Miroslav Krleža
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Miroslav Krleža | |
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Croat | |
Period | 1915–1977 |
Literary movement | Expressionism, Socialist realism |
Notable works | Messrs. Glembay Croatian God Mars The Ballads of Petrica Kerempuh The Return of Philip Latinowicz The Banquet in Blitva The Banners |
Spouse | Leposava "Bela" Kangrga[1] |
Miroslav Krleža (pronounced [mǐrɔ̝slav̞ kř̩le̞ʒa]; 7 July 1893 – 29 December 1981) was a Yugoslav and Croatian writer who is widely considered to be the greatest Croatian writer of the 20th century.[2][3][4][5] He wrote notable works in all the literary genres, including poetry (Ballads of Petrica Kerempuh, 1936), theater (Messrs. Glembay, 1929), short stories (Croatian God Mars, 1922), novels (The Return of Philip Latinowicz, 1932; On the Edge of Reason, 1938), and an intimate diary. His works often include themes of bourgeois hypocrisy and conformism in Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.[6] Krleža wrote numerous essays on problems of art, history, politics, literature, philosophy, and military strategy,[7] and was known as one of the great polemicists of the century.[8] His style combines visionary poetic language and sarcasm.[9]
Krleža dominated the cultural life of Croatia and Yugoslavia for half a century.
Biography
Miroslav Krleža was born in
Krleža was the driving force behind leftist literary and political reviews Plamen ("The Flame", 1919), Književna republika ("Literary Republic", 1923–1927), Danas ("Today", 1934) and Pečat ("Seal", 1939–1940).[2] He became a member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia in 1918, but was expelled in 1939 because of his unorthodox views on art, his opposition to Socialist realism, and his unwillingness to give open support to the Great Purge, after the long polemic now known as "the Conflict on the Literary Left", pursued by Krleža with virtually every important writer in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, in the period between the two World Wars. The Party commissar sent to mediate between Krleža and other leftist and party journals was Josip Broz Tito.
After the establishment of the
From 1950 on, Krleža led a life as a high-profile writer and intellectual, often closely connected to Tito. He also briefly held the post of president of the Yugoslav Writers' Union between 1958 and 1961. In 1962, he received the NIN Award for the novel Zastave ("The Banners"),[17] and in 1968 the Herder Prize.[18]
Following the deaths of Tito in May 1980, and Bela Krleža in April 1981, Krleža spent most of his last years of his life in ill health. He was awarded the
Works
Krleža's formative influences include Scandinavian drama, French
Krleža's opus can be divided into the following categories:
Poetry
Although Krleža's lyric poetry is held in high regard, by common critical consensus his greatest poetic work is Balade Petrice Kerempuha (Ballads of Petrica Kerempuh), spanning more than five centuries and centred on the figure of plebeian prophet Petrica Kerempuh, a Croatian Till Eulenspiegel.[22]
Novels
Krleža's novelistic oeuvre consists of four works:
Short stories and novellas
The most notable collection of Krleža's short stories is the anti-war book Croatian God Mars,[24] on the fates of Croatian soldiers sent to the World War I battlefields.[26]
Plays
Krleža's main artistic interest was centered on drama. He began with experimental expressionist plays like Adam i Eva and Michelangelo Buonarroti, dealing with defining passions of heroic figures, but eventually opted for more conventional
Diaries and memoirs
Krleža's memoirs and diaries include Davni dani (Olden days) and Djetinjstvo u Agramu (Childhood in Zagreb). Other works include Dnevnici (Diaries) and the posthumously published Zapisi iz Tržiča (Notes from Tržič) chronicle multifarious impressions.
Selected works
- Hrvatski bog Mars(1922)
- Gospoda Glembajevi(1928)
- Povratak Filipa Latinovicza(1932)
- Balade Petrice Kerempuha(1936)
- Na rubu pameti (1938)
- Banket u Blitvi (1939)
- Zastave (1962)
Translations into English:
Krleža, Miroslav. The Banquet in Blitva (Banket u Blitvi, 1939). Translated by Edward Dennis Goy and Jasna Levinger-Goy. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2004.
_____. The Cricket Beneath the Waterfall, and Other Stories (Cvrčak pod vodopadom). Various translators; edited by Branko Lenski. New York: Vanguard Press, 1972.
_____. Harbors Rich in Ships: Selected Revolutionary Writings (The Glembays, 1928, and other early texts). Translated by Željko Cipriš. New York: Monthly Review Press, 2017.
