Nová poetika starnúceho majstra (Martin Kukučín: Spoločenské pôžitky)
New Poetics of an Aging Master (Martin Kukučín: Social Pleasures)

Summary/Abstract: After his arrival in Slovakia in 1922, Martin Kukučín received a lukewarm welcome. Hewas completing his work titled Mať volá/Mother is calling and was spending his timein the archives preparing to write mid-19th century historical novels. The reservedattitude towards him and his whole work was fully revealed after his death in 1928.The most radical criticism of Kukučín´s prose was expressed by leftist writers buthe was not spared by older critics either. Kukučín´s attempt at changing his poetics,which occurred in 1923, when he published a feature Spoločenské pôžitky/Social Pleasuresin the magazine Slovenské pohľady, was labelled as formalistic and verbalistic.Nobody accepted the fact that his poetics had developed into a new stage of aestheticmaturity showing a clear ambition to overcome the realist means of expression. Theprose Spoločenské pôžitky/Social Pleasures represents an exceptional experiment withinKukučín´s work. At the same time it is a playful intermedium lying between the ideologicaland philosophical novels mentioned above. Against a background of reflectingon the subject of an offence and a revenge, the author formulates his opinions aboutfragile interpersonal relationships as well as timelessness of the moral imperativesaying that no deed is left without consequences and everything has to be paid for. Thisaesthetic purpose is achieved by using sophisticated figures of speech, among whichthe use of synesthesia as an anthropological phenomenon is particularly inventive,linking separated sensory domains in order to communicate with the world by meansof cognitive and sensual abilities.

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