(Dragan Koprivica, “Don Quixote”, ITP “Unireks”, Podgorica, 2024)
Dragan Koprivica We have long known him as a multifaceted creator: poet, playwright, director, critic, columnist, aphorist... With the diversity of his literary pen, he has become more consistent, mature and articulate in each of the aforementioned areas over time. Here, first of all, we are thinking of his dramatic and columnist-aphorist-satirical opus. When we consider such a multi-layered immersion in the fabric of life, the reader, of course, the more demanding one, involuntarily sighs, regretting that this author, as a literary critic and theorist, does not touch on our literary practice more often, which has long been crying out for analytical, historiographical systematization. However, Koprivica, on the other hand, did not leave his vigilance as a literary researcher to chance and, "keeping an eye on it", very successfully transposed it into another creative sphere: into aphorisms that never lose their relevance, because they deal with those issues that have been present in human society since its inception.
In “Don Quixote”, whose title associatively relies on a humorous image of Cervantes In “Don Quixote”, Koprivica, in addition to the previous ones, also included his latest selected aphorisms, systematizing them into several thematic chapters: on the state, citizenship, authorities, politicians, on political parties, leaders, presidents, pensioners, police, family, on poverty, the rich... Through the seemingly contradictory but, in essence, logical thought that “humor is a very serious matter”, the author pointed out all the complexity of the human spirit, character and nature, their weaknesses and contradictions per se, compositionally arranging them into a single statement block, whether their extremes or agreements. Writing about Dragan Koprivica’s aphorisms, Aleksandar Ćuković, a literary theorist, rightly concluded that “everything is the target of his (Koprivica’s) satirical blade. There are no privileged. No one is spared. No one has managed to hide”. And indeed, Koprivica has opened up before our eyes a wide map of human nature, whether individual or entity mentalities, and in this way, at the same time, we also experience him as a columnist of sharp perception, valuable experience and analytical acumen. Hence, his humor, in almost no aphorism, agrees with the current “ease of existence”, but with its associativity is tied to the psychological and characterological finesse of individuals and collectives, to their historical subtext and political-sociological portrait.
Always with open eyes and the ability to effectively point out the problem he has so inquisitively addressed, Koprivica decisively moves us with his aphorism in the direction of additional self-examination: to what extent are we in agreement with his bitingly ironic statement; does he direct us towards more objective reasoning, when it comes to our everyday lives, or does he, in the style of a railroad switch, move us onto the track of an even deeper, more careful analytical adventure; in what way do we read the darkly humorous side of Koprivica's laughter; in what, and to what extent, does he recognize the applicability of the author's aphorism, etc. etc. Regardless of the fact that Koprivica's aphorism moves with a broader semantic swing, we could succinctly summarize the purpose of his idea in the statement: that, by enlightening us, the author, at the same time, while moving the nerve of our responsibility, makes us engaged. At the very least, more alert than we were before.
But on the other hand, humor is not an innocent question at all, but a loud, diabolical creature. If we accept laughter just for the sake of laughter, it is harmless. But, if it enters the "black", destructive zone, it becomes black humor. This antinomy, which records its conceptual structure, is not difficult to discern, especially if we know that everything has "its other side". What is an illusion in this, for the sake of play, and what is a real effect, for the sake of knowledge? Koprivica is very clear here, because his humor does not only affect one day, one situation, one person, but entire formations, epochs, usually socio-cultural, historical, political situations, whose constant we still witness today. For illustration, here are a few aphorisms: "We have a balanced past: the bright pages of our dark history"; "You can feel the shift: we started so strongly with nonsense - you'd be out of your mind..!"; "In order to authentically join the working class through working class occupations, he passed as a voting machine operator."
The reflective charge of an aphorism is born not only from conceptual clarity, but also from a deeply purified and crystallized stylistic procedure, which does not allow the author's thought to stray from the main, crucial path, but rather keeps it awake in all its strength and lethality. Dragan Koprivica's aphorisms are of such a format, whose themes have become a sharp moral teaching, an open stage for all possible existential rashomoniades, whether of an individual, family, society, nation, state... Such a broad panoramic view of the states and situations in which a person not only finds himself, but also creates them himself, most often playing the main role in his own "manuscript", associatively brings us closer to Koprivica as a literary analyst, which he is, above all. So, on the pages of "Don Quixote", through a word that is extremely reduced in meaning, sprouts a multifaceted story about us: our mentality, delusions, vices, injustice, short-sightedness, self-love, grandomania, duplicity... So, the same testimonies that, as the plot tissue, sprouted on the pages of many novels, stories, dramas... But, this time, primarily through a humorous, ironic-sarcastic mirror. ("We could have been the decisive ace in the balance if our eternal balancing act had not prevailed"; "The boring performance finally gained a powerful acceleration when the disgruntled spectators jumped on the stage and rushed the actors").
The aphoristic material in the book is arranged, in terms of motif and theme, by units: on history, politicians, leaders, on marriage, fidelity-infidelity, on women, and artistic fields are not left out either - literature, music, painting ("Njegoševski echo: "Our theater sleeps with a deader sleep - our scene has no director"; "That's that favorite of the regime, a controversial writer: highly circulated and lowly moral"). Sometimes the aphorisms have a freer narrative flow, which follows the "breath" of the writer's feelings, which have slipped out of the author's solid ironic narrative. Almost every aphorism (although not all of them make a point with the same weight and lethality) tries to solve a problem in a way that adequately follows it, often with the author's casual suggestion - how to eliminate it. Or, with an explanation of how the problem came about. Hence, when we open the pages of "Don Quixote", we actually have before us a wide field of social natures. Only, unlike Balzac's "feature-length" shots, here, logically, we witness a deficit of description.
But let's not fool ourselves: it has long been said that we cannot, from an ethical point of view, move financial, political, military, and generally corporate systems of power through art, in the sense of making them more just and promising. But we can influence the consciousness of an individual, the strength of his will, his ethical and overall spiritual personality. We are also asked about another characteristic of the aphorism: the dose of humor that it radiates, and the dose of critical awareness that it triggers in us - what is their relationship? What, in this case, should outweigh? That depends on the recipient, the reader. I am afraid that the reader, since he has never had a comfortable life position, will rather vote for humor. To brighten up his social status with it, at least for a moment. And the politicians, financial and other cartels? The aphorism, and not only the one from "Don Quixote", cannot harm them in any way. Because, as millennial practice shows, they are mostly immune to critical awareness. The book is definitely worth reading. For our own pleasure ("Laughter is medicine"), and to remind ourselves of what we shouldn't be.
Bonus video:
