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LiVeS Journal January 2012 / 5 2 LiVeS Journal 2 LiVeS Journal /Liberty, Verity, and Spirit/ Leto III, januar, 2012 shtevilka 5 Izdajatelj revije REVIJA SRP m.sh.1339427, d.sh.71461965 i.a: http://www.livesjournal.eu e.m: urednishtvo@revijasrp.si e.m: editors@livesjournal.eu Naslov Revija SRP, Prazhakova 13, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija GLAVNI UREDNIK Ivo Antich UREDNISHTVO Lev Detela Damir Globochnik Matej Krajnc Iztok Vrhovec LIVES JOURNAL je slovenska revija, ki nadaljuje in na novem nivoju povzema projekt Revije SRP: gre za nadaljevanje posebne publikacijske prakse (v tisku in na spletu) kot radikalno naravnanega preizkusa mozhnosti neodvisne umetnishke, esejistichne, znanstvene refleksije v geohistorichnem kontekstu in oblik identitete v njem, ter gre za inovacijo zlasti v smislu vzporednega slovensko-angleshkega zapisa, ki se odpira sledovom slovenstva kjer koli po svetu. Usmeritev publikacije s svojo obliko in s pomenskimi razsezhnostmi nakazuje tudi ime: zachetni chrki obeh besed sta kratica za Ljubljano (LJ), v angleshki besedi LiVeS pa so simetrichni soglasniki zachetnice istih treh vodilnih pojmov kot v slovenski besedi SRP (Svoboda – Resnica – Pogum / Liberty – Verity – Spirit). ISSN 1855–8267 LiVeS Journal 3 LiVeS Journal /Liberty, Verity, and Spirit/ Year III January 2012 number 5 Publisher of review REVIJA SRP m.sh.1339427, d.sh.71461965 i.a: http://www.livesjournal.eu e.m: urednishtvo@revijasrp.si e.m: editors@livesjournal.eu Address Revija SRP, Prazhakova 13, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia EDITOR IN CHIEF Ivo Antich EDITORIAL BOARD Lev Detela Damir Globochnik Matej Krajnc Iztok Vrhovec LIVES JOURNAL is a Slovenian review which continues on a new level and summarizes the project of Review SRP: a continuation of the special practice of publication (in print and online) as a radical examination of the possibilities of an independent-oriented art, essayistic, scientific reflection in geohistorical context and its forms of identity, and the innovation especially in the sense of parallel SlovenianEnglish writing, which is opened to the traces of Slovenian identity anywhere in the world. The orientation of publication is also suggested by the name with its form and dimensions of meaning: the initial letters of both words are an abbreviation for Ljubljana (LJ), and in English word LiVeS symmetrical consonants perform the initials of the same three leading concepts such as in Slovenian word SRP (Svoboda – Resnica – Pogum / Liberty – Verity – Spirit) ISSN 1855–8267 LiVeS Journal 4 Vsebina Fabjan Hafner Polnochni obup Franci Zagorichnik Stalin 10 Matej Krajnc Shtiri pesmi po Caryju Grantu 14 Lev Detela Kaj je povedala noch 18 Ivo Antich Lapidarium 22 Rajko Shushtarshich Zgodba o Pilatu /Pilatove sanje/ 24 Iztok Vrhovec Slovo 50 Ivo Antich Shchurki 58 Matej Krajnc Prilika o poetichni palici 68 Tatjana Pregl Kobe Skozi perspektivo likovnih zakonitosti 74 Damir Globochnik Likovna dela 80 Damir Globochnik Chashchenje narodotvornih pesnikov Vodnika in Presherna 90 Ivan Cankar Slovensko ljudstvo in slovenska kultura 102 Ivan Trinko Beneshka Slovenija 136 Radivoje Peshich Slovanstvo in mi v njem /Na pragu tretjega tisochletja – civilizacija brez milosti; Slovanstvo in mi v njem/ 164 Ivo Antich Kdaj so Slovenci prishli v svojo sedanjo domovino? 176 Rajko Shushtarshich Zamah (manipulacije) 184 6 Za zgodovinski spomin Iz zgodovinskega spomina Vprashanja LiVeS Journal 5 Index Fabjan Hafner Midnight despair Franci Zagorichnik Stalin 11 Matej Krajnc Four poems as only Cary Grant could write them 15 Lev Detela What Night Reveals 19 Ivo Antich Lapidarium 23 Rajko Shushtarshich The Story of Pilates I /Pilat's dreams/ 25 Iztok Vrhovec Farewell 51 Ivo Antich Cockroaches 59 Matej Krajnc The poetic cane 69 Tatjana Pregl Kobe Through the perspective of the principles of art 75 Damir Globochnik Artworks 89 Damir Globochnik Veneration of the nation-building poets Vodnik and Presheren 91 Ivan Cankar The slovenian people and slovenian culture 103 Ivan Trinko Venetian Slovenia 137 Radivoje Peshich Slavdom and we in it /At the threshold of the third millennium – civilization without mercy; Slavdom and we in it/ 165 7 For historical memory From historical memory Questions Ivo Antich When did Slovenians come to their present homeland? 177 Rajko Shushtarshich Complete miss (manipulation) 185 LiVeS Journal 6 Fabjan Hafner POLNOCHNI OBUP POLNOCHNI OBUP obraz pokrijem s tanko rjuho svezhega mrzlega snega ... dusho skrijem v globino glave ... in mirno premirno zaprem izmuchene ochi ... OSAMELOST ne vesh vech kaj bi sanjal zhice so prekinjene nobeden te ne vodi sam sebi si postal lutka prepushchen sili svojih misli LiVeS Journal 7 Fabjan Hafner MIDNIGHT DESPAIR MIDNIGHT DESPAIR I cover my face with a thin cloth of freshly-fallen snow ... I hide my soul deep in my head ... and slowly ever so slowly close my burning eyes ... LONELINESS you no longer know what you should dream the wires have been disconnected no one can guide you you've become your own marionette controlled only by your thoughts LiVeS Journal 8 ZHIVISH NEZAVESTNO zhivish nezavestno potopljen v samoti drhtech od slepega strahu se branish vseh dotikov ne bosh utonil v dezhju otrpnesh otopish nikoli ne bosh okusil omilitve vode v zharu dnevov tako bosh konchno od zheje umrl v dezhju LiVeS Journal 9 YOU ARE NUMB you are numb inundated in loneliness trembling with blind fear you refuse to let anyone touch you you will not drown in the rain you stiffen become dull you will never be soothed by soft water in the heat of day in the end you will die of thirst in the rain Translated from Slovenian by Herbert Kuhner LiVeS Journal 10 Franci Zagorichnik STALIN Shanson za Jano Kvas Na robu pozabljènja velikan nekdo drugi ali nekdo blizhji stopa med nadlezhna bitijca kot med mravljince z bezgà na njihovi mravljivi pashi – in zdaj po roki gor in pod rokav da se ne otresesh kar tako hitrih ugrizov, nujnih stremljenj brezupne panike, strazhne militantnosti podvrste. A kaj se ve – saj bo katera njih she prezhivela to nadraso! Ja, dajte zhe no mir! Saj kar prosijo, da jih speshtash kvechjemu odpihnesh. Spod se prestopim v mislih – vrh visok se ne vidi zgor – res pa stresem z glavo ob shipi avtobusa Bled-Rogashka slastína. Je mar kdo videl, mar kdo slutil kaj vse se tu dogaja znot temè teména? Nekje skoz Celeio bistrò Stalin (v cirilici). Manjshe zlo – Hitler preventivno nedovoljeno – glasno prepovedano in kako bístro! LiVeS Journal 11 Franci Zagorichnik STALIN A Chanson for Jana Kvas On the edge of forgetting the giant somebody else or someone imminent walks amidst all the annoying creatures like among the ants from the elder on their yummy antsy pasturage – up the hand and through the sleeve so you can hardly shake away quick bites and urgent strivings, hopeless panic, that dreadful militarity of the subspecies. But who knows – maybe some of them would even outlive this superior race! Come on, give us a break! They are practically asking to be smashed or blown away eventually I shift from one foot to another in my mind – up here you cannot see the top so high – but I do shake my head behind the windowpane of this here Bled-Rogashka slastína bus route. Has anybody seen, anticipated what goes on here inside the dark of the cerebral spark? Somewhere through Celeia the Stalin bar (in the Cyrillic alphabet). Lesser evil – Hitler precautionary unallowed – loudly forbidden; oh the sagacity! – bar none! LiVeS Journal 12 Tisti pravih barv – naravnost velichastni so – tudi po svojem zlochinstvu. Pa saj je skoraj nash! Le naj mravljinci mravljivi polnijo obchinske moshnjiche – za drugega niso. Poskusite, poskusite z bistròjem Pri Adolfu, Kava-bar Benito! Tud Pivnica Tito ne bi shla – da ne bi zhalili celejskih evropcev al azijatov ali kar zhe so. Dasi se ne ve natanko kdo vse lové, obchani iz strgane malhe té – na majavem robu resnichnosti nevredne pomnenja. 5. julja 1995 __________________ »Locheno« (postúmno) mnenje pesnika Francija Zagorichnika o poimenovanju bistroja STALIN v Celju; »Tud Pivnica Tito ne bi shla« – preroshko glede na simptomalni »ustavni problem« z ljubljansko Titovo cesto v letu 2011. (Op. ur.) LiVeS Journal 13 The ones of the right colors – they are magnificent – magnificently criminal. But he is almost one of us! Oh let them busy antsy ants fill all the municipal sacs – why, it's their only skill. Try, you just try the bar At Adolph's, Coffee-bar Benito! You couldn't have a Tito pub either – because you don't want to offend Celeian Asians or Europeans or whatever they may be. Although one never knows for sure who hunts for all that's left in that scraped old beggar's bag – on the shaky edge of reality unworthy of remembering. 5th July 1995 __________________ »Separated« (posthumous) opinion of the poet Franci Zagorichnik about the naming of a »Stalin« bar in Celje; »You couldn't have a Tito pub either« – prophetic according to the symptomatic »constitutional problem« with Titova street in Ljubljana in 2011. (Editor's note) Translated from Slovenian by Matej Krajnc LiVeS Journal 14 Matej Krajnc SHTIRI PESMI PO CARYJU GRANTU HISHICA NA VALOVIH Vchasih se zdi, da ljudje dajejo ladjam chisto prevech zhenska imena. Recimo: Fracha, Devica … Kar poglejte malo po izolski rivieri! Dobro, tisto so bolj barchice, ampak nobeno drevo se jim ne priklanja. (Ona pesem je res butasta: che barchica plava po morju, kako neki naj bi se priklanjala drevesa? In vetru je tudi po moje vseeno, che je barchica motorna. Jebi ga, reche, ti samo nalij dovolj bencina v tisto porisano truplo!) Noben galeb se ne spusti dovolj nizko, da bi videl, kaj se dogaja na barchicah. Turisti fotografirajo. Turisti she vedno fotografirajo. Turisti se slachijo. Potem v filmih vedno preklopijo na kakshen prizor v avtomobilu. SEVER-SEVEROZAHOD Avtobusi kolobarijo in zavijajo po Wolfovi in sekajo noge turistom, ki ne vejo, da je okoli Tromostovja treba bit previden. Taksiji. Avtobusi. Oni vlakec, ki pelje na grad. Vsi imajo radi noge turistov. Chudno, prichakoval bi, da jih bo bolj zanimal njihov denar. LiVeS Journal 15 Matej Krajnc FOUR POEMS AS ONLY CARY GRANT COULD WRITE THEM HOUSEBOAT Sometimes the names of boats seem too feminine. For example: The Daisy, The Virgin … Just take a walk along the riviera and look around! Well, there are little boats, of course, but no tree ever bows before them. (It's an abnormally stupid song: if the boat sails the sea, how would the trees ever bow before it? And the wind doesn't care, if it's the motorboat. Fuck it, it sighs, just pour enough gas into that painted corpse!) No seagull ever flies so low as to see, what in fact is happening on those boats. The tourists take photographs. The tourists still take photographs. The tourists undress themselves. And then there's another scene in the car. NORTH-NORTHWEST The buses circle and the tourists get their legs bent; they don't know, how to be careful amidst all that traffic. Taxis. Buses. Downtown trains. They all love the legs of tourists. Strange, I wonder, shouldn't they be more interested in their money? LiVeS Journal 16 SLYVIA SCARLETT Rad bi te poljubil, a she raje ti izderem srce, lépo, tiktakajoche, peklenski stroj tvojih prsi. SMER TOKIO Zvilomljam se na vzhod. Ne, pardon, na vhod. To sem si izmislil. Nisem nor, mogoche samo chudno suchem ochi in ker ne znam voziti kolesa, sem mogoche videti pohabljen. Tudi v hrib mi vedno ne gre, lomim si kolena, da potem shepam vsaj sedem dni. Tudi to sem si izmislil. Veter je pach tak, da me zvilomlja. 2006 LiVeS Journal 17 SLYVIA SCARLETT I'd like to kiss you, but what I'd love even more is to tear out your heart, beautiful, beating, the throbbing dynamite of your chest. DESTINATION TOKYO I bend to the East. No, pardon me, to the entrance. I made that up. I'm not crazy, I just roll my eyes strangely, and, as I've never learned to ride the bicycle, I may look crippled. I can't even walk upwards, my knees get cracked and then I limp for seven days at least. I made that up too. The wind is such, that I bend. 2006 Translated from Slovenian by author LiVeS Journal 18 Lev Detela KAJ JE POVEDALA NOCH Zakleta hisha na Oxfordski cesti Chrni dezhevniki v osamljenem vecheru. Veter vreshchi pod turobnim napushchem. Lakaji se premikajo brez notranje elektrike. Ura stoji zhe petindvajset let. Pod kletjo stalno strashijo shumi. Parket gori v neunichljivi strasti. Grof sedi pod lastnim portretom, podoben poshasti. Bled in pozabljen je umrl v dezhevnishko gnusnem vecheru. Zakleta hisha poskakuje chez dezhevno pokrajino. Buldogi se je izogibajo. Samo slepi zaljubljenci jo srechujejo na vecher, ubito, unicheno, v temi brez ochi. Hvalnica mesecu Rdechi meseci nas obiskujejo zvecher, a vechkrat so iz samega srebra, toda tuji, mrzli, nejasni v jasnosti. Zdi se nam, to je chudezhna, a grozljiva mojstrovina: ta mesec brez strasti, ta hladna konstrukcija iz najtrdnejshe kovine. Vse mine, samo mesec ostane. Ko nas zhe davno vech ne bo, bo zemlja razpadla na petintrideset mesecev in ne bo vech nikakrshnega ognja. LiVeS Journal 19 Lev Detela WHAT NIGHT REVEALS The Bewitched House in the Oxford Street Black earth-worms on a lonely evening. Under the sad roof timbers the wind screams. Flunkeys move without inner electricity. Since twenty-five years the clock stands still. Under the cellar noises are haunting permanently. The parquet burns with imperishable passion. The Earl sits under his own portrait, like his own ghost. On the evening of the earth-worm he died, pale and forgotten. The bewitched house hops over the rainy country side. Even bulldogs try to avoid it. Only blind lovers meet it in the evening, this bewitched house without any sight, knocked