Niko Grafenauer Against the Background of Contemporary European Poetry and a Translation of a Selection of His Poetry Entitled Condition
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NIKO GRAFENAUER AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF CONTEMPORARY EUROPEAN POETRY AND A TRANSLATION OF A SELECTION OF HIS POETRY ENTITLED CONDITION by Jo2e Lazar B.A., University of British Columbia, 1968 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in Comparative Literature We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA April, 1970 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree tha permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of Comparative Literature The University of British Columbia Vancouver 8, Canada Date April 27, 1970 ABSTRACT Slavic literary trends usually lag behind those of Western 2ur0pe and normally transform them, lending them a specific national flavor. Ihis is also true of most twentieth-century Slovene poetic movements, especially in the period of Socialist Realism when most of the poetic styles introduced and practiced In Western Europe were almost absent from Slovene poetry. During recent years, however, styles have emerged in Slovene poetry that not only keep abreast of those of Western Europe, but also assume a cosmopolitan character. %e purpose of this thesis is to prove that Niko Grafenauer is a West-European poet in the fullest sense, as well as to introduce his poetry to the English- speaking reader. Through a discussion and a translation of his later poetry, an attempt is made to define his work in terms of his European contemporaries, to point to his innovations, and to suggest that his later poetry is close to what some writers call 'ideal,' 'pure,' or 'absolute poetry.* The method of criticism is comparative. Throughout the monograph the aim is to describe and compare the authors and the works under discussion, and to arrive at synthesis by analyzing certain characteristic aspects and illustrating them by short quotations. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I should like to express my deepest thanks to Professor Michael Bullock, Professor Zblgniev Folejewski, Professor M.J. Yates and Professor Marketa C. Goetz Stankiewicz, as well as a number of other teachers from the Language and Literature departments of the University of British Colum• bia, who have given me various kinds of assistance in the research and the writing of this thesis* I am also exceedingly grateful to Professor Joseph Paternost of the Pennsylvania State University, who kindly consented to check the accuracy of my translation, and to Dr. M.J. Edwards for having proofread the thesis. TABLE OP CONTENTS ABSTRACT. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ill TABLE OF CONTENTS iv INTRODUCTION 1 PART ONE NIKO GRAFENAUER AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF CONTEMPORARY EUROPEAN POETRY I. BACKGROUND 5 II.,NIKO GRAFENAUER: BIOGRAPHY 8 III. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GRAFENAUER'S EARLIER AND LATER POETRY 9 IV. GRAFENAUER' S POETRY IN A SLOVENE CONTEXT 18 V., GRAFENAUER'S POETRY IN A SLAVIC CONTEXT OTHER THAN SLOVENE 23 VI.. GRAFENAUER'S POETRY IN A WEST-EUROPEAN CONTEXT 30 VII. GRAFENAUER'S STYLE ...41 VIII. YUGOSLAV CRITICISM OF GRAFENAUER' S POETRY... .47 IX. CONCLUSION 51 PART TWO CONDITION traces on the skin The Walk 57 Time and Fall 58 The House 59 Night 60 i The Speech of Silence Evening Downhill Hate The Chapter a blade across the eyes Fate St. Jerome A Winter Poem These and These A Blade Across the Eyes Rebirth the trap The Guest Peace...• The Rain. The Trap. Horror... image s Country.. The Flood Drought.. I Am Winter... Silence.. elohim Alone The Vulture Fear Claws Tiredness.. Thirst The Head... vl Widow 96 Elohim; 97 oondition The Hand* .. 99 The Eyes 100 The Weight 101 You Are 102 The Streak 103 The Room 104 Still-Life I 106 II 107 III 108 IV 109 V 110 Drawings I 112 II 113 III 114 IV 115 V 116 FOOTNOTES 117 BIBLIOGRAPHY 12j6 1. Primary Sources .12j6 2. Secondary Sources 130 INTRODUCTION Slavic literary trends usually lag behind those of Western Europe and normally transform them, lending them a specific national flavour. This is also true of most twentieth-century Slovene poetic movements, especially the period of Slovene Socialist Realism when most of the poetic styles introduced and practiced in Western Europe were almost absent from Slovene poetry. During recent years, howeyer, styles have emerged in Slovene poetry that not only keep abreast of those of Western Europe, but also assume a cosmopolitan character. The purpose of this thesis is to prove that Niko Grafenauer is a West-European poet in the fullest sense of the word, as well as to intro• duce his poetry to the English-speaking reader. The thesis consists of two parts: a monograph on Niko Grafenauer's poetry and a translation of a selection of his later poetry, entitled Condition. The monograph is divided into nine