BOrislav Pekic is an indispensable figure when it comes to not only our, but also the entire European literature, and that is why I am very glad that the Podgorica audience is encountering his diary entries, on this very occasion, because it represents a cultural event of enormous importance, both for Montenegro, and for the region and the literary scene in general.
This was stated by the director of the National Library "Radosav Ljumović". Slavica Ilinčić, at yesterday's promotion of five books of memoir, epistolary and diary prose by Borislav Pekić as part of the 19th International Podgorica Book and Education Fair.
Pekić's diaries, united under the title "Life on Ice", were published by the National Library of Podgorica together with the publishing houses Štampar Makarije from Belgrade and Obodsko slovo from Podgorica.
Radomir Uljarević He pointed out that these five volumes were prepared over a period of about a year. These are diaries that are more than just diaries.
“In his diaries, he questions the reasons for writing, and these questions are very interesting. These are diaries, but at the same time prose, poetry, travelogues, a hybrid genre, a total complex, an adventure, a real Pekić... Pekić says that in his diaries he writes about 'I' and 'Not I'. In that generality of that 'Not I', the cosmic criterion of destiny is also given, as Pekić says. By writing these texts, he fulfills his destiny, as he would say Crnjanski, from A to Z, leaving doubts and empty space for reflection. These five books are collages of memories, of recollection, of the present, of the past, of the future, sporadic discussions of various philosophical categories, discussions of discussions, discussions of time, of fate and politics, of democracy and democracy. Because, he is interested in everything. These diaries are a breviary of questions and answers, of intellectual excursions and spiritual ascents. A collection of aphorisms and poems, prose, brilliant essays, and finally of street gossip, a book of retorts to everything that surrounds us and exerts pressure on us with the intention of changing us. These books were a shield for the author, from these intentions, and for the same purpose they can serve the reader", Uljarević pointed out.
Moderator of the promotion Marija Vujosevic She emphasized that it is very significant that we have access to a publication that brings together Pekić's diary entries, which, she added, we can read as a literary work in their own right, but which can also further illuminate the context of the time in which the artist lived and created, and provide a new perspective for interpreting his works themselves.
"Pekić is one of the most significant figures in literature, not only from the former Yugoslavia, but also in all of world literature of the 20th century, still relevant today, with avant-garde ideas that are in a way prophetic," said Vujošević.
Ilinčić pointed out that the reader of the diary can also see Pekić as a kind of "moral boulder, as a man who reflects on moral values and adheres to them."
"Borislav Pekić's diaries are a testimony to his life, but they are also a picture of a regime, a system that did not change in essence but only changed its manifestations, and which Pekić was against... These records show an enormous intellectual erudition that was in perpetual conflict with himself, but also with the social environment that simultaneously hindered and inspired him... These diaries of his can certainly be seen as a literary work, but also as a kind of introduction to what would later emerge as a product of his creative work. This is a cross-section of the life and creativity of Borislav Pekić," Ilinčić pointed out, reminding that Pekić's works are still omnipresent today.
When asked by Vujošević how to read it today, in the context of the times we live in, the director of the NB "Radosav Ljumović" said that it is always relevant.
"Borislav Pekić is always relevant. So, even 30 years after his death, his works are sold, read, printed, exchanged, people talk about him, literary evenings are organized in his honor, everything he did during his life is analyzed, both as a writer, but also as a filmmaker, as a politician and as a witness to events," Ilinčić emphasized.
Uljarević said that Pekić's diaries are primarily a history of the ideas of an era, a vast system of ideas, a history of thought, a history of literature and literary theory, a broad view of the world of democracy.
"He opens up new topics and develops new ideas and sets them for himself as tasks to which he will return... We can also read the diaries as a novel freed from form, although these books were created as diaries, and by their very definition they only masked their true form," said Uljarević.
He also pointed out that the writer exposed in his diaries those things that other diarists carefully hide, so the diaries also contain some episodes from his life that anyone would surely hide, Uljarević assessed.
Ilinčić reminded that this is the first time that Pekić's diary entries have been published in Montenegro, and since he was born in Podgorica, he can be treated as a native author, and the publication gains in importance.
These five books are collages of memories, of recollections, of the present, of the past, of the future, sporadic discussions of various philosophical categories, discussions of discussions, discussions of time, of fate and politics, of democracy and demonocracy. Because he is interested in everything,” said Uljarević.
Bonus video:
