny," Čelebić said.
The book "Windmills of Europe" was published by "Academic Book" from Novi Sad. The director of that publishing house, Bora Babić, announced that the copyright for this book has already been sold to the Czech publisher "Akademija", and that the book is expected to be published in the Czech language next year.
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