to pieces and destructed. Praising of the Moon In the evenings red moons are haunting us. Very often they are just pure silver, but strange and cold in this mysterious clarity. She appears to us like a wonderful but sinister master piece: this moon without passion, this cold construction of very hard bronze. All things are fading, only the moon stays. Long ago, when we will not exist any more, the earth will fall to thirty-five moons, and there will be no more fire at all. Translated from Slovenian to the English by Carla Kraus LiVeS Journal 20 V mesechini Mileni Nocoj v mesechini je lepo. Chakash na skrivnosti. Bivanje zori zate. Globoko spodaj je ime boga, utrip peruti, niti in tishina, vonj stvari, ozki krizh, skrivna pot. Danes je noch rumena melona. Kaj je povedala noch Vchasih zaslishimo pred spanjem steklene ukaze, tedaj so zrcala chrna kot noch. Vchasih se v zrcalih prav nich ne prikazhe, chetudi krichish vso noch na pomoch. Chudezhne rechi se gode najgloblje v koreninah, toda tega ne vidish, ker si slep. Chudezhen mrtvec si v steklenih globinah, vso noch te spremlja mrtvashki pogled. Toda zrcala ne spregovorijo. Chudezh se tu nikoli ne zgodi. Niti device niti zelene pokrajine ni v nashi smrti na robu nochi. Ciklus pesmi Leva Detele Kaj je povedala noch korespondira z istonaslovno pesmijo njegove pokojne soproge Milene Merlak v Lives 1-2010 (enak naslov ima njuna tandemska zbirka, izdana v Celovcu 1985); pesem Hvalnica mesecu, tokrat v prevodu Carle Kraus, korespondira s prevodom Herberta Kuhnerja v Lives 3-2011. (Op. ur. I. A.) LiVeS Journal 21 Moonlight for Milena The moonlit night is beautiful. You wait for secrets. Being ripens for you. Down below the name of the deity, the beating of wings, threads, silence, the odour of thinks, a small crucifix, a secret path. This night is melon-yellow. What Night Reveals Commands of glass come before we sleep and mirrors are black as night. Even though you scream all night the mirrors usually remain empty. Miracles occur deep in the roots, but you can´ t see because you are blind. You´ re a marvellous corpse in glass seas. Night accompanies you with cadaverous glances. But the mirrors never utter a word. Miracles do not occur within them. Neither virgin nor green landscape appear in the ghastly edge of night. Translated from Slovenian by Herbert Kuhner The song cycle by Lev Detela What the night reveals corresponds to the song with the same title by his deceased wife Milena Merlak in Lives 1-2010 (same title has their tandem collection, issued in Klagenfurt 1985); the song Praising of the moon, this time translated by Carla Kraus, corresponds to the translation by Herbert Kuhner in Lives 3-2011. (Note by ed. I. A.) LiVeS Journal 22 Ivo Antich LAPIDARIUM (lapidarni um) I Lapis solaris, lapis philosophorum, lapis lunaris – gost v podzemlju, bik Apis, vznemirja foruma um. II Lapis lazuli, lapis sacrificium, lapis telluris – kris kot tigrasta sipa kamne meche v secretum. III Lapis stellaris, lapis caementarium, lapis Histriae – rimska chebela (apis) kamne zbira v concretum. Triptih Lapidarium iz serije Concrete – tanka triade v obliki japonske tanka ali waka z zlogovno shemo 5-7-5 – 7-7 po dveh temeljnih nachelih konkretizma – razlika chrke (paragram, logogrif) in premet chrk (anagram, permutogrif) v jedru asociira pojme Apis (egipt. Ozirisov bozhanski bik) – sipa (vech vrst s tigrastim vzorcem) – apis (lat. chebela); trojnost korespondira s trikotnikom na Apisovem chelu, simbolom genetichne »druzhinske« trojice Oziris, Izida in njun sin Horus; njihova statuarna pozicija: HOI; prim. DNA – nucleic, nucleus v sredini, Oziris na stebru iz kamna lapis lazuli. (Op. avt.) LiVeS Journal 23 Ivo Antich LAPIDARIUM (lapidary mind) I Lapis solaris, lapis philosophorum, lapis lunaris – guest in the underworld, the bull Apis, disturbs the mind of a forum. II Lapis lazuli, lapis sacrificium, lapis telluris – kris as a tiger-like cuttle-fish throws the stones into secretum. III Lapis stellaris, lapis caementarium, lapis Histriae – roman bee (apis) collects the stones into concretum. The triptych Lapidarium from the series Concrete – tanka triads in the form of Japanese poem tanka or waka with the syllabic scheme of 5-7-5 – 7-7, in its core associates according two fundamental principles of concretism, i. e. difference of letter (paragram, logogriph) and permutation of letters (anagram, permutogriph), the three notions: Apis (Egypt. the bull of Osiris) – cuttlefish (several species with tiger pattern) – apis (lat. bee); triad corresponds to the triangle on the forehead of Apis, a symbol of genetic »familiar« trinity of Osiris, Isis and their son Horus; their statue position: HOI; cf. DNA – nucleic, nucleus in the middle, Osiris on a lapis lazuli pillar. (Note by author) Translated from Slovenian by author LiVeS Journal 24 Rajko Shushtarshich ZGODBA O PILATU Pilatove sanje Pilatove sanje Ta noch je bila chudna noch, ena tistih, ki chloveku ne pusti spati. Oko ni videlo nichesar, pa je vseeno vedel, da nekaj je v zraku, veter je vel bolj tiho v kroshnjah dreves, nekaj je hotel ta veter njemu rechi, a kaj? Do pogovora z ljudmi ni mu bilo, on je bil sam sebi tujec. Govoril bi Pilat s psom, ki ga je, njega, ljubezni uchil, do ljudi, in drugih bitij, ki niso ljudje; a to noch ni mogel govoriti z nikomer, she sam s seboj ne. Utrujen, je Pilat legel, morda bo le malo zaspal. Sanjal je, sanjal je Pilat najbolj chudne sanje, ki jih je kdaj sanjal; sanjal je samoto. Bil je sam tisto noch, noch pred pripravljalno nochjo; in drugo noch, na pripravljalno noch, je bil she bolj sam; in tretjo noch, na Veliko noch, tako sam, da to izrechi ni mogoche. Pilat je sanjal, da to noch ni zatisnil ochesa, da se je vrnil k premishljevanju svojemu, govoru ozhjemu, se trudil, da v njem bi ostal; vse je hotel pustiti za sabo, pa ni mogel, bilo je v njem; LiVeS Journal 25 Rajko Shushtarshich THE STORY OF PILATE I Pilate's dreams Pilate's dreams That night was a strange night, one of those that give no sleep. The eye saw nothing, and yet he knew that something was in the air, the wind blew more softly in the treetops, it wanted to tell him something, but what? He did not like talking to the people, he was a foreigner to himself. Pilate would talk to the dog, who taught him love, for people and beings that are not people; but that night he could not speak with anybody, not even with himself. Pilate lay tired, perhaps he would sleep a little. He dreamt, Pilate dreamt the strangest dreams he had ever dreamt; he dreamt solitude. He was alone that night, the night before the night of preparation; and on the second night, the night of preparation, he was even more alone; and on the third night, the Great Night, [translation of Easter in Slovenian] he was more alone than he could possibly say. Pilate dreamt that on that night he did not sleep a wink, that he returned to his thoughts, his more intimate speech, made efforts to stay in it; he wanted to leave it all behind, but he could not, it was in him; LiVeS Journal 26 ko bi mogel zaspati, oditi v svet sna, in svet naslednji, kamor sen ne sezhe, kot vse druge nochi dnevov, do tega dne, ko srechal je Njega. Bilo je v Njem nekaj, chesar videlo ni njegovo izkusheno oko she nikoli v chloveku med toliko ljudmi, a poznal jih je mnogo. Sedaj zopet sanja tesnobo samote: Odshli so uchenci Njegovi skupaj, a vsak njih je bil sam; tako sam pa kot on osamljen bil ni nihche njih. Samo on je vedel, ne da bi verjel chudezhem, njemu edinemu, chudezhev ni bilo treba, a bil je zato, tako strahotno: sam. She v sanjah si je rekel Pilat: te sanje bom pozabil. Spoznal se je Pilat na ukaze svojemu duhu nochi, ki sanje po njem se ravnajo. Potem se Pilat preseli v svet onstran sanj, zaspal je s trdnim snom. Vstal je chil, in vesel je bil tega, ker chakal ga je naporen dan. Porochila, ki so mu jih prinashali, so govorila, da med Judi vre; nekatera so omenjala mogochost vstaje, a Pilat vedel je, da te nevarnosti ni, da to porochajo tisti, ki prevech si pohvale zhele, napredovanja she bolj. Sanj svojih se ni spominjal, ukaz je torej deloval. LiVeS Journal 27 if he could fall asleep, depart into the world of sleep, and the next world that sleep does not reach, as he did all the other nights of the days, leading up to the day he met Him. There was something in Him, that his experienced eye had never seen before in a man, and he had known so many people. Again now he dreams the anguish of solitude: His disciples had departed together, but each one of them was alone; but not one of them was as alone as he was. Only he knew, without believing the miracles, he alone needed no miracles, and therefore was so terribly: alone. Still in his dreams Pilate said: I will forget these dreams. Pilate knew how to give orders to his spirit of the night which dreams follow. Then Pilate moved to the world beyond dreams, he fell into a deep sleep. He got up feeling strong and was pleased about that, for a hard day was ahead of him. Reports brought to him spoke of, unrest amongst the Jews; some mentioned the possibility of rebellion, but Pilate knew that there was no danger of this, that this was the report of those, who desired praise and even more so advancement. He did not remember his dreams so the order had been fulfilled. LiVeS Journal 28 Pilatova druga noch To noch Pilat ni zatisnil ochesa. Premishljeval je; pa zopet se muchil, kako bi zaspal, da vse bi pozabil, kar se zgodilo je tega dne, in dan nadaljeval z jutrom, kot vse druge dni, do dne tega, ko srechal je njega. Bilo je v njem nekaj, chesar videlo ni njegovo izkusheno oko she nikoli v kakem chloveku med toliko ljudmi, ki poznal jih on ni malo. Pa tudi tega bi ne mogel z gotovostjo rechi sebi: ni njega poznal zhe od nekod? Morda pa je sanjal o njem, vendar ne; takih sanj bi se Pilat spominjal. Na sanje je dal veliko, ne manj kot na resnichnost vsakdanjo; v sanjah razbral je dvakrat resnichno resnichnost. Che nekdo ima rad sanje, raje kot resnichnost, potem so mu sanje bolj resnichne od resnichnosti same, tako je mislil Pilat, da ne bi se zasanjal podnevi, da ostal bi na trdnih tleh; ker she tako lepe sanje, ki v njih si svoboden; imajo to pomanjkljivost; da v njih rishesh in brishesh sam, kakor je volja tvoja svobodna. Resnichnost vsakdanja pa je trdna, ne izbrishesh tako lahko zapisa, dejanj svojih. Zachel je sprashevati Pilat sebe samega, tistega torej, na kogar se je on najbolj zanesel, na chigar misli je najvech dal. Kdaj storil sem danes tisto veliko napako? Kdaj zamudil sem prilozhnost svojo, da ravnal bolje bi, bolj elegantno, ker tudi na estetiko sojenja sodbe, Pilat dal je veliko, ko zhe pravichnost mu uhajala z rok je. Ena misel bila je tu, ki vplivati nanjo ni mogel; vrela je v glavi njegovi, utrujeni od tezhe zhivljenja, ki naprtil si ga je zaradi slave blede; ta grozila je unichiti smisel vseh njegovih naporov, zhivljenja njegovega celoto: LiVeS Journal 29 Pilate’s second night Pilate did not sleep a wink that night. He pondered; and again he tried desperately to fall asleep, to forget everything that had happened that day, and follow the day with the morning, like all other days, that had preceded the day he met Him. There was something in Him, that his experienced eye had never seen before in a man and he had known so many people. And neither could he be certain: did he not already know him from somewhere? Perhaps he had dreamt about him, but no; Pilate would remember such dreams. He attached much importance to dreams, no less than to everyday reality; in his dreams he made out reality twice as real. If someone prefers dreams to reality, then dreams are more real for him than reality itself, this is what Pilate thought so as not to start dreaming during the day, to remain on firm ground; for even wonderful dreams, in which you are free; have the deficiency; that in them you draw and erase yourself, as your free will dictates. But everyday reality is tough, it is not so easy to blot out the record of one’s actions. Pilate began to question himself, the one whom he could best rely on, whose thoughts he attached the most importance to. When today did I make that great mistake? When did I miss my opportunity, to act better, more elegantly, for even the aesthetics of the judgement, was important for Pilate, seeing as justice was escaping him. There was here one thought he could not influence; it festered in his head which was tired of the weight of the life, he had taken upon himself for the sake of some faint glory; it threatened to destroy the purpose of all his efforts, his whole life: LiVeS Journal 30 Temu chloveku sem storil krivico; pa dobro, saj prvi ni, ki sem mu jo storil, je morda zadnji chlovek on? Je ta, ki sem mu sodil, zato tako pomemben zame? Ko tako je mislil, je vedel, da je blizu. Ta misel na chloveka bila je kljuch, morda bila je reshitev vseh njegovih vprashanj; ravno v njej? Sedaj je vedel, da bo nashel, samo zastaviti mora vprashanje pravilno. Sem mu sploh kdaj skushal verjeti? Ne, nikoli mu nisem verjel. Pa, che bi mu verjel? Potem bi on vodil proces, in jaz, moj jaz bi bil njegova igracha. Saj on ni bil sam. On ni sam vodil sebe. Neka zhalost, hrepenenje bilo je v njega ocheh; a tega Pilat ni bil vajen videti, na procesih zhe ne. Vsak chlovek pred njim, pred njegovo mochjo se je bal; strah je sijal iz ochi sojenih, vsaj glavni ton in lesk jim je dajal. A ta chlovek ne, zopet je bil drugachen. On ni se bal, to je vedel Pilat z gotovostjo, on ni se bal smrti, niti boga se ni bal. Jaz pa, sem kot vishek domiselnosti svoje izrekel mnozhici nekaj lepih, res lepih rekel. Ta rekla imela so magichno moch v sebi, in delovala so z njo na mnozhico, vso maso to, na drhal celo. A nanj niso delovala ta rekla, niti malo ne. Eno pa morda je le delovalo, da to je