Ivan Cankar
Ivan Cankar | |
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Kingdom of SHS | |
Occupation |
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Education | short novels, essays |
Literary movement | Symbolism, Modernism |
Ivan Cankar (pronounced [ˈtsaːŋkaɾ], ⓘ) (10 May 1876 – 11 December 1918) was a Slovene writer, playwright, essayist, poet, and political activist. Together with Oton Župančič, Dragotin Kette, and Josip Murn, he is considered as the beginner of modernism in Slovene literature. He is regarded as the greatest writer in Slovene, and has sometimes been compared to Franz Kafka and James Joyce.[1]
Biography
Ivan Cankar was born in the
During this period, he started writing literature, mostly poetry, under the influence of Romantic and post-Romantic poets such as France Prešeren, Heinrich Heine, Simon Jenko and Simon Gregorčič.[8] In 1893, he discovered the epic poetry of Anton Aškerc, which had a huge influence on the development of his style and ideals. Under Aškerc's influence, Cankar rejected the sentimental post-Romantic poetry and embraced literary realism and national liberalism.[9]
In 1896, he enrolled at the
During his second stay in Vienna, Cankar's worldview underwent a deep and rapid change. In a famous letter to the Slovene feminist author
In 1909, he left Vienna and moved to
Work
Ivan Cankar wrote around 30 books and is considered one of the primary exponents of Slovene
Cankar started as a poet. He published his first poems already as a teenager in the liberal literary magazine
In the novels Gospa Judit (Madame Judit) and
In the play Pohujšanje v dolini Šentflorjanski (Scandal in St. Florian Valley, published in 1908), Cankar made fun of the moral rigidness and culturally backward mentality of Carniola's small semi-urban society.
Cankar was also famous for his essays, most of which were published between 1907 and 1913, where he showed stylistic mastery and great irony.
His last collection of short stories, entitled Podobe iz sanj (Images from Dreams), which were published posthumously in 1920, is a magically realistic and allegorical depiction of the horrors of World War I. It shows a clear move from symbolism to expressionism and it has been regarded as the finest example of Cankar's poetic prose.[22]
Personality and world view
Cankar was a relatively fragile personality, both emotionally and physically, but showed an unusually strong and persistent intellectual vigour.[2] He was a sharp thinker, who was capable of poignant criticism of both his environment and himself. He was also full of paradoxes and loved irony and sarcasm. He had an unusually sentimental and somehow ecstatic nature, intensely sensitive to ethical issues.[23] He was very introspective: his works, which are to a large extent autobiographic, became famous for the ruthless analysis of his own deeds and misdeeds.
Cankar was raised as a
Influence
Cankar was an influential author already during his lifetime. His works were widely read and Cankar was the first author in Slovene who could make a living exclusively from writing.
Cankar's work and his personal world view influenced all three major literary trends in
During the dictatorship of King Alexander (1929–1934), Cankar's works were removed from the school curriculum, because he was considered a dangerous advocate of Slovene particularism and nationalism. After 1935, his status as one of the greatest Slovene writers was never put under serious question. In 1937, the first integral collection of Cankar's work was published, edited and annotated by his cousin and conservative literary historian and critic Izidor Cankar. After World War II, the publishing house Cankarjeva založba (literally, 'Cankar Press') was established, which took care of the edition of his collected works.
Cankar was especially influential as a playwright. He is considered the father of modern Slovene theatre and has had a major influence on almost all Slovene playwrights that have come after him, starting from the expressionist theatre of the 1920s (Slavko Grum, Stanko Majcen). Between the 1950s and 1970s, most of the modernizers of Slovene theatre, such as Jože Javoršek, Dominik Smole, Marjan Rožanc, Primož Kozak, and Bojan Štih, were influenced by Cankar's plays. The works of many contemporary Slovene playwrights and screenwriters, including Drago Jančar, Dušan Jovanović, Tone Partljič and Žarko Petan, continue to show a clear influence of Cankar's concepts.
Many prominent Slovene thinkers reflected on Cankar's works, including
Already during his lifetime, his works were translated into German,
Legacy
To this day, Cankar's prose is regarded as one of the finest examples of Slovene style. His influence as a novelist has faded since the 1960s, but his plays are still among the most popular theatre pieces in Slovene theatres.