sections. In the first section the main events in modern Slovene poetry that lead to the emergence of the poetry of Niko Grafenauer are discussed. In this section the appearances of Pesml stlrih (poems by the Foursome), a collection of personal and intimate poems by KoviS, Zlobec, Menart and PavSek from 1953, and Dane Zajc's Poggana trava (The Scorched Grass) from 1958, in which the 2 first condemnation of the Yugoslav Partisan Revolution in Slovene literature occurs, are taken as turning points In contemporary Slovene poetry. Section two covers the most Important facts of Niko Grafenauer's life and work. The third section presents a genetic outline of his poetry, which developed from the traditional Slovene nostalgic lyricism to a highly * impersonal' poetic idiom. In the fourth section, Grafenauer's work is eompared and contrasted to that of his Slovene contemporaries. Here an attempt is made to point out the uniqueness of his poetry and thus gain him the credit he has not yet fully received at home. The fifth section deals with Grafenauer's poetry within a wider Slavic context; it concludes with the suggestion that Zbigniev Herbert is the only Slavic poet who writes in a style similar to that of Grafenauer. In the sixth section Grafenauer's form,,technique, and themes are discussed and compared with those of his West-European contemporaries with whom he has most in common. Here, as well as in the next section, it is suggested that the concentration of imagery connoting disintegration and alienation, some more restricted poetic forms, and some particular techniques make his poetry appear unique also within the framework of West-European poetry. The seventh section,, on Grafenauer's style, is a supplement to the 3 preceding sections. In this section Grafenauer's style is defined as a synthesis of the Imagist, Expressionist and Surrealist styles that results in a style which is 'impersonal,'*yet'subjective, * and which has been predo• minantly practised in Germany and France during the last twenty years. In section eight the Yugoslav criticism of Grafenauer's poetry is discussed. Here it is pointed out that although much Yugoslav criticism is directed against Grafenauer*s later poetry because of its high degree of •impersonality' and heavy concentration of morbid Imagery, he deserves credit as an innovator in Slovene poetry. The conclusion consists of a recapitulation of the main points of the discussion and a few notes on Condition. Part two of the thesis is a translation of a selection of Niko Grafenauer*s later poetry, entitled Condition. It is divided into eight cycles of poems. The first three come from his second book, Stlska Jezika (Language Under Pressure), published in 1965; tne other three have appeared in magazines since then. As mentioned above, more is said about Condition ln the concluding pages of the monograph. *Please see Appendix, pp. 133-4. PART ONE NIKO GRAFENAUER AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF CONTEMPORARY EUROPEAN POETRY I BACKGROUND Modern Slovene poetry began towards the end of the last century at the time when Symbolist and post-Symbol1st poetry had already been recognized in France. At this time such leading Slovene poets as Oton 2upandi5, Ivan Cankar, Dragotln Kette and Jbsip Murn began to question the old poetic values; they retained, however, traditional poetic forms, and it was only with the advent of Futurism that new, more modern ways of expression were introduced into Slovene poetry. Slovene poetry between the wars reflects such European literary movements as Futurism, Expressionism, Parnassian, minor traces of Dadalsm and Surrealism as well as Neorealism, which gained ground about 1925 and developed eventually into Socialist Realism. Socialist Realism became prevalent in the late thirties* reached its peak during World War II in the Partisan poetry, and exhausted itself in the Yugoslav reconstruction or program poetry. After 19^8, however, when Yugoslavia broke away from the East-European block, and particularly after 1950, with the beginning of the Yugoslav "self-management," pre-war themes, techniques and forms began to be re-introduced into Slovene poetry. 6 In 1953, for example, four young poets, Kajetan Kovifi* Clrll Zlobec, Janez Menart and Tone Pavdek published Pesml gtlrlh (Poems by the Foursome), a book of poems predominantly about personal and Intimate problems. A number of poems, such as Pav5ek*s "Balada 1948," express a disappointment in the "new times."1 In addition, the poets published ln this book definitions of poetry opposing the tenets of Socialist Realism. Pesml stlrlh was the first major break with Socialist Realism in Slovene poetry. A further significant step in this direction occurred in 1955 when Ivan Mlnatti, the young partisan, concentration camp and socialist reconstruction poet published Pa bo pomlad prlsla (But Spring Will Gome), where he puts stress on love and nature instead of his previous social themes.