Sign and Its Children

Circling is the book that I thoroughly enjoyed. Many fine little poems. – Charles Simic In a colorful landscape of contemporary Serbian poetry, a careful reader can recognize that one of its branches, with a decidedly reflective experience of the poetic tradition and heritage, corresponds with a Serbian medieval age, opens up for its Byzantine chords, and, in the context of contemporary poetry, is closest to Modern Classicism. In the first wave of Serbian post-World War II poetry, this stream was at the very foundation of a revival, which is almost suppressed today. Today, in the atmosphere of almost complete saturation by the practice of ever-changing poetic trends, Serbian poetry is returning to its basics. This picture of a slow rebound, a long-awaited reorientation on the Serbian poetic scene, is already happening, by all accounts, and is sensed in the actual literary production. Reading the book Circling triggers the associations of this wave, which is not underground anymore but has transformed into a poetic phenomenon. Dejan Stojanović is not influenced by any contemporary poetic school or fashionable poetic trend and is not trapped by some sensibility as a “follower.” Stojanović, as a reflective poet of mature thought and discourse, revives the atmosphere of the ancient times even in the first layers of his poems. It is easy to notice what specifically marks Stojanović in Serbian contemporary poetry: In weaving his poems and building his lines, a poet has returned to the antic form of utterance, to the difficult and slow movement of the poetic matter, to the dignified and solemn tone, and that kind of wisdom which was nourished in ancient times. Far from experiments, challenges of hazards, and poetic adventures, Stojanović’s poems exude the dignity of ancient forms. Like painters' techniques, Stojanović condenses his utterances into short, harmonious poems, most often colored with Mediterranean colors, surprisingly successfully. His poems, almost by a rule, are condensed forms made of short utterances. In the book's second part, the poetic palette becomes darker with an introduction of fantastic and hallucinogenic elements and even apocalyptic tones. Nevertheless, the principle of condensation and consistency of form is never questioned. Apocalyptic scenes and images of evil are expressed in huge blocks that give the impression of the work of an architect or a sculptor. Such are the poems “Vision,” The Chess Board,” “Arrival of Darkness,” and “Rive

שנה

2024

שפה

English

הוצאה

New Avenue Books

מהדורות

2

ISBN

9781966571070

מקור הנתונים: Wikidata