Ivan Cankar

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Ivan Cankar
Kingdom of SHS
Occupation
  • Writer
  • essayist
  • playwright
  • poet
  • political activist
Education
short novels, essays
Literary movementSymbolism, Modernism

Ivan Cankar (pronounced [ˈtsaːŋkaɾ], pronunciation) (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

Cankar's birthplace in Vrhnika

Ivan Cankar was born in the

Bosnia shortly after Ivan's birth.[2] He was raised by his mother, Neža Cankar née Pivk, with whom he established a close, but ambivalent relationship.[3][4] The figure of a self-sacrificing and submissively repressive mother would later become one of the most recognizable features of Cankar's prose.[5][6] After finishing grammar school in his hometown, he studied at the Technical High School (Realka) in Ljubljana (1888–1896).[7]

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

positivistic.[11] In the spring of 1897 he moved back to Vrhnika. After his mother's death in autumn of the same year, he moved to Pula
and in 1898 back to Vienna, where he lived until 1909.

During his second stay in Vienna, Cankar's worldview underwent a deep and rapid change. In a famous letter to the Slovene feminist author

Austrian Parliament in 1907, he ran as a candidate for the party in the largely working-class electoral district of ZagorjeLitija in Carniola, but lost to a candidate of the Slovene People's Party.[16]

Ivan Cankar as a martyr: caricature by Hinko Smrekar, 1913

In 1909, he left Vienna and moved to

Bosnia and Hercegovina, where his brother Karlo worked as a priest. During his stay in Sarajevo, he gradually turned away from his previous militant anti-clericalism, becoming more receptive to Christian spirituality. The same year, he settled in the Rožnik district of Ljubljana. Although he remained an active member of the Yugoslav Social Democratic Party, he rejected the party's view on Yugoslav nation-building: in a resolution in 1909, the party favoured a gradual unification of Slovene culture and language with the Serbo-Croatian ones in order to create a common Yugoslav cultural nation. Cankar, on the other hand, strongly defended the national and linguistic individuality of Slovenes. Together with Mihajlo Rostohar, he became the most vocal defender of Slovene individuality within a South Slavic political framework. Already after his electoral defeat in 1907, Cankar had started to publish numerous essays explaining his political and aesthetic views and opinions. After his return to Carniola in 1909, he began travelling throughout the Slovene Lands, delivering lectures and conferences. The most famous of these lectures were "The Slovene people and the Slovene culture" (Slovensko ljudstvo in slovenska kultura), delivered in Trieste in 1907, and "Slovenes and Yugoslavs" (Slovenci in Jugoslovani), delivered in Ljubljana in 1913. In the latter, Cankar expressed a favourable opinion on the political unification of all South Slavs, but rejected a cultural merger of South Slavic peoples.[17] Because of the lecture, he was sentenced to one week in prison for defamation of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy
. After the outbreak of World War I in 1914, he was again imprisoned in Ljubljana Castle for supposed pro-Serbian attitudes, but was soon released.[2] In 1917, he was drafted in the Austro-Hungarian Army, but was demobilized due to poor health. In his last lecture, delivered in the National Club of Trieste just after the end of the War, he called for a moral purification and rejuvenation of Slovene politics and culture. He moved from Rožnik to the center of Ljubljana, where he died in December 1918, from pneumonia, a complication of the Spanish flu pandemic which was raging at the time.[18] His funeral was attended by a huge crowd and highest representatives from the cultural and political life in Slovenia. In 1936, his grave was moved to the Žale cemetery in Ljubljana, where he was buried next to his youth friends and fellow authors Dragotin Kette and Josip Murn.

Work

Pohujšanje v dolini Šentflorjanski (Scandal in St. Florian Valley, 1908)

Ivan Cankar wrote around 30 books and is considered one of the primary exponents of Slovene

modernist literature, alongside Oton Župančič, Dragotin Kette and Josip Murn. Cankar is also considered one of Europe's most important fin de siècle. He dealt with social, national and moral themes.[7] In Slovenia, his best-known works are the play Hlapci ("Serfs"), the satire Pohujšanje v dolini Šentflorijanski (Scandal in St. Florian Valley) and the novel Na klancu (On the Hill). However, his importance for Slovene and European literature probably lies in his symbolist sketches and other short stories, which, in their mixture of symbolism, modernism and even expressionism, convey a high degree of originality.[citation needed
]

Erotika (Eroticism, 1899)

Cankar started as a poet. He published his first poems already as a teenager in the liberal literary magazine

