Radomir Konstantinović and Provincial Philosophy: Binaries as Borders
Radomir Konstantinović and Provincial Philosophy: Binaries as Borders

Summary/Abstract: This essay is a partial reconsideration of the complex and often-cited work Filozofije palanke (1969) by the Serbian novelist and essayist Radomir Konstantinović. The fiery condemnations of Serbia’s stalled social and intellectual development and its accompanying predilection for barbaric violence are fiercely debated to this day, nearly six years after the death of the author and approaching fifty years since the book’s first publication. One way that Konstantinovic builds his argument is by establishing borders between Serbia, or other societies, and Europe or modernity; three main types of these borders can be expressed as binaries centered on values, time, and geography. The “spirit” or mindset of the palanka, or small Serbian town, can perhaps be rehabilited by converting it into a historically contingent philosophy, which comes to term with the forces of time, evolution, and agency.

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