As the diary of a nomad who managed to awaken humanity, as well as a contemporary "Beauty of Vice", a creative madness that is not even remotely similar to Balkan literary discourse, Kemal Music in his review he describes the novel "Caliban" by a young Montenegrin writer Andjela Bulajic.
Her first prose work will be presented today in Podgorica, in the Multimedia Hall of the Cultural and Information Center (KIC) "Budo Tomović" at 19 p.m., as part of the regular literary program of the KIC, and the author will be interviewed by the event moderator. Marija Vujosevic.
Bulajić, in an interview for Vijesti, points out that she would like readers to recognize the theme she treats in her work, which is the relationship between nature and man, set on Ada Bojana, an island on the Montenegrin coast. On the other hand, she is honest that she also hopes for a full house like all authors, and in the continuation of the conversation she talks more about "Caliban", the plot, the creative process...
"The novel, in the form of a diary, brings an exciting story about Asja, a seasonal worker in a tourist complex on Ada Bojana. Fleeing the city and the insecurity of modern life, Asja comes to Ada Bojana in search of excitement, rest and an ideal summer vacation, and she meets a completely unexpected, fantastic world of nature and its hidden powers. Although it cannot be reduced to the framework of a single genre, 'Caliban' will appeal to fans of psychological thrillers and mysteries, but also to those who love so-called millennial literature or autofiction," the announcement of the KIC "Budo Tomović" emphasizes.
In his review, Musić noted that “the approach to the topic is like that of Knausgor, therefore, not even resembling Balkan literary discourse".
"Creative madness emerges from the text, which inhabits the story and the reader, room 155 of the nudist complex on Ada and the water of the Bojana, which leaves the dilemma of whether it flows into the sea or springs from it. The theme, writing style and procedure in this novel escape from the commonplace, from the dullness of texts accustomed to mediocrity, to clichés, to big themes, to historical events, to political pamphleteering and identity pathos. Anđela Bulajić's text is a contemporary 'Beauty of Vice', opening up a literary horizon above the Montenegrin blue sky," writes Music.
Literary critic, editor and publisher Petar Arbutina in his review he quotes Geta, stating that "everyone reads their own Homer".
“In the context of the novel 'Caliban' by Anđela Bulajić, we could say that the author reads (writes) her Shakespeare. The island demon from the drama 'The Storm' is the main hero of this novel in a symbolic key, not only in the explicitness of the title, but as an (omni)presence, and not as a character that has a direct dramaturgical effect. Anđela Bulajić chose the island, a 'tourist paradise' - Ada Bojana, as the setting, with visible traces of socialist realism and the element of new barbarians in the Dionysian exaltations of vacations and seaside fun. In contrast to them, the 'ruler of the island' and the chthonic being looks like a melancholic old man filled with the wisdom of duration and disgusted with civilizational 'values'. It is obvious that, quoting Shakespeare, the author wanted to show all aspects of dehumanization through the experience of the life of a maid on the island, but also Caliban, who no longer fights against Prospero, but against the multitude of his incarnations in the characters of new barbarians," states Arbutina.
Anđela Bulajić was born in 1995 in Cetinje. She studied world literature at the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade, and then completed her studies in theater production at the Faculty of Contemporary Arts in Belgrade. She is the winner of the first prize “Risto Ratković” for young poets under 27, as well as the winner of the “Raštan Publishing” award for the best unpublished novel, namely “Caliban”. She is the winner of the third prize at the “Braća Nastasijević” library competition. Finalist at the “Trećig trg” competition for a poetry collection in 2022... She was a member of literary circles from Belgrade, but also a member of the KIC Young Writers’ Forum “Budo Tomović”, and her poems have been published in numerous anthologies and magazines...
The Podgorica premiere of your prose debut, tonight at KIC... What does “Caliban” bring and do you have any expectations, either from the promotion or from future readers?
In this book, I talk about the relationship between nature and man, through an island on our Montenegrin coast, through Ada Bojana. I believe that we are all familiar with the situation that is currently happening in that part of the Montenegrin coast... Not to sound pretentious, but it seems to me that perhaps in some way I anticipated a little how far man is actually moving away from nature and how much it is increasingly taking its toll. It is a topic that I would like to see talked about a little more, and I have tried to talk about it through the novel, through my own experience and need.
To be honest, I didn't think about expectations... I believe that every author would like to fill the hall, that's for sure. What I truly expect is for people to really notice, or rather recognize, the importance of the topic I treat in the novel. I would like the audience to come, listen and hear, or rather to become aware of how important an adequate relationship with nature is and how important it is for all of us to protect it, because we are a part of it and always will be. I would highlight this as something that makes me think it would be nice to see "Caliban" off, especially considering current events.
