Yugoslavia is an indicator that any community can fall apart

From the perspective of someone who remembers Yugoslavia and has the experience of its disintegration, Slovenian writer, essayist, literary critic Dušan Sarotar, in an interview with "Vijesti" he says that he realized how easy it is to destroy any community.

Thus, he takes the European Union with a grain of salt, which he claims has brought a lot of positive changes to Slovenia, but at the same time he claims that even that model is not ideal, but that mostly only a good view of good things is presented to the public.

Šarotar was in Montenegro last week as a guest of the 17th International Podgorica Book and Education Fair, where he gave a lecture on "Language, photography and memory". It is precisely because he combines these spheres that Šarotar stands out on the European literary scene, and his books are a combination of personal, imaginative, observed, recorded with (about) memories, the eye, the lens.

Šarotar was born in 1968 in Murska Sobota, and studied cultural sociology and philosophy in Ljubljana. He published his first book of short stories "Potapaljanje na dah" in 1999, and since then he has written a number of prose works. He published the first collection of poetry "Občutek za veter" in 2004, co-authored by S Feri Lainšček, followed by others, including novels, numerous essays and literary reviews published in renowned magazines...

One of his most famous works is the novel "Panorama", for which he received numerous awards, and the translation into the BHCS group of languages ​​was published in the "Frakture" edition. In the description, the publisher points out that "Panorama" is at the crossroads between fiction, history and memoir, a novel accompanied by the author's inspired photographs, and represents "a powerful meditation on memory and belonging, on the stories that created us and continue to create us."

"All the characters in this novel are travelers. It is a nameless Slovenian writer with a camera, whom we find on the rainy coast of Ireland, and his guide, the mysterious Albanian driver Gjini, it is Spomenka, a university professor of literature from a country that no longer exists, and all those others - curious, displaced or exiled - who in portrayed by Dušan Šarotar in his striking prose kaleidoscope. While their trail takes us from one end of Europe to the other, touching the scars left by love and war, 'Panorama' is first and foremost an album of intimate landscapes, an unforgettable journey inward", is emphasized in the description of the work, which the famous "Guardian" rated as a marvelous book.

"'Panorama' is not a novel in which something happens; everything has already happened, brought disaster, and exile is the only place where an individual can find peace and gain perspective. This is what, I think, this wonderful book is telling us about...", he writes, among other things, in the "Guardian" review.

In addition to writing and photography, Šarotar is also engaged in screenwriting and has several film and television productions behind him.

Šarotar talks about his work, Europe today, the experience of former Yugoslavia, the importance of (public) words in an interview for "Vijesti", and also reveals that Montenegro, after his one-month stay in Cetinje a few years ago, will be part of one of the new manuscripts which prepares.

Writer, essayist, critic, editor, and you are also engaged in the field of photography, but also in cinematographic projects... How much responsibility does each of these vocations carry in public life, and is there an influence of intellectuals, the intellectual elite, on public opinion and society today? -political circumstances?

Just at the moment when the reputation or influence of a public intellectual drops drastically, in contrast to some other figures who appear in the public eye, I believe that one should not become defensive or withdraw, remove from the scene. I believe that such a situation increases our responsibility when it comes to the power of the public word, from culture, to language, and ultimately to politics. In moments when everyone says whatever they want, when no one understands anyone anymore, it is at that moment that it is important to try to re-establish some vertical, in the foreground not only freedom of speech, but also the quality of that speech and with the responsibility of publicly spoken words .

What is the relationship between politics and literature, is the mutual influence of one on the other sphere evident?

The combination of language and politics is well known. It has been present since the 19th century, and all our countries, languages ​​and peoples were actually created on the basis of language. Today's time is such that culture and art are less and less bound by an exclusively national language, so in some way they are trying to get rid of that political, that is, daily-political influence. However, we see that it is not simple, although more and more often individuals distance themselves from politics and insist on being apolitical or non-political. The very survival of art and culture depends on various daily political currents, starting from financial support and ending with the creation of a creative space. It can be deliberate and censorship, or some demarcation of politics from culture that is completely pragmatic, financial, or in some other way... Of course, politics interferes in everything and often tries to impose some national narrative that, in fact, has fundamentally failed. and it no longer goes with any sovereign expression in culture.

In an interview, you said that your novel "Panorama" is actually a book of memories and that it is a "nostalgic book, but not for Europe, but for Europeans". I would like to hear more about it and I would ask you to bring "Panorama" closer to the Montenegrin reading public.