bilo: LiVeS Journal 31 I have done this man an injustice; but he is not the first one I have done this to, could he be the last man? Is he then the one I have judged, so important to me for that reason? As he thought these thoughts he knew he was close. This thought for the man was the key, perhaps it contained the answer to his questions? He knew now he would find, he must just ask the correct question. Did I ever even try to believe him? No, I never believed him. And if I believed him? Then he would lead the trial and I, I would be his plaything. For he was not alone. He did not control himself. There was a sorrow, a yearning in his eyes; but Pilate was not used to seeing this, certainly not in trials. Each man that stood before him, was afraid of his power; fear shone from the eyes of those on trial. But not this man, he was different again. He was not afraid, Pilate was certain of this, he was not afraid of death, he did not even fear God. But I, drew from the depths of my imagination and addressed the crowd with some beautiful, really beautiful words. These words were full of magical power, which had an effect on the crowd, all those masses, the whole mob. But these words had no effect on them, none at all. But perhaps one of them did have some effect, and it was: LiVeS Journal 32 Glejte, chlovek je! Kaj ni nekako drugache pogledal vame, ko sem to reklo izrekel? Kaj hotel je rechi, kaj govoril z ochmi? Je hotel rechi: Tako se s chlovekom ne dela. Ne. Morda pa on sam ni bil chisto gotov vase, che chlovek je, kralj je: kaj bi bil lahko she on? Kaj bi bil on sebi, kaj bil je on za sebe resnichno? Pa saj nisem dejal: Glejte, le chlovek je! Niti dejal nisem: Le glejte, chlovek je! Vseeno ni mogel slepiti sebe Pilat; njegov ton je bil tak, ki vse je dejal, vech kot besede samo. In kdaj sem se z njim pogovarjal? je premishljeval Pilat, Sploh nikoli? Tedaj bil je ta pogovor mochnega, gluhega, z nekom, ki nima nobene mochi; pa jo vendar ima, izzhareva jo, kot bil bi kraljev kralj. Govoril je on njemu, Pilatu najvech, ko molchal je; in najbolj globok je bil njegov molk dvakrat. Dvakrat je njega, Pilata uzhalil tako, kot nihche pred njim she uzhalil ga ni, in samo dvakrat je bil Pilat, v vsem svojem ponosu zhivljenja, resnichno uzhaljen: in slishal ga nisem, je doumel Pilat, ne zato, ker me resnichno je ranil, prizadel ponos moj, slishal ga nisem, ker ga v tem govoru molka njegovem nisem poslushal. Je bila to uzhaljenost druga, z dna dushe, ki mi zaprla je ochi in ushesa, in nisem ga slishal po njej? Sedaj je Pilat vedel, da bi moral govoriti z njim; vedeti bi moral, kaj misli ta chlovek. Saj ni vedel nichesar o njem; niti tega ne, koliko jih je, njih, ki so v resnici z njim. Vsa ta porochila o njem; porochila najboljshe sluzhbe tajne, ki imel jo je kdaj kdo, v cesarstvu rimskem, ki bila je njegova; so prazna. LiVeS Journal 33 Behold, the man! Did he not look at me somewhat differently, when I said those words? What did he want to say, what did his eyes say? Did he want to say: You cannot treat a man this way. No. But maybe he was not sure in himself, if he is a man, if he is a king: what else could he be? What would he be for himself, what was he for himself truly? But I did not say: Behold, he is only a man! Nor did I say: Behold, he is a man! However, Pilate could not delude himself; his tone of voice said it all, more than the words themselves. And when did I speak with him? wondered Pilate, Never? The conversation was of one person who has power and is deaf, with another who has no power; and yet he has it, he exudes it as if he were the king of kings. He said most to Pilate through his silence; and his silence was deepest twice. Twice he insulted Pilate, as no man before had ever insulted him, and only twice had Pilate in all his proud life been, truly insulted: and I heard him not, understood Pilate, not because he truly hurt my pride, I did not hear him because in his speech of silence I did not listen to him. Was this a different kind of offence, from the bottom of the soul, which closed my eyes and ears, and I did not hear him through it? Now Pilate knew he should have spoken with him; he should have investigated this man’s thoughts. For he knew nothing about him; not even how many in number are those that are truly with him. All these reports about him; reports from the best secret service, anyone ever had in the Roman Empire, which was his; are empty. LiVeS Journal 34 Tako obilna so, a prazna; govorila niso nichesar o njem, chloveku; o tem, kar on je, nichesar; o vsem drugem da, o malenkostih in podrobnostih, in bolj kot o njih, o slepoti porochevalcev, bedi njih uma. Zhalostno je vladati z orozhjem tajnosti; v tajnosti je moch izredna, vsa moch cesarstva, njega organizacija temelji na njej. A tako zhalostno je vladati z ovadbo, s strahom pred njo; zahrbtno je tako vladanje, a to ni najhuje; hudo je, ker vladanje tako je bedno, ko misli, da najvech vidi, takrat ne vidi nichesar vech, to vladanje je slepo. V mislih odshel je Pilat k njemu: ochishchen napuha mochi, zhalosten reven; oropan svojega zhivljenja smisla; utrujen od ene nochi misli, tezhjih on do te nochi pred nochjo imel ni. Chudno obchutenje, njemu neznano doslej: Pilat je bil svoboden, svoboden tako bil ni nikoli dotlej, da svoboda se lahko obchuti, tega ni vedel, obchutil tako je on ni she. Tako ponosen je bil Pilat na svojo svobodo nekoch; a sedaj je vedel, da on ni vedel, kaj ona je, niti sanjalo se mu ni o njej. Ko je mislil, da je vedel od vseh drugih najvech o njej; je bil on shele ta, ki je bil v vsem cesarstvu prvi, po ravnanju svobodnem; ker vse svoje zhivljenje podredil je volji svobodni, on ravnal je sebe po njej, in cesarstvo bi lahko ravnal, po njej, pa tega ni hotel, ker hotel je vech, po tem je bil on svojsko svoj; in to mu je bilo vech, kot che bi bil prvi na dvoru Rima. LiVeS Journal 35 They are abundant, but empty; they said nothing about him, the man; about what he is, nothing; about all else yes, about trifles and minutiae, and more than about these things, about the blindness of the reporters, their miserable intellect. It is sad to rule with the weapon of secrecy; in secrecy power is extreme, all the power of the empire, its organisation is based on it. But it is so sad to rule through a denunciation, with the fear it inspires; to rule this way is treacherous, but that is not the worst; to rule this way is miserable, when you think you see everything, you see nothing more, to rule like this is blind. In his thoughts Pilate approached him: cleansed of the pride of power, sad, poor; robbed of his life’s meaning; tired of one night’s thoughts, he had not had thoughts this heavy before this night. A strange feeling hitherto unknown to him: Pilate was free, he had never been so free, he knew not that freedom can be felt, he had never felt it this way. Pilate had once been so proud of his freedom; but now he knew he did not know what it was, he had no idea what it was. When he thought he knew more about it than all the rest; he was the first in the empire, in terms of freedom to act; all his life he had subjected to free will, he acted according to it, and he could make the empire act, according to it but he did not want that, for he wanted more, and in this way he was unique; and this meant more to him, than if he was in charge of the court in Rome. LiVeS Journal 36 Ta chlovek pa imel je moch, da vzel mu je najvech, kar imel je, vsaj mislil je tako do dne tega; on vzel mu je sebe samega; jaz njegov, oholi. Sedaj je Pilat vedel, da ustavil bo vrenje misli, ki grozile so mu vzeti noch, in spanje njemu tako potrebno, in sanje, in to, kar je onkraj sanj. Pilatove sanje On je bil sam, chakal ga je, vedel je, da bo prishel. Nedorechene, a vseeno izrechene misli so bile te, ki so izmuchile Pilata; in ga privedle k Njemu, bil je sedaj chist, ochishchen balasta vednosti svoje, ki ni bila majhna. Gledala sta se in molche govorila. Ni bilo opravichevanja, ne posipanja s pepelom; morda le solzi, she to ne, le rahlo so ochi sanjajoche grozile Pilatu, da orose se, in zamegle zor njih she globlji. Bila sta tako, drug z drugim, govorila sta si, sebi, o drugem, in ni priche, ki prichevala bi, o govoru njunem. Za priche je bil pogovor njun: molk. LiVeS Journal 37 This man had the power, to take from him the most precious thing he had, at least that is what he thought until that day; he took his self away; his proud self. Now Pilate knew he would stop the tumult of thoughts, that threatened to take his night and the sleep he needed so badly, and dreams, and what is beyond dreams. Pilate’s dreams He was alone, he waited for him, he knew he would come. Unfinished, and yet explicit thoughts were those that tormented Pilate; and brought him to Him; he was now clean, purified of the burden of his knowledge, which was not small. They looked at each other and conversed in silence. There were no apologies, no repentance; perhaps only tears, not even that, only Pilate’s dreamy eyes threatened, to water, and blur their sight even further. They were this way, with each another, they told themselves about the other, and there is no witness that could testify, to their dialogue. The witness was their dialogue: silence. LiVeS Journal 38 Se bo sploh lahko she lochil od Njega, se je vprashal Pilat? On pa ga je samo gledal, morda malo globlje. Pilat pa je hotel preveriti svoje spoznanje, in izmenjala sta nekaj stavkov po uri molka in zrenja, zveneli so tako tuje. Potem se je lochil Pilat od Njega. Odshel je Pilat, in tisti solzi sta kanili, v jechi na tlak, bili sta svetli kot iskri, vsaj tako ju je videl strazhar. Sanjsko porochilo V porochilu tajne policije cesarske, tiste, ki bila je, da nadzira Pilata, za katero je on vedel, a ga ni motila, ker taka so pravila te igre mrachne, je pisalo vse. Pilat je pazljivo prebral obe inachici, dasi bi mu kdo oporekal, da sta to inachici prichevanja o isti zadevi. Obe torej ne prideta v poshtev, katero od njiju bo pravo, to bo she premislil. Dejal si je: che to kdo razume, prav, meni je prav tako. V prvi inachici tajnega porochevalca, ki je bil, mimogrede recheno, najboljshi, ki ga je premoglo cesarstvo, in res ni bil slab, a kako bi mogel zapisati molk? LiVeS Journal 39 Will he ever be able to separate himself from Him, wondered Pilate? But He only kept looking at him, perhaps a little more deeply. Pilate wanted to verify what he felt, and they exchanged a few sentences; after an hour of silence and gazing they sounded so strange. Then Pilate left Him. Pilate went away, and those two tears dropped, onto the prison floor, they were bright as sparks, at least that is how the sentinel saw them. The dream report In the report of the empire’s secret police, the one that was charged to keep an eye on Pilate, the one he knew about but which did not trouble him, for such are the rules of this sombre game, everything was written. Pilate attentively read both versions, although it could be said that these were two reports on the same subject. So both of them could not be used; he would decide later, which one was the right one. He said to himself: if anyone understands this, fine, it’s fine with me. In the first version of the secret reporter, who was, incidentally, the best, in the empire, and he really was not bad, but how could he record silence? LiVeS Journal 40 Torej vse, kar je pisalo v prvi inachici, je bilo povsem nepomembno za drugo. In vse, kar je pisalo v drugi inachici, je bilo nepomembno za prvo, ker je zhe v njej pisalo vse. Pisalo je torej ... LiVeS Journal 41 So everything that was written in the first version, was of no importance at all for the second. And everything that was written in the second version, was of no importance for the first, for everything had already been written in it. It was written ... 