The title of the novel itself is catchy, and then it further associates Shakespeare and his character who is half-man, half-monster or demon... It seems to be depicted on the cover. Who is Caliban in your story and how much of it is a reference to Shakespeare, a motif, but also some (hidden) message?
You noticed that well... I always like to point out that I am a really big fan of Shakespeare, so it is no wonder that I found inspiration for that character specifically through him, especially since I am also talking about the island. I would like to remind you that Caliban is actually a character from Shakespeare's play "The Tempest" who is exactly everything you have already said - half-man, half-beast, and what was particularly interesting and important to me for my book is that he is an inhabitant of that one island, as is the case with me. Given all that, it was interesting for me to somehow connect him with my character who in my book is actually a representative of nature, so he is not human, but has some human elements. I would not reveal everything related to the character in my book, but it was certainly interesting for me to connect that aspect with Shakespeare. Of course, I'm not taking over his character completely, nor the plot of his work and drama "The Tempest", but I think it has a lot of symbolism, and among other things, I believed that such a character could properly present and approach the topic I'm dealing with. In addition to all that, it's not a bad idea to talk about Shakespeare and mention him a little more often.
It is revealed that the novel contains elements of mystery and thriller and emphasizes that it will appeal to anyone who loves millennial literature, while Kemal Music in his review emphasizes that the work is not even similar to Balkan literature. What can we gain from reading “Caliban” in this context?
Given that I myself belong to this new millennial generation, it was somehow understood that I would write a “millennial novel”. It is something that came of itself, that imposed itself at the beginning, without me having thought too much about it, but it came out as it is, in that genre and in that structure. I am glad that the writer Kemal Music sees this book as something that is not typically Balkan. It is inconvenient for me to comment on his review, but I am certainly glad if it is something that is unusual and different, in some way. Of course, I think that Kemal wanted to say more that this is a story that is not colored with any political colors, but is really a story about all of us, about every person we can meet on the street every day, and I think that everyone can find themselves in these stories or at least in one of the characters.
The protagonist is Asja, a seasonal worker who spends the summer in the complex on Ada Bojana, I would also add that she is a curious young girl. Considering the further developments, Asja is a complex character. What does she encounter during her time on Ada Bojana and how necessary, but also challenging, was it for you personally to enter her intimate world?
While I was writing the story, I really felt that Asja is a complex character who is quite intimately close to me on some level. I myself had some experience working on Ada Bojana when I was a student. She is faced with some different things in life and in the world, which are typical for a person her age. I don't specifically emphasize in the book what her age is, but it is about 20 years old, which is approximately the period when every person is searching for their own identity. She, so young, goes into a completely unknown and different environment where she is faced with the system, or rather the mentality. As much as it may be a typical Montenegrin mentality, which was interesting to me while I was there, and I was there for a really long time, it is just as much as within that circle of the typical Montenegrin mentality, there is another mentality that is in a way in the shadows, and not attacked, but on the contrary... Asja is trying to discover herself, first of all, that's why she goes there, she's trying to discover what kind of space she lives in, lives and exists in, and her character, from the very beginning to the very end, develops in that direction where she realizes that she is actually in some special way connected to that island, to the place itself, and that she is someone who will still have to fight to preserve that nature, which has been important to her from the start. So she as a character, as the main heroine, is someone who introduces all the other characters and all the other characters are in her service, so that the story would get its turn, and then somehow come full circle, I hope in the right way.
Besides your personal experience, how did "Caliban" come about and what were the challenges in writing it, considering that it is your first novel, which is a form that is somewhat neglected?
The novel certainly came about through several stages. I believe that every novel and every collection, story or poem, is not just something that exists as an idea, and then just degenerates and appears on paper. Of course, at the very beginning, I had a terrible need to tell some of my experiences and my interpretation of that place, and then after that I was funny to myself for quite a long time, because I often knew how to go to that place and feel the space, the stone, the grass, the bungalows that are 50 years old and more, and which have been untouched for all the time they have been there. There were a lot of challenges. There was this idea inside me, there was something that was playing and happening, but I didn't have a key point that would, let's say, motivate me to write it all down, to put it all on paper. So the most challenging was actually that period of discovery, questioning and realizing how I would convey some of my emotions and the particularities of that place. I really think that the one space we exist in is extremely important, especially if it's a natural environment. I believe everyone would agree with me, because if we just look at ourselves when we go somewhere on vacation or move out of the city, out of the walls, I think it becomes clear to all of us how we feel in that context.
“Caliban” was published as the winning manuscript in a competition by Raštan Publishing. What was that process like and what did it bring you?