_____. Journey to Russia (Izlet u Rusiju, 1925). Translated by Will Firth. Zagreb: Sandorf, 2017.
_____. On the Edge of Reason (Na rubu pameti, 1938). Translated by Zora Depolo. New York: New Directions, 1995.
_____. The Return of Philip Latinowitz (Povratak Filipa Latinovicza, 1932). Translated by Zora Depolo. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1995.
References
- ^ "Bela Kangrga, udana Krleža – glumica". Serb National Council. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
- ^ a b "Miroslav Krleža (1893–1981)". lzmk.hr. Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
- ^ "8th Miroslav Krleža Festival". National and University Library in Zagreb. 18 June 2019.
...undoubtedly the greatest Croatian writer of the 20th century and one of the greatest Croatian writers of all time
- ^ Roshwald, Aviel; Stites, Richard, eds. (2002). European Culture in the Great War. Cambridge University Press. p. 201.
By the end of the [First World War], Krleža had established himself as the leading figure of twentieth-century Croatian literature, a position he was never to relinquish.
- ^ Bubík, Tomáš; Remmel, Atko; Václavík, David, eds. (2020). Freethought and Atheism in Central and Eastern Europe. Routledge.
The greatest literary and cultural figure of the time was Miroslav Krleža, who achieved an enormous literary opus that included the most important texts of 20th-century Croatian literature.
- ^ a b "Miroslav Krleža". larousse.fr. Larousse Dictionnaire mondial des littératures.
- ^ a b Thomas, William; Jackson, Hobdell; Stade, George, eds. (1983). European Writers. Scribner. p. 1809.
- ^ Andrew Baruch Wachtel (1998). Making a Nation, Breaking a Nation: Literature and Cultural Politics in Yugoslavia. Stanford University Press. p. 124.
- ^ Maurice Chavardes (31 May 1958). "La Litterature yugoslave et ses tendances". Le Monde.
- ISBN 9780804731812.
- ^ ISBN 9780231037174.
- ^ a b Newman, John Paul (1 March 2019). Pennell, Catriona; Ribeiro de Meneses, Filipe (eds.). "A Croat Iliad? Miroslav Krleža and the Refractions of Victory and Defeat in Central Europe". History of Warfare. 124 (A World at War, 1911–1949): 244.
- ^ Kadić, Ante (1963). "Miroslav Krleža (1893- )". Books Abroad. 37 (4): 396–400.
- ISBN 978-90-04-27667-3.
- ISBN 9781317475934.
- ^ "From the History of the Institute". lzmk.hr. Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography. 27 June 2011. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
- ^ "Dobitnik NIN-ove nagrade". b92.net (in Serbian). 22 January 2009. Archived from the original on 19 February 2015.
- ^ "Summary of the Yugoslav Press". The Service. 28 April 1968.
..Herder prize presented to Miroslav Krleza..
- ^ Death of Miroslav Krleža Archived 2011-12-22 at the Wayback Machine, mgz.hr; accessed 19 June 2015.
- ^ "Memorijalni prostor Miroslava i Bele Krleža" (in Croatian). Zagreb City Museum. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
- ^ "Vanjske zbirke" (in Croatian). Zagreb City Museum. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
- ISBN 9780893572471.
Krleža's masterpiece in form and style is Balade Petrice Kerempuha (The Ballads of Petrica Kerempuh), 1936, written in the kajkavian (northern Croatia) dialect. Kerempuh is an equivalent of the German Till Eulenspiegel.. a peasant clown who enjoys playing tricks on persons of higher rank. In his Ballads Krleža describes.. the centuries-long suffering under the cruel Magyar domination..
- ISBN 9781666928501.
- ^ ISBN 9781438108360.
- City of Zagreb. December 2004. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
- ISBN 9781000096187.
- ^ "Volume 1". Yugoslav Review. Yugoslav Information Center. 1952. p. 8.
- doi:10.2307/40138480.
Sources
- Enes Čengić; S Krležom iz dana u dan, Globus, 1986, Zagreb
- (in Croatian) Viktor Žmegač: Krležini europski obzori, 1984, Zagreb
- (in Croatian) "Krležijana": Enciklopedija Miroslava Krleže, LZMK, 1993, Zagreb
- (in Croatian) Stanko Lasić: Krležologija, I-VI, 1987.-1993, Globus, Zagreb
External links
- Introduction to Author[dead link] (in English)
- Petri Liukkonen. "Miroslav Krleža". Books and Writers.
- Miroslav Krleža in South Slavic Literature Library
- KRLEŽA, Miroslav (in Croatian)