42 Zaslishanje pred usmrtitvijo Zaslishevalec: Pilat sam, osebno Zaslishani: Inkriminirani Nazarenchan – Rimski Pilat O svobodni volji moja vednost po njej ni bila zmotna, sem dojel jo? Nazarenchan Ja. Pilat Kaj ni potem svobodna volja v protislovju z bozhjo voljo? Nazarenchan Ni. Pilat Je Bog dal chloveku svobodno voljo, ga je takega ustvaril? Nazarenchan Ni mu je dal, in mu je ne jemlje, ni ga takega ustvaril, vech kot stvaritev je on, on je ta, ki je ustvaril; on je to, kar je ustvaril. Pilat Sta potem svobodna volja in bozhja volja isto, med njima ni razlike, je ista volja to? Nazarenchan Vseeno je, kako ti pravish, lahko ju zamenjash, pogosto tako je, a nista isto. Za tebe nista isto, a postaneta isto, a do tja je she dalech, tako bi rekel ti. V resnici pa je tu, ves chas je prisotna, le dosechi do nje ne more chlovek. Pilat In ti, ki pravijo, da ravnajo po njej, po najvishji volji, ti varajo? Nazarenchan Njega ne varajo, mene ne varajo, tudi tebe bi tezhko. Varajo sebe, a sebe, sebstvo svoje je najtezhje varati. Pilat Zdi se mi, da sedaj razumem. Nazarenchan Sedaj umevash. A umesh ne enkrat za vselej; tvoje umevanje se izgubi, z vsakim dihom tvojim, kot dih izpuhti, in zhe naslednji hip se zdi ti, da ne umevash, da nikoli nisi umel. A ko enkrat najdesh, jo vedno najdesh, che hochesh. LiVeS Journal LiVeS Journal 43 Interrogation before execution Interrogator: Pilate alone, in person Person interrogated: incriminated Nazarene – Roman Pilate My knowledge of free will then was not mistaken, I understood it correctly? Nazarene Yes. Pilate Does not free will then contradict divine will? Nazarene No. Pilate Did God give man free will, did he create him this way? Nazarene He did not give it to him and he does not take it from him; he did not create him this way; he is more than a creation, he is the one who created; he is that which he created. Pilate Are free will and divine will the same then, there being no difference between them, is this the same will? Nazarene It matters not, as you say, they may be confounded and this is often done, but they are not the same. They are not the same for you but they become the same; but there is still a long way to go as you would say. In truth it is here, ever-present, man just cannot reach it. Pilate And those who say they act according to it, according to the highest will, do they deceive? Nazarene They do not deceive him, they do not deceive me, and they would find it hard to deceive you too. They deceive themselves, but it is most difficult to deceive your own self. Pilate I think I understand now. Nazarene Now you understand. But you do not understand once and for all times; your understanding disappears, with every breath of yours it evaporates like your breath and the very next moment you feel you do not understand that you have never understood. But once you find it, you can always find it if you want. 44 LiVeS Journal Pilat Potem ni tako pomembno, kako ji rechemo, ampak s chim jo polnimo, gotovost, s katero jo obchutimo. Tega nam ne more nihche drug rechi. Nazarenchan Tvoja pot je pot svobodne volje, dasi se je malo chudno zachela. A konchati se ni mogla; che je nekomu resnichno res do nje, bo poletela. Poletela bo sama, poletela bo, ker je svobodna, in poletela bo v neskonchno, proti Njemu. V neskonchnem se vse poti strnejo. Pilat V eno pot? Ti bosh sedaj shel po poti trpljenja, muchen bosh, krizhan, po svoji volji svobodni? Nazarenchan Taka je volja Njegova, Boga Ocheta, a mojo voljo svobodno bi moral iskati drugje. Ti bi rekel, da je to dalech, in prej, preden prishel sem, da jo izpolnim; to je bila moja svobodna volja in pred njo hrepenenje. A ti bi rekel hrepenenju zhelja, pa ni vech zhelja, ker je nepojmljivo vech kot zhelja, in ta prej je: sedaj, le da je neizmerno mochnejshi. To pa, kar vidish ti, je volja Njegova. Pilat Bi lahko v svojem poslanstvu ravnal tudi drugache, bolj svobodno? Nazarenchan Mislish, che bi lahko drugache umrl? Lahko bi drugache odshel, pa povej mi ti sedaj: bi potem izpolnil poslanstvo svoje? Che vidish mojo pot, in hrepenenje, ono svetlejshe je kot sama pot zase. Vi bi zopet rekli, da zhelel sem vech, kot sem mogel. Kaj pa oni, kaj je njihova svoboda? Oni so mogli, kar so hoteli; oni so zmogli to pot, pot ljubezni je bila jim blizu; Njemu najblizhje prishli so po njej. Pilat She nekaj me muchi. Nazarenchan Vem, reci, odleglo ti bo. Pilat Che si videl, da se je zhe zgodilo, kar se neizbezhno mora zgoditi,kar se za nas shele bo zgodilo, potem vsaj v tem nimash svobode; ne mogel bi storiti, ravnati drugache. Nazarenchan Che bi res resnichno in zares hotel, bi lahko ravnal drugache; a potem bi tudi videl drugache. Pilat Potem tudi ti nisi popoln? LiVeS Journal 45 Pilate It matters not so much then what we call it but what we fill it with, the certainty with which we feel it. No-one else can tell us this. Nazarene Your path is the path of free will even if it has made a somewhat unusual beginning. But it could not end; if someone really desires it, it will soar up. It will soar up on its own, it will soar up because it is free and it will soar up into infinity, towards Him. In infinity all paths come together. Pilate Into one path? You will now go down the path of suffering, you will be tortured, crucified, according to your own free will? Nazarene That is His will, the will of God the Father, but you should look for my free will elsewhere. You would say it is far and before I came to fulfil it; that was my free will and before it came yearning. But you would call yearning desire, but it is no longer desire because it is infinitely more than desire. What you see is His will. Pilate Could you act differently, more freely, in your mission? Nazarene You mean could I die in a different way? I could depart in a different way but tell me now: would I then fulfil my mission? If you see my way, my yearning, it is brighter than the way itself. You would again say that I desired more than I could have. What about them, what is their freedom? They could do what they wanted; they could manage this path, the path of love was close to them; They came closest to Him along this path. Pilate Another thing torments me. Nazarene I know, just say it, it will do you good. Pilate If you have seen that it has already happened, what must inevitably happen, what is yet to happen for us, then at least in this you have no freedom; you could not act any differently. Nazarene If I truly wanted I could have acted differently; but then I would see things differently too. Pilate Then you too are not perfect? 46 LiVeS Journal Nazarenchan Ne. Nihche ne more biti popoln na tem svetu, che bil bi, ne bi prishel nanj. Pilat Tudi s poslanstvom ne? Nazarenchan Ne. Pilat Prishel si s poslanstvom, da bi jim vrnil smisel, smisel, ki jim je zbledel, kaj ni to poslanstvo popolno? Nazarenchan Bila je to moja pot, che jo vidish, che vidish pot, potem vidish nepopolnost mojo, vidish vso pot: od zachetka nje do sedaj, kje je tu popolnost? Pilat Tvoja pot na zachetku je manj popolna, da bi kazal njim pot naprej, samo tako lahko vidijo; vendar bila je to pot neverjetne svobode; volje svobodne pot je svetla, vedno svetlejsha. Nazarenchan Moja pot je bila pot ljubezni; bila je svobodna pot zame edina resnichna pot. V Njem je to ena pot, le On je popoln. Pilat A krivda nasha ostaja; in vechja je, zakaj je tako? Nazarenchan Nihche ne more z vishjim dobrim v sebi opravichiti nizhje podlosti svoje. Vsaka raven sebe se mora ochistiti, ravnati po sebi, po ravni svoji, tu je. Sklicevati se na Boga ob prilozhnosti vsaki, je tako, kot bil bi On tu, da bi se nanj sklicevali, da vkljuchili bi Njega v rachun svoj. Pilat Najvech napak nashih je: tu. Nazarenchan Iz njih morda, vchasih kdo nekaj malega vidi, a tudi to ni razlog za njih opravichilo. Ne moresh si umiti rok z vodo nevidno, che umazal si jih, v vodi kalni. Tudi jaz si jih ne umivam z dvakrat nevidno, resnichno resnichno vodo chisto. Pilat Mislish na Judovo zhrtev? Nazarenchan Ja, nanjo mislim. Pilat Bog je s teboj. LiVeS Journal 47 Nazarene No. No-one can be perfect on this earth, if they were, they would not end up on it. Pilate Not even with a mission? Nazarene No. Pilate You came with the mission to give them meaning again, meaning which has grown pale for them, is that not the perfect mission? Nazarene That was my path, if you see it, if you see the path then you see my imperfection, you see the whole path: from its beginning up until now, where is perfection here? Pilate Your path at the beginning is less perfect to show them the way ahead, they can only see this way; but it was the path of incredible freedom; the path of free will is bright, ever brighter. Nazarene My way was the way of love; it was a free way the only true way for me. In Him this is one way, only He is perfect. Pilate But our guilt remains; and it is greater, why is that so? Nazarene No-one with the greater good in himself can excuse his baser meanness. Each level of the self must be purified, must act according to itself, according to its level, it is here. Appealing to God on every occasion is as though, He were here, that we would appeal to him, take Him into our accounts. Pilate Most of our mistakes are: here. Nazarene Perhaps sometimes some people learn something from them, but not even that excuses them. You cannot wash your hands with invisible water if you have dirtied them in filthy water. I too do not wash them with twice invisible, truly clean water. Pilate Do you mean Judas’ sacrifice? Nazarene Yes, that is what I have in mind. Pilate God is with you. LiVeS Journal 48 Nazarenchan In jaz nisem z njim. Pilat To je tvoja moch? Nazarenchan To je moja pot. To je pot moje svobodne volje, od tam dalech, kamor ne sezhe um tvoj, a segel bo; tudi moj bo dosegel sebe. Pilat Tudi to vidish? Nazarenchan Vidim. A ne bo ti koristilo, che povem ti. Pomni: koristiti ti ne sme, kar rekel sem ti. Preden je Pilat odshel od Njega, sta dve solzi chloveshki zalili njemu ochi; nista se svetili, njih videl nihche ni. V zapisniku jih ni bili sta samo njegovi. Sedaj je bil Pilat zopet sam. Samo ti dve solzi sta ostali Pilatu. A ti dve solzi sta bili, resnichno samo njegovi. Zdaj je vedel, da ga je izdal tudi on. Kako bi lahko she slepil sebe, da porochila ni pisal on sam, Pilat. LiVeS Journal 49 Nazarene And I am not with him. Pilate That is your strength? Nazarene That is my path. That is the path of my free will, from far yonder where your understanding does not reach, but it will; mine will also reach itself. Pilate You see that too? Nazarene I see it. But it will be of no use to you if I tell you. Remember: what I told you must not be of any use to you. Before Pilate left Him, two human tears filled his eyes; they did not glisten, no-one saw them. They were not recorded they were his alone. Now Pilate was alone again. Pilate was only left with these two tears. But these two tears were truly only his. Now he knew he too had betrayed him. How could he delude himself and say he did not write the report himself, Pilate. Translated from Slovenian by Marko Petrovich LiVeS Journal 50 Iztok Vrhovec SLOVO Sredi razbrazdane njive je sedela starka. V roki je drzhala shopek rozh, ki so ji ga bili prinesli otroci. Lansko jesen ji je umrl mozh. Sedemdeset let sta zhivela skupaj. Potem je nenadoma zbolel in odshel s tega sveta. Ni minil dan, ko ne bi bila mislila nanj. Ko je bil she zhiv, ni razmishljala o tem, kako zelo sta navezana drug na drugega. To leto, ko ga ni bilo vech, je imela vech ko prevech chasa, da se je tega zavedla. Njemu je bilo to prikrajshano. Ali pach ne? Pogosto je sanjala o njem in v sanjah sta se pogovarjala – kot takrat, ko je bil she zhiv. Soseda ji je dejala, da so sanje prav tako resnichne kot budnost. Starka ni vedela, ali je to res ali ne, a je vsak vecher vendar vedno znova z vznemirjenim srcem legla v posteljo. V prichakovanju, da bo ponochi zopet s svojim dragim mozhem. V sanjah ji je pogosto govoril, da bosta kmalu spet skupaj. Res? Kaj je bilo zanj kmalu? To ga je vedno pozabila vprashati, pa cheprav si je, preden je zaspala, venomer dopovedovala, da ga mora vprashati, kdaj bo ta kmalu. A je vendar vedno znova pozabila. Morda ji bo uspelo danes... Pritekla je mala Ana, petletna vnukinja njenega sina. »Kaj delash, babi?« je vprashala in se nasmehnila. Starki so stopile solze v ochi, ko se je zagledala v to drobno, razigrano bitjece... Zadnje chase je tako pogosto jokala. Ne zato, ker bi bila zhalostna. Vse jo je ganilo na tako poseben nachin, da je v trenutku imela solzne ochi... – Kako lepi so otroci, je pomislila! In kako krute jih lahko potem naredi svet, ko odrastejo! Nekateri pravijo, da je ta svet pach tak in da tako mora biti. Vchasih se je starki od vseh teh »mora« kar malo zvrtelo v glavi... »No, babi?« jo je Ana zdramila iz zatopljenosti. »Mi bosh odgovorila ali bo prej padel mrak in bom morala spat?« Starka se je nasmehnila. »Razmishljam, ljubica,« je odvrnila prijazno in jo pogladila po dolgih modrih laseh. »O chem?« je zanimalo Ano. »Oh, o chem?« je ponovila starka. »O vsem.« »Na primer?« je vztrajala Ana. »O tvojem pradedku, Ana... Pa tudi o tebi, vesh. Kako prijazna in ljubezniva punca si.« Ana je za trenutek pomislila, potem pa vprashala: »Zakaj jokash, babi?« »Ker sem tako srechna, ljubica, ko vidim tvoje lepo srchece, vesh,« je dejala starka in jo potrepljala tam, kjer je Ana imela svoje srchece. »Ti tega danes morda ne razumesh tako kot jaz, a ko bosh malo starejsha in se bosh spomnila danashnjega dne, bosh zhe vedela, kaj sem mislila... Vesh, tvoja babi te ima zelo, zelo rada.« In starka je objela drobno deklico in jo poljubila na razgreta lica. LiVeS Journal 51 Iztok Vrhovec FAREWELL An old lady was sitting in the middle of a furrowed field. In her hand she held a bunch of flowers the children had brought. Her husband had died the autumn before. They had lived together for seventy years. Then he suddenly fell ill and departed from this world. Not a day passed when she didn't think of him. When he was still around, she never thought of how attached they were to each other, but now that he was gone she had more than enough time to fully realise it. He didn't have to deal with it. Or did he? She often dreamt about him and in the dreams they talked, just like when he was alive. The neighbour told her that dreams were as real as reality. The old lady didn't know whether it was true or not, but every night she went to bed with excitement in her heart, expecting to meet her dear husband. In dreams he was telling her they would be together again soon. Would they? What did 'soon' mean for him? She always forgot to ask, although every night she reminded herself to find out when 'soon' was. But she forgot time and again. Perhaps tonight... Little Anna came running, her son's five-year-old granddaughter. »What are you doing, Granny?« she asked and smiled. The old lady's eyes filled with tears when she looked at the tiny, happy creature... She frequently cried those days. She wasn't sad, things only moved her in a special way... – Children are so beautiful, she thought. And the world can make them so cruel when they grow up. Some people say that this is the way the world turns and should turn. The many should's sometimes made the old woman feel dizzy. »Well, Granny?« Anna woke her from her thoughts. »Will you answer me before it gets dark and I have to go to sleep?« The old lady smiled. »I'm thinking, my dear,« she said kindly and stroked the girl's long fair hair. »What about?« »Oh, what about?« the old woman repeated. »About everything.« »For example?« Anna insisted. »About your granddad, Anna... And about you. About what a sweet and nice girl you are.« Anna thought for a moment, and asked: »Why are you crying, Granny?