I like to say, modestly, that I was lucky... When I started writing the novel, there were about five pages, then six, then seven, and I just stopped there and nothing more could happen to me. The moment I saw that Raštan Publishing House from Belgrade had announced a competition, which of course has its own deadline, I said, or rather, I set myself the task that I had to send it to them, because I respect them as a publishing house. That's how I somehow forced myself to be that writer-architect who has to design everything within certain deadlines, write it, and finally publish it through some edition. Of course, I didn't expect it to be an award-winning novel, it was only important to me to write it and for it to exist, but, well, it happened that I won the award, so it was all a nice experience, especially the one that followed later during the editing part, but I won't go into too much detail about that.
You are no stranger to awards at competitions. At the Ratković Poetry Evenings, you won first prize for poets under 27 a few years ago. It is known that you write poetry, but to what extent do poetry and prose intertwine in your expression?
As for the intertwining of poetry and prose, I often hear comments that my poetry is quite narrative, and that my prose is quite poetic. That has always been interesting to me, although from a personal, or rather author's perspective, I can't really interpret my work as such. I'm not saying it's not true, I'm glad if poetry and prose always manage to stand out through what I write, at least in some way. If I had to, maybe as a poetic element in prose I can single out descriptions that I really like, I like both reading and writing them, so I believe that my sentences somehow construct and come together that way when I start describing things that I see and feel. I believe that maybe that's a poetic element in my prose. Furthermore, as for poetry, my first book was awarded at that very Ratković Poetry Evenings competition. I often think about what kind of relationship I have towards poetry, and what kind of relationship I have towards prose. I can say that I actually feel much better writing prose, but poetry is something I can't do without, and through poetry I can express completely different things in a completely different way. To be specific, through poetry I can express a current emotional state, because, although my poetry does not tolerate and does not allow excessive space to process an internal state, what happens inside you happens and comes out on paper. With prose, it's different. There is already that space to reflect, to think, to introduce some fiction... Poetry is, in my opinion, a pure emotion and a pure representation, or rather a mirror of the person who writes it.
I suppose poetry is everyday, whether as a written verse or a thought in the moment... Does the completion of a page or a manuscript bring inspiration for something new, or are you currently working on something?
You are absolutely right and you guessed it right. The fact that one book, then another, came out gave me the wind at my back and many new ideas, so I am currently working on a new collection of poetry, but also on a new novel. It will perhaps be something that is not exactly typical for me, or rather something different from everything I have written so far, and where both the collection of poetry and the novel will deal with women's issues. These are manuscripts that have yet to be born somewhere, but that is certainly my current vision - women's issues, a women's story, maybe not very positive, but certainly with serious messages. I will do my best to make sure that these messages are read...
Would you like to add something to the conversation or send a message to readers and young authors?
We could talk about a lot more, but since I have the opportunity to say something and add something on this occasion, it would be addressed to people who write, but who have not yet dared or gathered the courage to do something with it. There are many people who are my age or younger than me, and I know that they write, some sometimes reach out and ask for advice or recommendations, but what I would tell everyone is to follow the competitions and participate in them, to work on their books, to work on themselves, no matter what they do, but not to give up on it, because the time has passed when we should keep some things only in our drawers. Of course, we should always consult with people who come from this sphere, world or story, because we are aware that the time of hyperproduction has come in literature itself, and so there are authors who write, and perhaps they should do some other job. In any case, my advice to everyone is to follow the competitions and apply, because they have nothing to lose.
Culture has turned into a business in which authors have to fight for themselves.
You mentioned women's themes when it comes to your upcoming manuscripts. But what is the position of (young) female writers in Montenegro?
I like to think positively about that topic, that is, I like to have some hope that these things, it seems to me, are changing more and more and that female authors are becoming more visible. It might even be inconvenient, from my position, to say that women in Montenegro do not have enough space, because I got that space... Whether some circumstances simply aligned and I managed to get some recognition in a short period of time, I don't know, but I definitely think it's not enough. I also believe that in this field we should definitely start with a complete reconstruction of culture as such, and what is also very important for me is that so many women, when we are talking about women, give their whole selves to culture and art, and often they are not recognized enough or are put aside, whether because someone gives primacy to men or for some other reason. I would like to point out that today the author has to fight for himself. It took me a long time to realize that this is true, but today the author is no longer the artist Desanka Maksimović, for example, was, or some other greats that we remember and read today. Today the artist in general, and especially the artist because she is a woman, is an entrepreneur. Literature has turned into a business, and so has culture in general, it seems to me. So, I think that every author has to work on her own visibility and install a new persona that will try to impose herself and step out into the world and be recognized. Whether it is an author or an author, definitely no one will come knocking on someone's door and say "Here you go".
Bonus video:
