More on Literature

Norman Wacker recently wrote an essay on former Yugoslavian literature - "Kiš, Selenić, Ugrešić and after – archivists of Yugoslavia disappeared" which was published in Transconflict.

The essay begins:

"Deleuze and Guattari, in ‘Notes Towards a Minor Literature’, sketch the problem of the writer with European-wide ambitions writing in a minor language and in a minor literary tradition, whether little known, yet-to-be formed or slated for extinction. A non-observant Jew, assimilated to the hegemonic German-speaking elite of Prague, Kafka had nonetheless grown up in a Yiddish speaking Jewish quarter, was reared by Czech speaking nurses, read law in German, witnessed the ascent of Czech as the official language of Czechoslovakia and late in life studied Hebrew in anticipation of emigration to Israel. He wrote copious business correspondence in Czech during his hours as an insurance executive, while crafting experimental modernist fiction in German during the night and championed touring Yiddish language theatricals. The dilemma Kafka would have faced at the outset was, in what language to write and with what consequences for his aspirations to be a “great” or“world” writer, leaving a mark on his times and his culture?"

Want to learn more - here is the link Kis-Selenic-Ugresic