« »Because I'm so happy, my dear, when I see your beautiful heart, you know,« the old lady said and touched the place where Anna's heart was. »You may not understand it now as I do, but when you're a little older and remember today, you'll know what I mean... You know, your granny loves you very, very much.« And the old woman hugged the little girl and kissed her on the flushed cheeks. 52 LiVeS Journal »Tudi jaz te imam zelo rada, babi,« je dejala mala Ana, in tudi ona poljubila starko na zgubano chelo. »Ti, babi, dedka zelo pogreshash, kaj?« je chez chas vprashala Ana. Ana je svojega pradedka klicala kar dedek, tako kot prababico babi – tako je bilo lazhe. »Ja, Ana, zelo zelo ga pogresham,« je tiho odvrnila starka. »Ko je bil she zhiv, se nisem niti zavedala, kako zelo ga imam rada. Ni bilo chasa. Vedno je bilo treba kaj narediti, vesh...« »Kaj mislish, babi, kje je dedek zdaj?« »Nekateri pravijo, da je sedaj tam, kjer zhivijo sanje,« je odgovorila chez chas babi. Ana je malo pomislila, potem pa rekla: »Tudi moja mami mi je nekoch dejala isto. Pa mislish, da je to res?« Babi se je nasmehnila. »Rada bi verjela, da je to res. Ko sanjam in se pogovarjam z dedkom, sem srechna. In takrat verjamem, da je vse, kar se dogaja, resnichno. Prav tako, kot verjamem, da je zdaj vse resnichno.« »No, saj sedaj je res vse resnichno,« je dejala malce razdrazheno Ana. »Mislish, da so sanje prav tako resnichne kot pravi svet?« »Nekateri pravijo, da morda celo she bolj,« se je nasmehnila babi. »Kaj pa mislish ti?« je zanimalo Ano. Babi je globoko vdihnila, potem pa dejala: »Da pogresham tvojega dedka, Ana. To mislim... In da si ti tako fajn punca, da je vsak, ki te pozna, zaradi tega lahko zelo vesel.« Starki so se zopet orosile ochi, ko je pripovedovala vse te rechi. »Vesh, nisem vech tako mlada, pa mi pogosto uhaja,« se je zasmejala. »Saj me nich ne moti, babi,« je resno odvrnila Ana. »Tudi jaz pogosto jokam, che mi kaj ni vshech ali che me kdo uzhali, pa sploh she nisem tako stara. – Ampak, povej mi no, ali pogosto srechash dedka v sanjah?« »Ja, zelo pogosto, Ana,« je pokimala starka. »Zadnje chase skoraj vsak dan. Pravi, da se mu bom kmalu pridruzhila. Pravi, da je zhe vse pripravil za naju, in pravi, da bova she bolj srechna, kot sva bila tu. Pravi tudi, naj se od vseh lepo poslovim, in naj jim pojasnim, da tam sploh ni tako slabo. Pravi, da je njemu tam celo bolj vshech kot tukaj, le da pogresha mene...« »Joj, to je pa krasno, babi! Jaz te bom seveda tudi pogreshala, ampak che mi povesh, kako te lahko v sanjah obishchem, bom rade volje kdaj prishla tudi jaz na obisk!« Starki so se v ocheh zopet zalesketale solze. »Oh, ti moja ljuba, draga deklica,« je dejala in jo pobozhala po vihravih kodrih. »Dedek pravi, da si moram le zheleti, da ga vidim. Najbolje takrat, ko lezhem v posteljo. Preden zaspim. Pravi, da je zadnja misel, preden zaspimo, zelo pomembna. Da se lahko v sanjah zgodi vse tako, kot si zazhelimo.« »Tudi moj ochka pravi, da se lahko zgodi vse, kar si zazhelim, babi. Samo che si to zhelim dovolj mochno in iskreno.« LiVeS Journal 53 »I love you very much, too, Granny,« little Anna said and kissed grandgrandmother on her wrinkled forehead. »Granny, you miss Grandpa very much, don't you?« Anna asked after a while. The girl called her grand-grandfather 'Grandpa' as she called her grand-grandmother 'Granny'; it was easier. »Yes, Anna, I miss him very much,« the old woman replied quietly. »When he was still alive, I wasn't aware of how much I loved him. There was no time. I was always so busy, you know...« »What do you think, Granny, where's Grandpa now?« »Some people say he's where the dreams live.« Anna thought for a moment, then said: »My mom once told me the same thing. Do you think it's true?« The old lady smiled. »I'd like to believe it's true. In my dreams, when I talk to Grandpa, I'm happy. And then everything that's happening seems real. Just as real as what's happening now.« »Well, what's happening now is real,« said Anna, slightly irritated. »Do you think dreams are just as real as this world?« »Some people say they are, perhaps even more real,« Granny smiled. »And what do you think?« Anna inquired. Granny took a deep breath and said: »I miss your granddad, Anna. This is what I think... And that you're such a wonderful girl that everybody should be happy to know you!« Once more the old lady's eyes moistened. »You know, I'm no longer young, and tears just come of themselves,« she laughed. »It doesn't bother me, Granny,« Anna said seriously. »I often cry, too, if there's something I don't like or if someone offends me, and I'm not that old! – But, tell me, do you often meet Grandpa in your dreams?« »Yes, often, Anna,« nodded the old lady. »Almost every day, lately. He says I'll be joining him soon. He says he's made everything ready for me and we'll be even happier there than we were here. He also says I should say good-bye to everybody and tell them it's not that bad over there. He says he likes it even better than here, but misses me...« »Oh, that's great Granny! I'll miss you, too, but if you tell me how to visit you in the dreams I'll be happy to come see you!« More tears glittered in the old lady's eyes. »My dear, darling girl,« she said and stroked Anna's unruly curls. »Grandpa says I should only wish to see him, and the best time to do it is when I lie down in my bed, just before I go to sleep. He says the last thought before we fall asleep is very important. That in our dreams everything can happen the way we want it to.« »Daddy also says that everything I wish can happen, Granny. Only if I wish strongly and honestly enough.« 54 LiVeS Journal »Che tako pravi tvoj ochka, Ana, bo zhe res, kaj?« »Chisto tako, kot pravish ti za sanje. In – deluje?« »Najvechkrat ja. Cheprav se vchasih zgodi, da se zjutraj chisto nich ne spomnim. Dedek mi potem pripoveduje, kaj vse sva pochela prejshnjo noch, pa se chudim kot tepka, ker se nich ne spomnim – sem pach zhe stara. Cheprav mi dedek pravi, da starost nima prav nich s tem. Pravi, da gre za spremembo zavesti. Da je stanje zavesti zjutraj drugachno kot v sanjah, ali nekaj takega. V zadnjem letu se je kar malce spremenil, vesh. Prej ni nikoli tako govoril. Vchasih se kar malce zbojim. Potem pa si rechem, da moram hitro za njim, da mi ne bo chisto pobezljal tam na oni strani. Chlovek nikoli ne ve...« »Kako to mislish: chlovek nikoli ne ve, babi?« se je namrshchila Ana. »Ah, Ana, to se samo tako reche, vesh. Mislila sem pach, da se chlovek lahko tudi spremeni. In che ga nekaj chasa ne vidish, potem je morda potrebno nekaj chasa, da se zopet navadish nanj.« »Ja, imash prav,« je zdaj razumela tudi Ana. »Z mano je isto. Vchasih ochka ne vidim nekaj dni, ker mora na sluzhbeno potovanje, potem pa, ko se vrne, vchasih potrebujem tudi pol ure ali pa she vech, da se zopet navadim nanj. Ja, babi, imash popolnoma prav,« je prikimavala Ana. Babi se je nasmehnila in se she enkrat zazrla v zhametne ochi svoje pravnukinje. »Vesh, lepo je bilo na tem svetu,« ji je dejala nekako ganjeno. »Zdaj pa se mi zdi, da je zhe res skrajni chas, da odidem tudi jaz.« »Vseeno mi bo dolgchas po tebi, babi,« je nekako zhalostno dejala Ana. »Che me bosh zhelela videti ali pa slishati, moja mala Ana, si zvecher, preden lezhesh v posteljo, to samo zazheli. In takoj, ko bosh vstopila v sanjske svetove, bom pri tebi. Zmenjeno?« je dejala prijazno starka. »Velja,« se je strinjala Ana. »A che te vendarle ne bo?« se je potem zbala. »Che me ne bo, vedi, da me le ti ne vidish. Jaz bom gotovo tam, kadarkoli me bo tvoje srchece zhelelo videti. Poglej za kakshen grm ali pa kakshno drevo, morda se ti bom hotela malce skriti, da bo bolj zabavno. Velja?« »Velja,« je bila zadovoljna Ana. »A che te bom predolgo iskala, se mi bosh pokazala, kaj?« »Seveda, ljubica,« je dejala starka in jo spet nezhno pobozhala po laseh. »Pozno je zhe, mislim, da je chas, da greva v hisho.« In sta odshli. V hishi so bili tisti vecher zbrani vsi starkini sinovi in hcherke, pa njihovi sinovi in hchere ter njihovi sinovi in hcherke. Bila je obletnica smrti njenega mozha. Starka jih je cel vecher opazovala in vsake toliko se ji je v ocheh zalesketala kakshna solza. LiVeS Journal 55 »If Daddy says so, it must be true, Anna, right?« »It's just like you said about the dreams. Does it work?« »Most often it does. Although it sometimes happens that I remember nothing in the morning. Grandpa then tells me what we did the night before, and I'm surprised because I can't remember. It must be because I'm old. Although Grandpa says it has nothing to do with age. He says it has to do with a change in awareness. That the state of our consciousness is different in the morning than it was in the dreams, or something like that. He's changed quite a bit in the last year, you know. He never used to talk like this before. Sometimes he makes me a little afraid. And then I say to myself I have to join him as soon as possible, before he goes too wild over there, one never knows...« »What do you mean, Granny, one never knows?« Anna frowned. »Oh, Anna, it's just what people say. I just meant that people can change. If you don't see them for a while, it may take some time before you get used to them again.« »Yes, you're right,« Anna finally understood. »It's the same with me. If I don't see Daddy for a few days when he goes on a business trip, and when he comes back I sometimes need half an hour or more to get used to him again. Yes, Granny, you're absolutely right,« nodded Anna. Grand-grandmother smiled and once more looked deeply into her grandgranddaughter's velvety eyes. »You know, it was nice to be in this world,« she said with emotion. »But now it seems high time I finally went.« »I'll be bored without you, Granny,« Anna said sadly. »If you want to see me or hear me, little Anna, just make a wish in the evening before you go to bed. And the moment you walk into the dreamland I'll be with you. Agreed?« the old lady said kindly. »Agreed,« said Anna. »And if you don't come?« she was suddenly afraid. »If I don't come, it only means you can't see me. I'll be there for sure, whenever your little heart wants to see me. Just look behind a bush or a tree, perhaps I'll want to play some hide and seek to make it more fun. All right?« »All right,« Anna seemed satisfied. »But you'll come out if I look for you too long, right?« »Of course, darling,« said the old lady and gently stroked the girl's hair. »It's late, I think it's time to go in.« And they left. That night everybody was gathered in the house, all sons and daughters, their sons and daughters and their sons and daughters. It was the anniversary of the late grand-grandfather's death. All evening the old lady was watching her family, and every now and then her eyes misted over. 56 LiVeS Journal Koliko spominov! Spomnila se je, kako so na svet prihajali njeni otroci. Trije sinovi in dve hcherki. Spomnila se je, kako so na svet prihajali njeni vnuki in vnukinje, njeni pravnuki in pravnukinje. Mala Ana je bila najmlajsha med njimi. In ona – njena prababica – je bila najstarejsha. In danes je napochil trenutek slovesa. Veselila se je, da bo ponovno s svojim mozhem, a vendar ji je bilo tudi tesno pri srcu, ko je pomislila, kaj vse bo zapustila in koga vse ne bo nikoli vech videla. Vsaj ne tako kot sedaj. Ura je odbila devet. Starka je pochasi vstala, v sobi je za trenutek vse utihnilo. Pogledala je zbrane, se nezhno zazrla v ochi vsakemu posamezniku, potem pa dejala: »Dragi moji, morda se danes vidimo poslednjich.« Nekdo ji je hotel ugovarjati, a mu ni pustila do besede. »Sin moj,« mu je dejala, »vedno si ugovarjal – tak pach si – a prosim te, tokrat se vzdrzhi. Pusti me, prosim, da dokoncham.« In sin je razumel in je utihnil. »Vash oche, dedek, pradedek me zhe zelo dolgo pripravlja na dan, ko vas bom zapustila in se mu pridruzhila... In zdi se mi, da je prav danes napochil ta dan... Vedite, da ne morem opisati svoje sreche, ko vas gledam. Ko vidim plamteti vasha zhivljenja, ki sem jih pomagala zanetiti tudi sama... Vedite, da vas imam neskonchno rada in da bom vedno z vami, kadarkoli me boste potrebovali. Zdaj pa vas prosim, da ne rechete prav nich. Samo spomnite se tega vechera, kadar se boste hoteli spomniti name. Spomnite se tega lepega, mirnega trenutka in tega, kako zelo imam rada prav vsakega od vas.« Potem je starka pochasi odkrevsljala mimo mize in skozi vrata do svoje izbe. In zdelo se je, da so se njene besede dotaknile prav vseh. Nemo in ganjeno so zrli za svojo mamo, babico, prababico. Naslednje jutro starke ni bilo k zajtrku. Zdravnik je dejal, da je umrla pred nekaj urami, najbrzh sredi nochi. »Prav nich se ne bi chudil,« je dejal, »che je odshla natanko ob polnochi, tako kot njen Franc.« Rekel je she, da je imela lepo smrt. Brez bolechin. Sinovi in hchere, vnuki in vnukinje, pravnuki in pravnukinje so tiho jokali. »Zdaj je spet z dedkom,« je dejala tiho mala Ana in se zazrla v svojega ochka. »Ja, moja mala Ana,« je odvrnil njen ochka in jo ljubeche objel, »zdaj je nasha babi spet z dedkom.« LiVeS Journal 57 So many memories! She remembered giving birth to her children, three sons and a daughter. She remembered the births of her grand- and grand-grandchildren; little Anna was the youngest among them, and the old lady the oldest in the family. And now it was time for farewells. She was happy she would rejoin her husband, and yet she was anxious thinking of all those she would leave behind and never see again. At least not the way she was used to seeing them. The clock struck nine. The old lady slowly rose, and everybody in the room went quiet for a moment. She gently looked at her gathered relatives, rested her eyes on each and everyone, and said: »My beloved ones, tonight is perhaps the last time we see each other.