Article
Welcome to Slovenian poetry - December 2004
January 18, 2006
Slovenian literature, especially poetry, has always figured prominently and crucially in all our national identity struggles. After the Second World War, Slovenia gained some measure of independence, but it was only in 1991 that it became a full-fledged political entity. It is the peculiar strength of Slovenian culture that without a state, it has lived as a nation. And the life force of Slovenian culture found its main source in language, literature, theatre and all the myriad forms of creativity - with poetry at the lead.
Alongside Slovenia’s political and historic developments, poetry has passed through various phases and produced diverse and complex answers to the requirements of a given time. But only more recently have Slovenian poets stopped referring to grand, national identity themes in their works and turned to more personal poetic expression. The post-war modernist poets – Tomaž Šalamun, published in our last issue, is a good example – dedicated their energy to playing with language and explored artistic imagination in new creative ways. The same can be said of two other prominent poets, Niko Grafenauer and Svetlana Makarovič, although the poetry of both these authors carries distinctly graver overtones. Moreover, Makarovič combines the existentialist mode with a wealth of materials from myth and folklore traditions, producing a unique blend of poetic expression that on the one hand extends its roots to the pagan past and on the other to the suppressed archetypal feminine soul. The quintessentially Slovenian character of her poetry makes her a challenge for any translator, and it is along this more challenging line of contribution to the website that we are now taking a step further in exploring Slovenian poetry by introducing the reader to the plurality of intellectual and poetic accomplishments of Slovenia’s women poets.
Our new Poet of the Quarter, Meta Kušar, is a voice in her own right. Her stark individualism in both poetic thought and expression may explain why she is not absorbed by the mainstream literary production. Absolute individuality, after all, is the domain of everyone. Kušar’s poetry is concerned with testing the boundaries, pushing out the limits of language and experience, opening one for the experience of the other. If meaningful change begins where familiar collides with the unfamiliar, the subconscious with the conscious, the ordinary with the magical, the particular with the general, the finite with the infinite, and – finally – home with the world, then it should not surprise us to find her voice at once strange and familiar.
A population of under two million, a place of enviable beauty and diversity, an area so small that driving in any direction from Slovenia’s capital of Ljubljana takes you outside the country’s borders in less than two hours – and within this small space, Slovenes have created a vitality in literature, arts and public life that is engaging for any sensitive mind.Slovenian literature, especially poetry, has always figured prominently and crucially in all our national identity struggles. After the Second World War, Slovenia gained some measure of independence, but it was only in 1991 that it became a full-fledged political entity. It is the peculiar strength of Slovenian culture that without a state, it has lived as a nation. And the life force of Slovenian culture found its main source in language, literature, theatre and all the myriad forms of creativity - with poetry at the lead.
Alongside Slovenia’s political and historic developments, poetry has passed through various phases and produced diverse and complex answers to the requirements of a given time. But only more recently have Slovenian poets stopped referring to grand, national identity themes in their works and turned to more personal poetic expression. The post-war modernist poets – Tomaž Šalamun, published in our last issue, is a good example – dedicated their energy to playing with language and explored artistic imagination in new creative ways. The same can be said of two other prominent poets, Niko Grafenauer and Svetlana Makarovič, although the poetry of both these authors carries distinctly graver overtones. Moreover, Makarovič combines the existentialist mode with a wealth of materials from myth and folklore traditions, producing a unique blend of poetic expression that on the one hand extends its roots to the pagan past and on the other to the suppressed archetypal feminine soul. The quintessentially Slovenian character of her poetry makes her a challenge for any translator, and it is along this more challenging line of contribution to the website that we are now taking a step further in exploring Slovenian poetry by introducing the reader to the plurality of intellectual and poetic accomplishments of Slovenia’s women poets.
© Iztok Osojnik & Ana Jelnikar
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