Doputovati u Vukovar - literarne reprezentacije vukovarskog prostora
Coming to Vukovar - Literary Representations of Vukovar Space

Summary/Abstract: This paper will interpret Matko Peić’s travelogue Skitnje (eng. Wanderings), 1967, and Janko Matko’s novel Dva života jedne žene (eng. Two lives of one woman), 1971, in the context of spatial and cultural turn. Special attention will be given to the parts of the texts in which the authors show the city of Vukovar and the ways of representation of Vukovar space will be compared. The mentioned texts belong to different genres and the paper will articulate the spatial attributes that are important for narrative concepts achieved in them. In both texts, travelling/moving/mobility is the main motivation for investigating the relationship between space and its cultural and identity baselines. We will investigate how spatial constructs are used to create dominant images about oneself and about others. Matko Peić in Skitnje puts Vukovar into the context of travelling the Danube, and examines it through natural and cultural landscape. Cultural constructs are determined by the Danube, cosmopolitan character and openness. Vukovar space expands in both space and time. The travelogue subject is anti-modern, it points its nostalgic eye toward a textual reconstruction of the old Vukovar. The space appears as a complex construct of prehistoric layers detected at the nearby Vučedol and the cultural layer contained in names, toponyms and patriotic traditions. For Janko Matko, Vukovar space is populated by the extremely hardworking and humble people, and the focal point of identity constructs is the Franciscan monastery. The texts will be analysed in the context of Croatian literary tradition, both travel and popular literature, and we will compare how images of oneself and of others are created in the analysed texts.

• Details
• Contents