Decadentist and sensualist influences were evident and the then bishop of Ljubljana Anton Bonaventura Jeglič was so scandalized by the book that he bought all the copies and ordered their destruction.[19] Another edition was issued three years later, but by that time Cankar had already abandoned poetry and moved to politically-engaged literature.[7] In 1902, he wrote his first play Za narodov blagor (For the Welfare of the Nation), which was a violent parody of the liberal nationalist elite in the Slovene Lands, especially in Carniola.[20] The same year, he published the short novel Na klancu (On the Hill), in which he described the misery of the small rural proletariat
and the poor material and spiritual conditions of the common people. The novel, which still showed strong naturalistic features, combined with allegorical symbolism and an unusual, biblically inspired style, gained him widespread recognition.

In the novels Gospa Judit (Madame Judit) and

liberal party. Both the liberal and the Catholic conservative parties in the Slovene Lands reacted acrimoniously against the play: its staging was delayed until after Austria-Hungary's dissolution in Autumn 1918.[21]

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

Rožnik, Ljubljana

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

Roman Catholic. In his high school years, he became a typical liberal freethinker.[clarification needed] He rejected the religious dogmas and embraced the rational explanations provided by contemporary natural and social sciences.[24] Between 1898 and 1902, he fell under the influence of the thinkers Ralph Waldo Emerson and Friedrich Nietzsche. In the writings of the Belgian poet Maurice Maeterlinck Cankar found the idea of the existence of a world soul with which the individual souls are connected, an idea he employed in his own works.[24] Already around 1903, however, he turned to an original, slightly anarchist interpretation of Marxism. His later life was marked by a gradual evolution towards orthodox Christianity, which became evident after 1910 and especially in the last year of his life.[25] Although he never officially rejected his Roman Catholic faith, he was generally considered agnostic, albeit sympathetic to some elements of traditional Catholic devotion.[1][16][25]

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.

Christian Socialist convictions, took the title of one of Cankar's minor novels, Križ na gori (Cross on the Mountain), as the name of their journal. The group, known as the "Crusaders" (Križarji), became the focal point in the emergence of the Christian left in Slovenia in the 1920s and 1930s.[27][28]

Cankar's work and his personal world view influenced all three major literary trends in

national character
.

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

Dušan Pirjevec Ahac, Milan Komar, and Slavoj Žižek
.

Already during his lifetime, his works were translated into German,

Henri Bordeaux, who published an essay on Cankar in the 1920s, the Austrian Josef Friedrich Perkonig and the Italian Fulvio Tomizza. According to the testimony of the literary critic Josip Vidmar, Cankar's novel Hiša Marije Pomočnice was well-received by the famous German writer Thomas Mann, who helped to publish a German edition in 1930.[29]

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

Cankar Hall in Ljubljana, has borne his name. Between June 1994 and January 2007, Cankar was portrayed on the 10,000 Slovenian tolar
bill.

Bibliography

Hlapec Jernej in njegova pravica (The Servant Jernej and His Justice, 1907)
  • 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 Matjaž
    1905)
  • 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

  1. ^ a b Pirjevec 1964
  2. ^ a b c d Kos 1983, p. 230
  3. ^ Doležal-Jenstrle 2003
  4. ^ Košiček 2001
  5. ^ Puhar 1982
  6. ^ Žižek 1987
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ Kos 1982, pp. 41–42
  9. ^ Pirjevec 1964, p. 317
  10. ^ Pirjevec 1964, pp. 317–318
  11. ^ Pirjevec 1964, p. 176
  12. ^ Janko Kos, Pregled slovenske književnosti, 235
  13. ^ Pirjevec 1964, pp. 317–324
  14. ^ Pirjevec 1964, pp. 317
  15. ^ Pirjevec 1964, pp. 324
  16. ^ a b Zver 1996
  17. ^ Cankar 1968
  18. ^ [Historical Dictionary of Slovenia (Third edition, 2018) by Leopoldina Plut-Pregelj, Gregor Kranjc, Žarko Lazarević, Carole Rogel] Page 67
  19. ^ Kos 1983, p. 240
  20. ^ Kos 1983, pp. 254–255
  21. ^ Kos 1983, pp. 258–259
  22. ^ Kos 1982, p. 44
  23. ^ Kos 1983, p. 235
  24. ^ a b Kos 1983, p. 262
  25. ^ a b Kos 1983, p. 263
  26. ^ Dović 2006
  27. ^ Hribar 2005, pp. 25–70
  28. ^ Gradišnik 2004, pp. 38–52
  29. ^ 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