The last night in Billiards

It's been a while since I read Luča Mikrokosma. I was young, in my teens. A Jungian wrote that a man at that age experiences an intense, ecstatic feeling of oneness with the world. Later, he searches for that feeling again throughout his life, which supposedly returns to him in his late forties. I remember that during the reading of Luča Mikrokosma, in those winter nights, full moon, way back in '91, I had that intense feeling of cosmic, oceanic "unity". Somehow, Njegoš's language, narration, seems to penetrate into the core of the ontological question, opening it like a flower, which you feel and smell with your soul, aware that the great secret transcends the existence of the mind. It was the time of the disintegration of our homeland, the great Yugoslavia. Although Ante Marković, the Prime Minister at the time, recommended "computers" to young people, politicians and the blinded masses still wanted weapons. From the beginning of '90, we entered the darkness, but we had Luča, because "what is human, must be human". Some found in the verses of Gorski Wienec a motive to attack others, forgetting that Njegoš is on the side of the smaller one, who defends himself from the tyranny of the bigger one, because to whom "the law lies in a mace, his traces reek of inhumanity". Truth be told, there were also attempts by Marxist ideology to find its foothold in Njegoš's work, trying to portray the conflict of productive forces and productive relations as an expression of "unceasing struggles". No matter how absurd these Marxist attempts looked, they were harmless compared to those of identity, nationalism, since Njegoš in his national mission had to refer to Orthodoxy, "Serbia" as an expression of a unifying identity. Had to, I say because he had no other identity at his disposal. Unfortunately, in none of the industrialized Yugoslavia did the social consciousness overcome the national one, so the citizens of Yugoslavia still ignored the call of the above-mentioned Prime Minister Ante Marković and sided with the national elites. However, Njegoševa was also "my brother of whatever religion he was", so historians consider him an anticipator and promoter of the idea of ​​the unity of the South Slavic peoples.

* * *

I have almost finished reading Amos Oz's novel “Judas”. Honestly, I haven't read a better book in a long time. If I were to compare Oz with creators in our language by free association, I would say Kiš's factography, and the lightness of Pavić's literary painting. It should be said right away that this is not a novel with a political message, but a subtle depiction of life and characters in which we will recognize ourselves. The character of the novel, Gershom Wald, believes that David Ben Gurion was a "great realist", claiming that "he is the only one who saw a small crack in history at the right time and managed to lead us through it at the right moment". (Alluding to the constitution of the state of Israel). On the other side is the character Shelatiel Abrabanel, who believes that the state of Israel should not have been constituted as a Jewish state, but that Jews and Arabs should have a common state. In Oz's novel, the fictitious character Abrabanel is marked as socially and politically unacceptable, "treasonous". After the declaration of the state of Israel, the first Israeli-Arab war followed, as well as mutual persecution of civilians. The war was clearly the price of political independence. I am writing this because the historical position of Ben Gurion reminded me of the position and role of Bishop Danilo in Gorski Vijenc. A socialist by conviction, Ben Gurion was probably "pushed" into the historical dialectic by the fear of repeating the tragedy of the Holocaust. It can be said that at Bishop Danilo's, i.e. Njegoš in Gorski Vijenc had a similar fear, but of cultural disappearance. During the time of Đurđ Crnojević, there was a state printing house. Historians say that in Njegoš's time, literate people in Montenegro could be counted "on the fingers". The period of rule of Đurđ, one of the last Crnojevics, is the end of the 15th century, Njegoš's time is the 19th century, while the British discussed freedom of the press at the end of the 18th century. Finally, if you approach Njegoš's work politically, you will find what you want to find, but a spiritual person will certainly recognize that essential dilemma, between realism, Darwin's man fighting for survival and the idea of ​​turning the other cheek. Although the "investigation" in Gorski Vijenec is not a historical event, while the Israeli-Arab conflicts unfortunately remain as they are.

***

In the pictures that show him, we see Njegoš as a proud dignitary. Rather, one would say a secular prince, rather than a church father. There is an artistic painting that shows Njegoš differently. Damjan Brković's work "The Last Night in Billiards". Expressive in form, this image carries multiple messages or, if you will, dimensions. Although it depicts a man in the agony of death, it still carries warmth, the warmth of the light that can be sensed in the body of the dying. The light of hope, one would say. The dying man tries to keep this light, like the energy chakras, in his chest and stomach, trying to cover them with his fists. Light has its own color, white and red. Denoting the duality of the human being. His duality, sensuality, humanity, in red and sublime spirituality in white. The dying man's face signifies the existential horror of an imminent encounter with death. As if to say: Elli, Elli, lama shavahtani? - My God, my God, why did you forget me? (It seems to me that the last words of Jesus are more appropriate for a Montenegrin at the time of birth, than at the hour of death).

The mystical light of Damjan's painting reminded me of an essay that (if my memory serves me correctly) Miljenko Jergović published a long time ago in the magazine Ars. Namely, we cannot define great writers according to the nation, the state in which they were born. According to the cultural, civilizational context in which their work was created. Accordingly, Andrić would be an Ottoman writer, Krleža would be an Austro-Hungarian writer, while Njegoš does not belong to any context, since he "emerged on his own". More precisely, in a kind of cultural, literary big bang, Njegoš created the context of creation, as Jergović excellently concludes. Precisely the magical light of Damjan's painting seems to be a reflection of that "big bang", the creation of a universe, perhaps dark, but as Jevrem Brković wrote, Montenegrin poets did not rise on warm cookies with butter and acacia honey, but in thorn trees, on a rocky outcrop, in an environment where death in war is not a tragedy. That's why when discussing Njegoš (which is desirable), we should also keep in mind Marx's "consciousness of people does not determine social being, but on the contrary, social being determines their consciousness". But also to have respect for the genius of a small nation, which was not very lucky in history, and the question is, is it still lucky today?