Numerous streets, squares, public buildings, and institutions have been named after Ivan Cankar. During World War II, two military units of the
Bibliography
- Erotika (Eroticism, 1899)
- Jakob Ruda (1900)
- Knjiga za lahkomiselne ljudi (A Book for Thoughtless People, 1901)
- Tujci (Strangers, 1901)
- Za narodov blagor (For the Wealth of the Nation, 1901)
- Na klancu (On the Hill, 1902)
- Kralj na Betajnovi (The King of Betajnova, 1902)
- Ob zori (At Dawn, 1903)
- Križ na gori (The Cross on the Mountain, 1904)
- Gospa Judit (Madame Judit, 1904)
- Hiša Marije Pomočnice (The Ward of Mary Help of Christians, 1904)
- Potepuh Marko in Kralj Matjaž (The Vagabond Marko and Kralj Matjaž1905)
- V mesečini (In the Moonlight, 1905)
- Nina (1906)
- Martin Kačur (1906)
- Aleš iz razora (Aleš from the Furrow, 1907)
- Hlapec Jernej in njegova pravica (The Servant Jernej and His Justice, 1907)
- Krpanova kobila (Krpan's Mare, 1907)
- Zgodbe iz doline šentflorjanske (Tales from the St. Florian Valley, 1908)
- Pohujšanje v dolini Šentflorjanski (Scandal in St. Florian Valley, 1908)
- Novo življenje (New Life, 1908)
- Kurent (1909)
- Za križem (After the Cross, 1909)
- Hlapci (The Serfs, 1910)
- Bela krizantema (The White Chrysanthemum, 1910)
- Volja in moč (Will and Power, 1911)
- Troje povesti (Three Stories, 1911)
- Lepa Vida (Beautiful Vida, 1912)
- Milan in Milena (Milan and Milena, 1913)
- Moje življenje (My Life, 1914, published in 1920)
- Podobe iz sanj (Images from Dreams, written in 1917–1918, published in 1920)
- Mimo življenja (Passing Past Life, written in 1904, published in 1920)
- Romantične duše (Romantic Souls, written in 1897, published in 1922)
Notes
- ^ a b Pirjevec 1964
- ^ a b c d Kos 1983, p. 230
- ^ Doležal-Jenstrle 2003
- ^ Košiček 2001
- ^ Puhar 1982
- ^ Žižek 1987
- ^ a b c d Milorad Živančević (1971). Živan Milisavac (ed.). Jugoslovenski književni leksikon [Yugoslav Literary Lexicon] (in Serbo-Croatian). Novi Sad (SAP Vojvodina, SR Serbia): Matica srpska. pp. 57–59.
- ^ Kos 1982, pp. 41–42
- ^ Pirjevec 1964, p. 317
- ^ Pirjevec 1964, pp. 317–318
- ^ Pirjevec 1964, p. 176
- ^ Janko Kos, Pregled slovenske književnosti, 235
- ^ Pirjevec 1964, pp. 317–324
- ^ Pirjevec 1964, pp. 317
- ^ Pirjevec 1964, pp. 324
- ^ a b Zver 1996
- ^ Cankar 1968
- ^ [Historical Dictionary of Slovenia (Third edition, 2018) by Leopoldina Plut-Pregelj, Gregor Kranjc, Žarko Lazarević, Carole Rogel] Page 67
- ^ Kos 1983, p. 240
- ^ Kos 1983, pp. 254–255
- ^ Kos 1983, pp. 258–259
- ^ Kos 1982, p. 44
- ^ Kos 1983, p. 235
- ^ a b Kos 1983, p. 262
- ^ a b Kos 1983, p. 263
- ^ Dović 2006
- ^ Hribar 2005, pp. 25–70
- ^ Gradišnik 2004, pp. 38–52
- ^ Vidmar 1962
References
- Cankar, Ivan (1968), Bela krizantema, Ljubljana: DZS.
- Doležal-Jenstrle, Alenka (2003), Mitologizacija ženske v Cankarjevi prozi, Ljubljana: Filozofska fakulteta Univerze v Ljubljani.
- Dović, Marijan (2006), Cankar kot utemeljitelj profesionalnega pisatelja – umetnika, Ljubljana: Slavistično društvo Slovenije.
- Gradišnik, Janez (2004), "Spomini na Dejanje", Nova revija (269/270).
- Hribar, Spomenka (2005), "Slovenska khatarsis", Revija 2000 (174/176): 25–70.
- Kos, Janko; et al. (1982), Slovenska književnost, Ljubljana: Cankarjeva založba.
- Kos, Janko (1983), Pregled slovenskega slovstva, Ljubljana: DZS.
- Kos, Janko, Pregled slovenske književnosti.
- Košiček, Marijan (2001), Ženska in ljubezen v očeh Ivana Cankarja, Ljubljana: Tangram.
- Pirjevec, Dušan (1964), Ivan Cankar in evropska literatura, Ljubljana: Cankarjeva založba.
- Puhar, Alenka (1982), Prvotno besedilo življenja, Zagreb: Globus.
- Vidmar, Josip (1962), Drobni eseji, Maribor: Obzorja.
- Žižek, Slavoj (1987), Jezik, ideologija, Slovenci, Ljubljana: Delavska enotnost.
- Zver, Milan (1996), Sto let socialdemokracije na Slovenskem, Ljubljana: Nova obzorja.
Further reading
- Izidor Cankar, Preface to "Ivan Cankar, Zbrani spisi" (Ljubljana: Blasnikova tiskarna, 1937)
- France Bernik, Ivan Cankar: monografska študija (LJubljana: Cankarjeva založba, 1987)
- Arnaldo Bressan, Le avventure della parola: saggi sloveni e triestini (Milan: Il saggiatore, 1985)
- Andrej Inkret, Romantične duše: razmišljanja ob dramatiki Ivana Cankarja (Ljubljana: Prosvetni servis, 1966)
- Dušan Kermauner, Ivan Cankar in slovenska politika leta 1918 (Ljubljana: Cankarjeva založba, 1968)
- Taras Kermauner, Dolina i nebo: eseji o Cankaru (Belgrade: Vuk Karadžić, 1979)
- Alojz Kraigher, Ivan Cankar: študije o njegovem delu in življenju, spomini nanj (Ljubljana: Cankarjeva založba, 1954)
- Matevž Kos, Cankar in Nietzsche (Ljubljana: društvo za primerjalno književnost, 2001)
- Primož Kozak, Temeljni konflikti Cankarjevih dram (Ljubljana: Cankarjeva založba, 1980)
- Filip Kumbatovič Kalan, Trois précurseurs du théǎtre contemporain en Yougoslavie: Branislav Nušić, Ivan Cankar, Miroslav Krleža (Paris: Centre national de la recherche scientifique, 1963)
- Marija Mitrović, Cankar in kritika (Koper: Lipa, 1976)
- Boris Paternu, Ivan Cankar in slovenska literarna tradicija (Ljubljana: Slavistično društvo Slovenije, 1969)
- Dušan Pirjevec Ahac, Hlapci, heroji, ljudje (Ljubljana: Cankarjeva založba, 1968)
- Jože Pogačnik, Ivan Cankar und Oton Župančič (Munich: Selbstverlag der Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft, 1991)
- Dimitrij Rupel, Svobodne besede : od Prešerna do Cankarja: sociološka študija o slovenskem leposlovju kot glasniku in pobudniku (Koper: Lipa, 1976)
- Anton Slodnjak, Ivan Cankar in Slovene and world literature (London: Modern Humanities Research Association for the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, 1981)
- Miran Štuhec, Esejistika Ivana Cankarja (Ljubljana: Slavistično društvo Slovenije, 2006)
- Josip Vidmar, Ivan Cankar (Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije, 1969)
- Božo Vodušek, Ivan Cankar (Ljubljana: Hram, 1937)
- Dimitrije Vučenov, Ivan Cankar (Belgrade: Rad, 1962)
- Boris Ziherl, Ivan Cankar i njegovo doba (Belgrade: Prosveta, 1949)
External links
- Media related to Ivan Cankar (category) at Wikimedia Commons
- Works by or about Ivan Cankar at Wikisource
- Works by Ivan Cankar at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Ivan Cankar at Internet Archive