Thank you for this question. I'm talking about a Europe that has been completely changed in a way. It is no longer the same Europe of national languages, national states, certain borders, separated languages, but we are talking about a new, postmodern Europe, of course in the sense of the European Union where there are no longer formal borders and in which we have the open possibility of traveling, exchanging opinions, treasures, people , an idea, but it's really like that only in some ideal form... In reality, it doesn't work like that, and it's not even close to ideal. In addition, we have a changed, that is, a different and specific political situation due to migration... More and more people are emigrating and coming to the European Union. Either they are fugitives or economic migrants, often refugees, people fleeing wars, natural disasters... All of them see a brighter future and many more opportunities for themselves in Europe. I am talking about such a Europe, about the Europe of the new Europeans, in which we Slovenians and Croats, by some chance of some political game, have already entered and are part of that new community... My experience of Yugoslavia, its disintegration, and then some new geopolitical realities in in the whole world, in every man and every creation, it makes me see the other side, not only the image of someone who came looking for his happiness, but I also see a disaster, a sad story behind him. This is exactly what I look for and show in my heroes and characters. I am interested in the phenomenon of leaving, leaving home in search of a better future, and there is always something nostalgic, something anxious, and in some ways also something tragic. I try to tell those stories, and I would recommend all readers to read them.

There is always a tension between freedom on the one hand and the protection of tradition or conservatism on the other. It's all an open process. I will always say to everyone, "Enter (the EU), but you must know that you have to endure it," Sarotar says.

Considering all that, how do you perceive Europe and the European Union today as a citizen of Slovenia, but also once of the former Yugoslavia that you remember, and at the same time, from the same point of view, how do you look at the Balkans, including the political determinant, the so-called Western Balkans that aspires to the European union?

Summarizing everything, at no point would I say that it was a mistake that Slovenia joined the European Union when it did. It contributed to a lot and a lot of things changed for the better. However, we, who belong to the older generations and have the experience of Yugoslavia, know that at any moment any community, even such a one, can fail, can fall apart, break in any way. Because we felt it. I would also add that you should keep in mind that as much as you open up to the world, you must at the same time be prepared to provide, allow, and even turn a blind eye to some things. This new identity and constantly new situation represent a never-ending process. The question is how far you can go and be ready to consciously give part of your sovereignty and your resources to a community, and on the other hand you ask for the protection of your own culture and way of life... There is always a tension between freedom on the one hand and the protection of tradition or conservatism on the other side. It's all an open process. I will always say to everyone "Enter (the EU), but you must know that you have to endure it".

You stayed in Podgorica at the Book Fair, where you presented yourself as a writer and the author of photographs that find a place in your works. What do book fairs represent today and how important are they, and what impressions do you get?

The book fair has always been, and I believe it will be in the future, an important form of live encounter with books, readers, authors, publishers and the public in general. Namely, we all know that more and more books are bought via the Internet and various digital galleries, but the meetings that fairs bring are particularly important, especially for us writers, but also for publishers. With that in mind, I believe that this Montenegrin, Podgorica, or international book fair is also very important for writers from the region who are additionally connected by the language that we all speak and understand. In this regard, it is important that we who speak these languages ​​(BHCS) try to re-establish some normal circulation of ideas, books and, of course, authors.

Anything you would like to add to this conversation, what are you currently working on?

I would definitely take the opportunity to thank you for the opportunity to be a guest of a literary residency in Cetinje a few years ago. I spent a month in the Montenegrin capital, where I took a huge number of various photos and records, and there is also a manuscript that I am preparing for publication, so Montenegro will certainly be included in one of my next books.

Can you figure out what readers might expect to read or see in that manuscript?

In short, I write about the royal family, because I know that she is the daughter of a king Nicholas, Ksenija, was the first princess to take up photography. I am interested in their relationship with and towards the photograph, as well as the photograph at the court of the royal family...

The Public Agency for Books protects and encourages authors

How does the Public Agency for Books in Slovenia function, at what level and with what goal?

The agency was founded by the state, the state parliament, and is called the Public Book Agency, and that agency was initially responsible for the promotion of Slovenian literature in the country and abroad, as well as for the protection and subsidization of the work of domestic authors from Slovenia. Through the Agency, we receive work scholarships, subsidies for books, for translating books, travel, and among other things, my arrival in Montenegro was supported by the Public Agency, which provided me with a plane ticket... They somehow protect and encourage authors, and as a state agency, which is of great importance.

I wonder if I can write better, more beautiful and more convincing than the photograph itself

You often include your own photos in your literary publications, and there are rare novels that are a combination of words and pictures. What is the relationship between photography and words?

Photography is, of course, one of the most significant inventions of the 19th century, it was important in the 20th century, and in the 21st century in which we live, photography now dominates various media and networks... Almost everyone takes photos, everyone shares photos and it doesn't matter with how literate or not. I am interested in another dimension of photography that is closer to documentary photography, the one that is present in newspapers, magazines, and even books, when it functions as evidence in the context that you have a newspaper article and with it a photograph that shows or proves that what was written it really happened. So on my travels, or while I'm preparing to write, I take a lot of photos and it's a kind of memory aid for me. When I compose the text, I play with it, so the photograph is not only a verification that I have really been somewhere, and it is not only an illustration, but I strive for the photograph to function in literature in its own way, so that it also tells its own, comparative, different story. Sometimes I describe what is in the photos that I insert into the novel, and sometimes the photo is there separately, sometimes on completely different levels, maybe it doesn't even belong to the context, so I play with the signs that the photo carries - is it something true or no, is it there just because it's beautiful or to make the text more beautiful... Finally, following up on your question, I'm interested in whether I can write better, more beautiful and more convincing than the photo itself...