« Her son wanted to object, but the old woman wouldn't let him. »My son,« she addressed him, »you always raise objections, it's just the way you are, but please don't this time. Just let me finish.« He soon understood and went quiet. »Your father, grandfather, grand-grandfather has for a while been preparing me for the day when I would leave you and join him... And it seems to me today is the day. Believe me, I can't tell you how happy I feel when I see you all. When I see your lives I helped ignite... I want you to know that I love you immensely and that I'll always be with you whenever you need me. Now I would like to ask you to say nothing. I just want you to remember tonight whenever you want to remember me. Remember this beautiful, quiet moment. And remember how much I love everyone of you!« Then the old lady slowly limped past the table through the door to her room. It seemed her words had touched everybody. Silently they gazed after their mother, grandmother, grand-grandmother. The following morning the old lady didn't come to breakfast. The doctor said she had died a few hours before, probably in the middle of the night. »I wouldn't be surprised if she'd gone at midnight, just like her Franz.« He also said she left quietly, without any pain. The sons and daughters, grand- and grand-grandchildren cried in silence. »Now she's with Grandpa again,« little Anna said quietly looking at her daddy. »Yes, Anna,« he replied and hugged her lovingly, »our granny is with grandpa again.« Translated from Slovenian by Lili Potpara LiVeS Journal 58 Ivo Antich SHCHURKI Ob shiritvi Emone proti jugu so v mestnem svetu sklenili, da bodo med Gradom in Barjem, se pravi na obeh straneh v betonski kanal ukrochene reke Equrne (v praslovanskem chasu se je imenovala Ljubljanica), zgradili naselje stanovanjskih blokov »za nasho inteligenco«. Ta namembnost je bila she posebno poudarjena in zaradi pogoste rabe formulirana tudi s kratico BLOZANI, ki je zaradi svoje spevnosti v hipu tako rekoch ponarodela kot nekakshna magichna formula za reshevanje vsakrshnih, zlasti pa urbanistichnih problemov. Ob svechani razglasitvi sklepa o gradnji je zhupan Wolfgang Karamehmedowitsch v posebej za to prilozhnost okrasheni (velikanski lovorjev venec z luchkami okoli Admiralovega portreta nad govornishkim odrom) glavni dvorani mestnega sveta zadevno odlochitev utemeljil z naslednjimi zachetnimi besedami govora, ki je sicer trajal natanko pet ur: »Drage mestne svetnice, dragi mestni svetniki, vsi se popolnoma nedvoumno zavedamo, da je danes prav poseben praznichni dan tako za nashe mesto kot za celotno nasho drzhavo, kajti BLOZANI, monumentalno melodichno zvenechi simbolichno pojmovni povzetek za nasho v tem trenutku najbolj pomembno nalogo, je nashe tako doslej kot tudi poslej unikatno zgodovinsko emblematichno geslo, s katerim pred ochmi vsega sveta manifestiramo nezlomljivo evropsko sozvochje nashe domovine z imperativom globalne demokratichne zavesti, v zmagoviti delovni praksi nacionalno-drzhavotvorno uresnichujoch iniciativno voljo najvishje tochke nashe oblasti, da je treba uresnichiti konkretno razviden napredek v preseganju tradicionalne, vsemu in vsakomur usodno shkodljive notranje delitve prebivalcev nashe prestolnice na tako imenovane grashchake in tako imenovane barjance, se pravi v visokoizsholanih posledicah na humanomistichno in tehnomistichno inteligenco, toda obenem varujoch kot punchico ochesa mozhnost plodonosnega razlikovanja v delikatnosti nashe skupne zavesti o dragocenosti nespregledljivega dokaza za avtentichno vitalistichno raznolikost druzhbenega bogastva, ki ga med drugim v posebno pomembnem smislu pomeni sloj inteligence, za katere izobrazhevalno oblikovanje vsi delovni drzhavljani prispevamo dolocheno kapljo znoja v obliki davchnih prispevkov, kajti volja najvishje tochke nashe oblasti je hkrati nasha skupna volja, namrech volja vsakogar od nas, da nashe hum-teh-inteligence ne prepushchamo vech nenadzorovanemu nekvalitetnemu bivanju po vsakrshnih, she od praslovanskih zanichevalcev izobrazhenstva podedovanih bivalishchih, temvech da jo v najkrajshem mozhnem chasu enkrat za vselej zdruzhimo v izbranem in dostojno opremljenem mestnem prostoru …« LiVeS Journal 59 Ivo Antich COCKROACHES As Emona expanded southwards, it was decided in the city council that between Grad and Barje, i.e. on both sides of the concrete canal of the tamed River Equrna (in ancient Slav times it was called the Ljubljanica), they would build a housing estate »for our intelligentsia«. The purpose of this new estate was particularly emphasised and it was referred to so often that the abbreviation BLOZANI was coined and its pleasant melody meant it was soon on the lips of all the people as a kind of magic formula for solving all manner of problems and especially those connected with city-planning. When the decision to begin construction was formally announced in the main hall of the city council which had been specially decked out for the occasion (a giant laurel wreath with fairy lights was placed around the Admiral’s portrait above the speaking platform), Mayor Wolfgang Karamehmedowitsch explained the decision with the following introductory words of his speech, which lasted precisely five hours: »Dear city councillors, we are all very clearly aware that today is a very special day of celebration both for our city as well as for our whole country because BLOZANI, this monumental, melodically sounding, symbolic summary of our currently most important task, is our past and present unique historical emblematic slogan with which we manifest before the whole world the unbreakable European harmony of our homeland with the imperative of global democratic awareness, in the victorious working practise of patriotically fulfilling the enterprising will of the summit of our power, that concrete and evident progress must be realised in surpassing the traditional, universally fatally harmful interior division of inhabitants of our capital into so-called grashchaki and so-called barjanci, i.e. with highly educated consequences for humanomistic and technomistic intelligence while at the same time safeguarding the possibility of productively distinguishing, through the delicateness of our common awareness, the value of the evident proof of the authentic vitalistic diversity of social wealth, which in a particularly important sense means the class of intelligentsia, for whose education all working citizens contribute a certain drop of sweat in the form of taxes for the will of the summit of our power is at the same time our common will, i.e. the will of each and every one of us, no longer to surrender our hum-tech-intelligentsia to the unsupervised poor quality housing that has been inherited from the ancient Slav scorners of the intelligentsia, but that it should as soon as possible be united in a select and properly furnished city space …« 60 LiVeS Journal Ob vsaki zhupanovi omembi »najvishje tochke nashe oblasti« (pri tem je seveda vsakdo vedel, da se to nanasha na Admirala, ki pa ga zaradi posebnega sposhtovanja ni kazalo po nepotrebnem neposredno omenjati) so mestni svetniki vstali s svojih sedezhev in govor prekinili s petminutnim ploskanjem in marshevskim topotanjem na mestu. V bifeju »Zlata kletka« (tako so ga neuradno imenovali zaradi nenavadne kovinske opreme iz mnogih pozlachenih mizic, stebrichev in opazhnih mrezh) v Inshtitutu za humanomistiko- tehnomistiko (IN-ZA-HU-TE) je skupina raziskovalcev med delovnim odmorom spremljala zhupanov govor prek megaekrana na eni od sten. Bife je bil poleg direktorjeve pisarne edini skupni prostor za vse usluzhbence v palachi, sicer razdeljeni na dve polovici s posebnima vhodoma. Med kakshnimi tridesetimi navzochimi znanstveniki in tremi znanstvenicami sta ob svoji visoki mizici stala tudi dr. Johannes Schwabitsch in dr. Janez Shvabić (slednji je dosledno zahteval tako imenovani »mehki ć« v konici svojega priimka, trdech, da gre za individualno identitetno sposhtovanje do spomina na lastnega ocheta Jovana, ki naj bi bil »pravi Srb« iz Luzhishke Srbije). Ozrachje je bilo tukaj bolj sproshcheno kot v mestnem svetu, spremljanje govora ni bilo obvezno, pri zhupanovi omembi »najvishje tochke nashe oblasti« nihche ni ploskal ali topotal z nogami. Johannes in Janez sta bila ne le po imenu ali priimku, marvech tudi po podobnem videzu in topo brezizraznem vedenju posebnezha med usluzhbenci Inshtituta, med katerimi sicer ni manjkalo zlasti vsakrshnih nenavadnih znachajskih potez, nasploh znachilnih za visokokvalificirane uchenjake. Poznala sta se zhe iz otroshtva; po druzhinskem izrochilu, ki so ga sposhtovali starshi obeh, sta bila celo v nekakem daljnem sorodstvu, saj je tudi Johannesov oche Johann prishel iz Luzhishke Srbije, le da je zase trdil, da je »pravi Nemec tisoch let nazaj«. Johannes je bil jezikoslovec in literarni zgodovinar, torej humanomistichni znanstvenik, Janez pa matematik in specialist za raketne turbine, torej tehnomistichni znanstvenik. Johannesova druzhina je zhivela na Gradu, Janezova na Barju, poblizhe pa sta se spoznala shele v istem razredu gimnazije, saj se druzhini nista druzhili, ker je v chasu njune mladosti, se v pravi v dobi praslovanstva, v glavnem veljalo nasprotje, pravzaprav sovrashtvo med stalnimi prebivalci obeh bregov Ljubljanice, sedanje Equrne. Tistim, ki so zhiveli na desnem bregu pod Gradom in na njem, so v ljudski govorici rekli grashchaki, ker so veljali za nekakshno bolj ali manj namishljeno meshchansko elito, onim na levem bregu in naprej po Barju vse do gore Krim pa barjanci, in to je imelo bolj podezhelsko-proletarski prizvok. Zlasti otroci so se radi zbadali in zmerjali; med izzivalnimi popevkami se je ena od tistih, ki so jo spesnili na grajski strani, zachenjala takole: »Barjanci mochvirci, barjanci sibirci, mochvirija sibirija, onkraj Krima ruska zima …« Z barjanske strani so jim vrachali: »Grashchaki bedaki, grad gori, grashchak bezhi, se za rit drzhi …« LiVeS Journal 61 Each time the mayor mentioned the »summit of our power« (everyone knew this referred to the Admiral who could not be directly mentioned as a mark of special respect) the city councillors rose from their seats and interrupted the speech with five minutes applause and march-like foot-stamping. In the snack-bar »The Golden Cage« (that is how it was unofficially named due to its unusual metallic fittings consisting of many gilded tables, columns and meshes) in the Institute for Humanomistics-Technomistics (IN-FOR-HU-TE), a group of researchers listened to the mayor’s speech during their work break via a large screen on one of the walls. Apart from the director’s office, the snack-bar was the only place in the palace where all employees could meet and was separated into two halves with separate entrances. Of the about thirty male and three female scientists present, two of them, dr. Johannes Schwabitsch and dr. Janez Shvabić (the latter insisted on the so-called »soft« ć« at the end of his surname, claiming that it was a matter of respect for the individual identity and memory of his father Jovan who was supposed to have been a »true Serb« from Lusatia), also stood up at a high table. The atmosphere here was more relaxed than in the city council, noone was obliged to listen to the speech and when the mayor mentioned »the summit of our power« no-one clapped or stamped their feet. Johannes and Janez stood out from the other employees of the Institute not only as a result of their names and surnames but also by their similar appearance and their uninterested demeanour. But even among the other employees there was no lack of all manner of unusual character traits typical of highly qualified scholars. They had known each other since childhood; according to family tradition, which was respected by the parents of both men, they were even distantly related as Johannes’ father Johann too came from Lusatia, but claimed that he was »a true German from one thousand years ago«. Johannes was a linguist and literary historian, i.e. a humanomistic scientist while Janez was a mathematician and expert for rocket turbines, i.e. a technomistic scientist. Johannes’ family lived in Grad while Janez’s lived in Barje, and they only became better acquainted when they were in the same class in grammar school for their families did not associate with each other because in the time of their youth, i.e. in the ancient Slav period there was antagonism or even animosity between the permanent inhabitants of both banks of the River Ljubljanica, the present-day Equrna. Those living on the right bank below Grad and within Grad itself were known popularly as Grashchaki, for they were considered to be a more or less fictitious city elite, while those on the left bank and further on across Barje as far as Mount Krim were known as Barjanci, and this had rather more rural-proletarian connotations. The children especially liked to tease and insult each other; one of the provocative songs sung by the children of Grad began like this: »Barjanci marsh-dwellers, Barjanci Siberians, marshland Siberialand, beyond Krim the Russian winter …« And the reply from Barje: »the Grashchaki are idiots, the castle burns, the castle-dweller flees and holds his butt …« 62 LiVeS Journal V skladu s to delitvijo so si tisti otroci, ki so shli shtudirat, tudi izbirali shtudijske smeri: grashchaki predvsem humanomistichne, barjanci pa tehnomistichne. Pri tem je bilo znachilno, da je le redkokateri od njih izbral kakshno biomistichno smer; biomistiki so v neprimerljivo vechjem shtevilu izvirali iz drugih mestnih predelov. Nasprotje med stranema se je she prav posebno slikovito pokazalo vsako leto na Sventovidov dan (sedanji Sveti Vid, petnajsti junij), ko so prirejali boje med cholnarji tako iz grajske kot iz barjanske