Guest of the ilb 2002
Drago Jancar, born in Maribor, Slovenia, in 1948, has
published a wide variety of work ranging from short prose pieces and
novels, to plays and essays. But that is not the only reason why
this writer, known in other European countries and in the USA, is often
regarded as one of the most important literary voices of his home
country. Jancar’s international significance stems rather from
the fact that he has always seen himself explicitly as an author who,
in his own language, is critical of society and the contemporary
world. In 1974 he was taken into custody due to accusations of
'enemy' propaganda, and even after the political changes in the former
Yugoslavia, Jancar has remained a pugnacious
voice. It is not only his essay 'Short report
on the city long under siege. Justice for Sarajevo', which gave rise to
controversy and discussion. Jancar depicts in this essay
impressions of the '1001-night siege' and declares himself an absolute
opponent of every form of totalitarianism. This account of the
war and subsequent state of affairs is also directed at Peter Handke’s
'Winter Journey' and beyond that shows Jancar as a pitiless chronicler
who believes to see in Sarajevo "the Black Hole of the Continent".
Even though the situation in the Balkans before and after the civil
wars frequently provides the starting-point in his writing it does not
constitute its only theme. In 'Lucifer’s Smile', the writer
accompanies in his quiet ironic way a Slovenian assistant professor,
Gregor Gadnik, on a study visit to the USA. Gadnik draws near to
the foreign culture and yet finally sinks into the isolation of the
cultural outsider. Jancar describes in precise images and with
great density Gadnik’s failure to integrate, a situation which in the
author’s view can be transferred to the world in general: history has
passed on after the East-West conflict but forgotten to take the people
with it. 'Lucifer’s Smile' can be read as a historical and
philosophical parable.
The reader encounters the person forgotten and left behind on the
periphery of history many times in Jancar’s work. Just so in his
dramas, where, for example in 'Dedalus' (1988), the conflict is based
on this theme. The novel 'Rauschen im Kopf', published in 1999,
shows a man who is completely crushed by the course of world events.
This is the lifestory of a man who makes "adventure trips" to
various scenes of warfare and whose path leads from Vietnam to the
Dominican Republic. Finally it becomes clear how quickly
discontent and revolt can change to lethargy, a subject that is also
the theme of the essay collection 'Brioni' (2002) and in 'Luzia's
Eyes'. These ten short stories show the protagonists' different
personal points of views.
Drago Jancar, from 1987 to 1991 chairperson of the Slovenian P.E.N.
Club, has been honoured with several prizes, among them the most
important literary prize in Slovenia, the 'France-Preùeren-Prize' and
the Jean Améry Prize (2007). He lives now in Ljubjiana.
© international literature festival berlin | 
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