obchine; ti cholnarski boji niso bili chisto nedolzhni, bojevitezhi so se obdelovali z vesli, stojech v cholnih, marsikateri jo je hudo skupil, nekateri so celo utonili. Ti boji, cheprav so jih stoletja izvajali kot obredno ohranjanje borbene psihofizichne kondicije, so pushchali svoj pechat v ljudeh; Johannes in Janez sta se bolj kot drugi z nasprotnih bregov druzhila le zaradi svashtva. Vsak je bil namrech porochen z eno od dveh sester Kitajk, priseljenih kuharic v eni od kitajskih restavracij, ki jih ni bilo malo v Emoni, nekako tri do pet v vsaki chetrti; sestri sta bili dvojchici, Johannes in Janez, ki sta jima zheni segali do pasu, pa si nikoli nista bila chisto na jasnem, s katero sta se porochila. V tolazhbo sta jima zheni pojasnjevali, da so tudi Kitajcem »vsi belci videti enaki«. »Po glasu bi sodil, da govori zhupan,« je pochasi in zamishljeno spregovoril Johannes, strmech v kozarec mineralne vode pred sabo. »Tudi jaz bi po glasu sodil, da govori zhupan,« je prav tako pochasi in zamishljeno odvrnil Janez, enako strmech v kozarec mineralne vode pred sabo. »Res je nerodno, che je chlovek tako kratkoviden, da kljub naochnikom skoraj nich ne vidi,« je rekel Johannes. »Res je nerodno, che je chlovek tako kratkoviden, da kljub naochnikom skoraj nich ne vidi,« je kot v odmev pritrdil Janez. Za sosednjo mizico je sam zase stal dr. John Gril, raziskovalec iz Inshtituta za higieno (IN-ZA-HI), nameshchenega v posebni stavbi nedalech od IN-ZA-HUTE. V Inshtitut za higieno so bile uvrshchene vse znanosti, ki jih ni bilo mogoche povsem zanesljivo uvrstiti ne med humanomistiko ne med tehnomistiko: v glavnem je shlo za razlichne veje biomistike, kot so biologija, biokemija, biofizika, biogeologija, biogeografija, bioekologija, biogenetika, biohigienika, bioekonomija, biomedicina … Gril je bil zelo ponosen na svoje rojstvo v ZDA v emigrantski druzhini, ki se je pozneje vrnila v domovino, on pa se je sholal v Emoni, ohranjujoch amerishko ime; doktoriral je iz medicine in se na zachudenje znancev zaposlil v IN-ZA-HI. »Le kaj zgublja chas v nashi zahojeni luknji, che je pa Americhan?« so se sprashevali mnogi, on pa je, kadar je slishal kaj takega, zmeraj nekako shaljivo skrivnostno odgovarjal, da gre pach za »vishje poslanstvo«. LiVeS Journal 63 Those children that went to study at university also chose their field study in keeping with this separation: the Grashchaki chose mainly humanomistic subjects while the Barjanci chose technomistic subjects. And only very few members of either group chose a biomistic subject; the vast majority of biomistics came from other parts of the city. The animosity between the two sides became particularly clear each year on the feast of Saint Vid, 15th June, when they organised battles between boatmen from the municipalities of Grad and Barje; these battles were not innocent affairs as the brawlers fought each other with oars while standing in the boats and some did not get away with it lightly, some even drowned. These battles, although they had been enacted for centuries as a ritual preservation of martial psycho-physical competence, left their marks on people; Johannes and Janez had more reason than other people from the opposing banks to associate with each other due to affinity by marriage. They had both married one of two Chinese sisters who were immigrant cooks in one of Emona’s many Chinese restaurants – there were between three and five in each city quarter. The sisters were twins and Johannes and Janez, whose wives measured only up to their waists in height, were never entirely sure which one they had married. Their wives consoled them by saying that for Chinese people too »all white people look alike«. »That sounds like the mayor,« said Johannes with a slow and absent-minded voice while staring into the glass of mineral water in front of him. »I too would say that sounds like the mayor,« said Janez with an equally slow and absent-minded voice while also staring into the glass of mineral water in front of him. »It is awkward if you are so short-sighted that you hardly see anything even with glasses,« said Johannes. »It is awkward if you are so short-sighted that you hardly see anything even with glasses,« agreed Janez like an echo. At the neighbouring table stood the lone figure of dr. John Gril, researcher at the Institute for Hygiene (IN-FOR-HY), which was housed in a special building not far from the IN-FOR-HU-TE. The Institute for Hygiene included all the sciences that could not really be included either under humanomistics or technomistics: these were mainly different branches of biomistics such as biology, biochemistry, biophysics, biogeology, biogeography, bioecology, biogenetics, biohygiene, bioeconomics, biomedicine … Gril was very proud to have been born in the USA to an émigré family which later returned to the homeland while he went to school in Emona and retained his American name; he became a doctor of medicine and to the surprise of all his acquaintances took a job at the IN-FOR-HY. »I don’t understand why he is wasting time in this God-forsaken hole of ours if he is an American?« wondered many people, but when he heard anything like this he always replied in a somewhat jokingly mysterious tone that it was simply a case of a »superior mission«. 64 LiVeS Journal Marsikomu se je zdel chuden tudi nadimek Ciklo, s katerim so ga nagovarjali le kolegi iz IN-ZA-HI; med tipi, ki za shanki »vse vedo«, so eni trdili, da je kakor kiklop slep na eno oko, po drugih naj bi bil nadimek nekakshna polilegalna operativna shifra za Grilovo poklicno specializacijo, ampak vsega tega nihche ni jemal posebno resno, tudi zato ne, ker je bil John druzhaben in do vsakogar prijazen mozhak. Gril je kar pokal od zdravja s prav vsakim delchkom svojega telesa, she zlasti dobro je videl in slishal. Trenutno je bil na sluzhbenem obisku v IN-ZA-HU-TE in je po konchanem opravku zavil v bife; kot chlovek vedrega in drzno odkritega znachaja se tudi tokrat ni mogel zadrzhati, ko je bil slishal pogovor med Johannesom in Janezom. Glasno se je zasmejal, pristopil tesno med njiju, vsakemu polozhil eno roko na ramo in vzkliknil: »Ha-ha, fanta, pa sta res posrechena … OK, boys, dajmo bolj veselo, saj nismo zombiji, ha-ha … Pozabila sta, da je zhe vash direktor, ko smo bili zjutraj pri njem na sestanku, napovedal zhupanov govor … Bila sta v direktorjevi pisarni, tam sem bil tudi jaz … Pa ne bi vama shkodilo, che bi spet enkrat obiskala okulista …« Johannes in Janez, oba vishja od njega, sta se od blizu zastrmela navzdol vanj, kot da si hocheta posebej ogledati nenadnega sogovornika, rekla pa nista nobene. Gril se je ob njunem skoraj zagrobno zloveshchem molku malce zmedel, postalo mu je neprijetno, pomislil je celo, da sta morda posebna zunanja zaupnika Esteka (Sluzhba tajnega knjigovodstva), zato je chez chas nekako ohlajeno bleknil: »Ja, pa je res bil zhe chas, da se to uredi … Namrech, to je zelo dobro … nova stanovanja za vas, humanomistike in tehnomistike … No, malce ste bili odrinjeni tudi zaradi te vashe delitve levo-desno … Mi, higienci, imamo to pach zhe urejeno …« Johannes in Johan she vedno nista spregovorila; Gril je z zachudenim izrazom na obrazu neslishno plosknil z rokama, se z rahlim priklonom opravichil, ker je motil, in odshel plachat k shanku. »Zhupan pravi, da bodo te bloke postavili chim prej, torej ne bomo predolgo chakali na nova stanovanja,« se je chez chas z zamolklo enolichnim glasom oglasil Johann. »Da, zhupan pravi, da bodo te bloke postavili chim prej, torej ne bomo predolgo chakali na nova stanovanja,« se je z enakim glasom odzval Janez. Chez petnajst let, po hudih, tudi chisto kriminalnih zapletih z razlichnimi domachimi in tujimi investitorji in gradbeniki, so med starimi hishami in vilami na obeh straneh reke naposled vendarle zrasli dolgi, trinadstropni bloki (vishji zaradi barjanskih tal niso bili dovoljeni), sestavljeni iz neometanih betonskih ploshch. LiVeS Journal 65 Many people found strange the nickname Cyclo which only his colleagues from the IN-FOR-HY addressed him with; some of the men at the bar »who know everything« claimed he was blind in one eye like Cyclops while others said his nickname was like a kind of not entirely legal operative code for Gril’s professional specialisation but no-one took any of this particularly seriously, one of the reasons being that John was sociable and friendly with everyone. Gril was fit as a fiddle and was of particularly good sight and hearing. He was currently on an official visit to the IN-FOR-HU-TE and after finishing his business he stopped at the snack-bar. Being a man of cheerful and boldly open character he could not restrain himself when he heard the conversation between Johannes and Janez. He laughed out loud, stepped up close to them, placed a hand on one of either of their shoulders and exclaimed: »Ha-ha, lads, you really are funny … OK, boys, cheer up, after all we’re not zombies, ha-ha … You’ve forgotten that when we were at the meeting with your director this morning he announced the mayor’s speech … You were in the director’s office, I was there too … And it would do you no harm if you went to the optician some time again soon …« Johannes and Janez who were both taller than he was stared downwards at him from close up, as if they wanted to examine their sudden interlocutor, but they did not say a word. Gril was a little confused by their almost grave-like sinister silence and he felt uncomfortable; he even thought they might be the special external agents of Estek (Secret Accounting Service), so after some time he blurted out in a rather more subdued voice: »Yes, it was about time this was sorted out … After all this is very good … new houses for you humanomistics and technomistics … Well, you were pushed away a little also due to your left-right division … We hygienists have of course already settled the matter …« Johannes and Janez still failed to utter a single word; Gril inaudibly clapped his hands together with a look of surprise on his face, then excused himself with a slight bow for having disturbed them, and went over to the bar to pay for his drink. »The mayor says they will build these apartment blocks as soon as possible so we won’t wait too long for our new flats,« said Johann after a while in a dull, monotonous voice. »Yes, the mayor says they will build these apartment blocks as soon as possible so we won’t wait too long for our new flats,« replied Janez in the same tone of voice. After fifteen years, following serious, even entirely criminal entanglements with various Slovenian and foreign investors and construction companies, long threestorey blocks (they could not be any higher due to the marshy ground), made of bare concrete slabs at last grew up amongst the old houses and villas on both sides of the river. 66 LiVeS Journal Cheprav so bili bloki ochitno konfekcijski, tako rekoch provizorichni, so bili njihovi stanovalci, med njimi pa she prav posebno otroci, nadvse ponosni na svoj status ter so na prebivalce blizhnjih razpadajochih hish gledali kot na »nizhjo kasto«. Bloki so imeli po vech vhodov s stopnishchi; da bi hkrati presegali in ohranjali tradicijo, so stanovanja vsake strani stopnishcha dodelili tako, da so bili na desni strani (gledano s ceste, z dvorishcha je bilo seveda obratno) humanomistiki, na levi pa tehnomistiki. Takoj ko sta se vselila vsak na svojo stran stopnishcha, sta se Johannes in Janez, vsem znana kot skrajno mirna prijatelja, strahovito sprla zaradi Admiralove slike, kakrshna je visela v sredini vmesnega zidu po vseh nadstropjih. Johannes kot odlochni humanomistik je trdil, da slika na tem mestu absolutno ni potrebna, da je tukaj ta »primitivna idolatrija« popolnoma odvech, Janez kot dosleden tehnomistik pa, da »drzhavljanski red mora biti za vse enak«, zato je slika nujna kot opomin humanomistichnemu anarhizmu. Eden je z besnim krichanjem sliko snemal, drugi jo je obeshal; kadar sta se vsakodnevnim prepirom pridruzhili tudi njuni kitajski zheni, je nastal tak vrishch in hrup, da je za ostale stanovalce tega stopnishcha kmalu postalo nevzdrzhno. Nekateri so celo menili, da sta se zaradi slike pravzaprav najprej sprli zheni, potem pa sta prepir »preshaltali« na svoja mozha, za katera je bila slika le sprozhilna vzmet zhe prej dolga leta tlechega, genetichno pogojenega sovrashtva med bregovoma Equrne. Nekdo je telefoniral na policijo, a obisk dveh uniformiranih policistov je ostal povsem brez uchinka; enako je bilo tudi potem, ko sta se s prepirljivci pogovorila usluzhbenca Esteka v civilnih, tesno prepasanih usnjenih plashchih in s klobukoma na ocheh. Potem se je nekega dne pred blokom ustavil bel kombi z zatemnjenimi stekli; nevidni shofer je ostal za volanom, iz avta pa je izstopil dr. John Gril s chrno torbo na levi rami. Naglo je zakorachil skozi vhod v blok in se povzpel v tretje nadstropje. Ogledal si je prazen kovinski okvir, prislonjen ob zid na tleh med Johannovim in Janezovim stanovanjem; nato je pozvonil pri obeh. Ko sta mu odprla vsak na svoji strani, jima je rekel: »Fanta, pa sta res posrechena … Eden sliko gor, drugi sliko dol … Saj v okviru sploh ni vech slike, niti opazila she nista, da sta jo unichila ... Sicer pa, no, prishel sem opravit pregled vajinih stanovanj … Vesta, razkuzhiti je treba … Dezinfekcija, dezinsekcija, ciklonizacija … Po hishi se nabirajo shchurki … Taki, no, tudi shvabi jim pravijo …« ___________ (iz rokopisne zbirke kratke proze Zlata kletka; ibid. Zlata kletka, SRP 49-50/2002, Slepa ptica, SRP 69-70/2005; op. avt.) LiVeS Journal 67 Although the blocks were obviously prefabricated, almost temporary in nature, their residents, and especially the children, were very proud of their status and looked down on the residents of nearby dilapidating houses as on a »lower caste«. The blocks had several entrances from the staircases; in order to both surpass and keep to tradition, the apartments on either side of the staircase were allocated in such a way that on the right side (seen from the road, from the courtyard it was obviously the other way round) lived the humanomistics, and on the left the technomistics. As soon as they moved in, each on either side of the staircase, Johannes and Janez, known to all as extremely peaceful friends, had a frightful argument over the Admiral’s portrait, which hung in the middle of the intermediary wall on each floor. Johannes being a determined humanomistic claimed the portrait was absolutely not necessary in that place, that this »primitive idolatry« was entirely superfluous, while Janez, being a true technomistic said that the »social order must be equal for all,« so the portrait was an essential warning against humanomistic anarchism. One of them took down the portrait and shouted furiously while the other hung it back up; when their Chinese wives joined the daily disputes, there was such a commotion that it soon became unbearable for the other residents of this staircase. Some even thought it was the wives who were the first to fall out over the portrait and then transferred the dispute to their husbands for whom the portrait was only the trigger which released the genetically determined hatred that crossed the Equrna and had been smouldering for many years. Someone called the police but the visit by two uniformed policemen had no effect whatsoever; it was no different when two Estek agents in civilian, tightly girded leather coats and with hats over their eyes spoke to the two quarrellers. Then one day, a white van with dark windows pulled up in front of the block; the invisible driver stayed at the wheel and dr. John Gril stepped out with a black bag over his left shoulder. He stepped briskly through the entrance and climbed up to the third floor. He looked at the empty metallic frame that was standing on the floor and leaning on the wall between Johann’s and Janez’s flats; he rang both doorbells. When they both opened up on either side he said to them: »Lads, you really are funny … One of you puts the portrait up, the other takes it down … There isn’t even a portrait in the frame any more, you haven’t even noticed you’ve destroyed it ... But anyway, I’ve come to inspect your apartments … You know, we must disinfect … Disinfection, disinsection, cyclonisation … Cockroaches are spreading through the building … Those ones, anyway, some people call them Shvabi …« Translated from Slovenian by Marko Petrovich ___________ (BLOZANI – abbr. for: a housing estate for our intelligentsia; Grad, Barje – the parts of Ljubljana; Grad – Slov.: castle, manor; Barje – Slov.: marsh, moor; Grashchaki – Slov.: lords of manor; Barjanci – Slov.: marsh-dwellers¸ Shvabi – Slov.: pl., a sort of cockroaches, also derog. for a German. – The text of Cockroaches is taken from the manuscript collection of short stories Golden cage; note by author) LiVeS Journal 68 Matej Krajnc PRILIKA O POETICHNI PALICI »Rekel si, da je nujno, Franci!« »Nujno, nujno!« »Kaj pa se je zgodilo?« »Nujno, nujno!« »Ne ... kaj se je zgodilo, me zanima?« »Zakaj?« »Ker je ura shtiri zjutraj, jaz pa stojim v tvoji garazhi!« »Aja ... Uh ... Ja, seveda ... Oprosti ... Zmeden sem, vesh, nekaj novega sem izumil, pa me she malo drzhi entuziazem ...« »Torej si she overvelman!« »Kaj?« »Overvelman si! To je iz angleshchine. To se tako reche!« »Da se reche?« »Saj ni vazhno, povej mi zdaj, kaj se je zgodilo?« »Izumil sem palico!« »Kaj si?« »Palico. Palico sem izumil!« »Chestitam, za to je bilo vredno vstati tako zgodaj! TESLO, OB POL SHTIRIH ZJUTRAJ ME KLICHESH, KER SI IZUMIL PALICO????!« »To ni navadna palica, buchman! Pochakaj, da povem do konca!« »Kaj pa je? Super palica? Palica, ki bruha kovance? Palica, ki kuha kavo? Palica, ki ti prizhge chik? Palica, ki namesto lastnika plachuje alimente? KAKSHNA PALICA, ZINI ZHE!« »Joj, si zoprn!« »Tudi ti bi bil, che bi imel ob shestih sluzhbo, pa bi te kdo zbudil ob pol shtirih!« »Izumil sem palico Ropotá-topotá!« »KAJ???« »Saj si slishal, ne deri se vendar tako, celo ulico bosh zbudil!« »PALICA ROPOTÁ-TOPOTÁ? KAKSHNA OSLARIJA PA JE TO?!« »To je posebna palica! Ti bom pokazal. Glej, zhe na pogled je nenavadna!« »Kaj nenavadna? Les si oblozhil z decimetrom mufa! Kaj je v tem nenavadnega?« LiVeS Journal 69 Matej Krajnc THE POETIC CANE »You said it was urgent, Frank!« »Right, right!« »So? What happened?« »Right, right!« »No, really ... what happened?« »Why?« »It's four in the morning and I'm standing in the middle of your garage, that's why!« »Oh ... Uh ... Right, right ... Sorry ... I'm still a bit confused, you know, I invented something new, must be the enthusiasm ...« »So you're still vzhichen!« »What?« »You're vzhichen! It's a phrase from Central Europe. Vzhichen!« »Central Europe? Well ...« »It doesn't matter, just tell me what happened, for crying out loud!« »I invented a cane!« »You did what?« »A cane. That's what I invented!« »Congratulations, that was certainly worth my while! YOU SHITHEAD, YOU WAKE ME UP AT FOUR A.M. TO TELL ME YOU'VE INVENTED A CANE???« »It's not an ordinary cane, you schmuck! I haven't finished yet!« »Then what is it? A super cane? A coin-vomiting cane? A coffee-cooking cane? A cane that lights your cigarette? An alimony-paying cane? C'MON, MAN, WHAT KIND OF A CANE IS IT?« »You're repulsive, you know that?« »I have to get up at six and go to work, but that's something you wouldn't understand!« »I invented a cane and I named it Rhyme'n'Time!« »YOU DID WHAT???« »You heard me, don't yell like that, you'll wake up the neighborhood!« »RHYME'N'TIME? WHAT KIND OF SHIT DID YOU COME UP WITH THIS TIME?!« »It's a special cane! I'll show you. It looks different!« »Well, well ... I see a piece of wood with some muff on it! A big inovation, really. It'll set the world on fire and burn it to cinders!« 70 LiVeS Journal »To je inovacija za zimske sprehajalce! Zdaj pa poglej, kaj se zgodi, che pritisnem na tale gumbek tu!« FLOP! »In v Xanaduju Kublaj kan zgradil si dvorec je krasan ... Kaj hudicha naj to pomeni?« »To je Coleridge, in nehaj zhe bedasto sprashevati! To je poetichna palica!« »POETICHNA palica?! Hudicha!« »Ja. Vanjo sem vgradil listke z odlomki iz daljshih pesmi, nekaj sem jih tudi sam prevedel, vesh!« »Popolnoma se ti je opledlo! Kaj bosh s palico, ki bruha pesmi?« »To je obrambna palica. Ko bo lastnika take palice na cesti nadlegoval huligan, bo on vanj izstrelil, reciva, odlomek iz Klopstocka!« »Koga?« »Pozabi! Vanj bo izstrelil pesem! Verzi bojo barabo zmedli, a vidish tale ostri konec palice, iz katerega letijo listi? S tem bo potem lastnik palice huliganu predrl lobanjo ali iztaknil ochi ali karkoli pach se zhe v obrambi pochne, in se s tem obranil pred nasiljem! To bo revolucija! Nobenih ogabnih sprejev vech, nobenih pishtolic, skritih v prsnih zhepih, nobenih klicev na pomoch!« »Uh!« »Kaj uh?« »Ti si nor!« »Zakaj?« »Razen kakshnih shibkejshih stark vendar nihche nima palic!« »Ampak ko se bo razvedelo, da so neke vrste kulturni rekvizit, bodo postale modne. Zato sem te pa poklical! Zhe danes zjutraj si mora tvoja firma izmislit reklamo za moje palice!« »Franci, kaj ko bi ti sedel, jaz pa ti skuham en dober chaj, potem pa greva spat za kako urico, a? Si vcheraj prevech delal, kaj?« »Vesh kaj ti bom povedal?« »Kaj?« »******, ****!!!« »Vesh kaj, navaden prasec si!« »Ti si prasec! Napredku se postavljash po robu!« »Moja firma ne bo zapravljala chasa in denarja za nekakshne blesave palice, ki streljajo poezijo. A si chisto nor? Izdelava reklame stane celo bogastvo! Saj nimash denarja, da bi mi to plachal!« »Zato ti pa ponujam 40 % dobichka!« »Kakshnega dobichka?« »Od prodaje palic!« »40 %?« »In che bosh she naprej technaril, te pobijem z Goethejem!« »Ti si popolnoma nor!« LiVeS Journal 71 »All those who like to take a stroll in winter will be grateful for this! Now look what happens if I press this button here!« FLOP! »In Xanadu did Kubla khan a stately pleasure-dome decree ... What the hell is that?« »It's Coleridge, and stop asking stupid questions! It's a poetic cane!« »POETIC cane?! Well, I'll be ...« »Uh-huh. It's a cane with built-in poetry, and I wrote some of those, too!« »You're a nutcase! Who'd buy a shitty poetry cane?« »It's a self-defense cane. Imagine someone being attacked on the street and WHAM! there's a passage from Wordsworth to knock the attacker down!« »What?« »Forget it! The poem comes out right here and all those rhymes puzzle the bastard! Do you see that pointy end from which the poetic discharge springs out? Well, the owner can pierce the skull of the attacker or put out his eyes. It's revolutionary! No more disgusting sprays, revolvers in pockets, calls for help ...!« »Goodness!« »Goodness what?« »You're crazy, that's what!« »Why?« »Who buys canes today? A couple of old ladies, that's it! Its not a mass market, you idiot!« »They will become fashionable. A little word of mouth, some commercials ... That's whay I called you. You have to come up with some promotional stuff for the canes! Do it this morning, now, let's hear about my canes!« »Frank, please, sit down, I'll make you some tea, and then we'll take a nap. You'll feel better, believe me. You're overworked again, aren't you?« »Well, I'll have you know that ... that ...« »What?« »******, ****!!!« »You bastard!« »No, you're the bastard! You're blocking progress!« »I don't have time and money to promote some stupid poetic canes! Are you nuts?! Promotion costs money! You don't have that kind of money!« »I offer you 40 per cent!« »40 what?« »40 per cent of the profits!« »40 per cent?« »If you don't stop being a nuisance, I'll show you with some Goethe!« »You've gone completely coo-coo!« 72 LiVeS Journal »Bosh ali ne bosh!« »Polovico dobichka. In che bom imel izgubo zaradi palic, jo bosh ti plachal!« »POLOVICO dobichka? S prijateljem se bosh cenkaril?!« »Za 40 % se ne bom blamiral, niti za prijatelja ne! Dovolj je zhe kruto dejstvo, da sem moral vstati ob pol shtirih.« »Ne zaupash mi ravno prevech, kaj?« »Sploh ti ne zaupam, she posebej ne s tákole robo!« »Dobro, prav! 50 %, ampak reklama mora biti res dobra!« »Daj sem to nesrechno palico!« »Da ne bi kaj poskushal, imam she tri palice tamle v kotu!« »Norec!!!« »Kdaj te lahko poklichem?« »Opoldne poklichi! Posinek se bo pozabaval s to zadevo, pa bom poskrbel, da mu ne bo vzelo prevech chasa, ker moramo do jutri oddati reklamo za Fitnes center Spodnje Kra...« »To me ne zanima! Opoldne te poklichem!« »Uh!« »Kaj uh?« »PRAV!« »Ne bo ti zhal!« »O tem she nisem preprichan!« »Hvala, ker si prishel!« »Ko bosh naslednjich kaj izumil, me prosim pusti spati!« »Che ne moresh spati, imam tu zadaj v omari uspavalno stojalo!« »Nisem rekel, da ne morem spati! Odlichno bi spal, che me ne bi zbudil nek norec! Kakshno uspavalno stojalo?« »Stojalo, ki uspava!« »Spet eden tvojih bedastih izumov. Kako te kos plastike lahko uspava?« »Ko bi rad spal, pa ne moresh, pritisnesh na gumb na vrhu stojala, in stojalo zachne glasno zehati in hkrati prepevati Odo radosti!« »Vechje oslarije she nisem slishal!« »Chakaj, ti bom dal eno stojalo, pa ga preskusi! Sicer she ni chisto izgotovljeno, dodelujem ga she!« »Uh!« »Primi ga takole ... ja, zlozhi se ... Takole, ja! Se slishiva opoldne! Hvala, ker si prishel!« »Kaj pa naj bi, che si me zhe zbudil! Mimogrede ... zakaj si dal palici ime Ropotátopotá? To je najbolj neumno ime za palico, kar sem jih slishal!« »Ker se fino rima!« LiVeS Journal 73 »Well, what's t going to be?« »Half of the profits. And you cover all the loss!« »HALF OF IT? You'd take half of it from a friend?« »40 is not enough. My good name is on the line and these early hours are not good for my health!« »You don't trust me, do you?« »Nope, especially not with that ind of merchandise!« »OK! All right, 50 %, but I keep the right to approve everything!« »Give me that fucking cane!« »Don't try anything, there's three more in the corner there!« »Idiot!!!« »When can I call you?« »Around 11.30! Fiberton from the Upper Subsidiary will handle this, and he'll have to do it quickly, because we have some serious orders to fill today!« »I don't care about your other stuff! Expect the call!« »Uh!« »Uh what?« »ALL RIGHT!« »You won't regret this!« »We'll see about that!« »It was nice for you to come!« »You better let me sleep next time!« »Any trouble sleeping? I have a soporific stand back here!« »I sleep very well, thank you, and would be doing so greatly this morning if some raving lunatic didn't wake me up. What sopoforic stand?« »A stand that lulls you to sleep!« »Another one of your stupid ideas? How can a piece of plastic lull you to sleep?« »When you have trouble sleeping, you press the button at the top of the stand and it begins to yawn loudly while singing Ode to Joy!« »I knew it! Another one of those brilliantly idiotic ideas of yours!« »Take one and try it! It's not finished yet tho', I'm still working on it!« »Uh!« »Grab it like this ... Like this ... Yes, it folds! OK, so I'll call you later, thanks for coming!« »Someone woke me up and I didn't have a choice! By the way, why did you name the cane Rhyme'n'Time? It's the stupidest name for a cane!« »It rhymes like hell!« Translated from Slovenian by author LiVeS Journal 74 Tatjana Pregl Kobe SKOZI PERSPEKTIVO LIKOVNIH ZAKONITOSTI S fotografijami iz cikla Abstraktni segmenti narave (2005-2011) se zhe vrsto let predstavlja dr. Damir Globochnik, umetnostni zgodovinar in likovni kritik, ki se sicer predvsem ukvarja s prirejanjem razstav in jih spremlja tudi z likovnokritishkimi zapisi. Sodeloval je z vrsto galerij, pri Slovenskem bienalu mesta Kranja, na razstavi Risba in slika v prostoru Alpe-Jadran, na bienalnih fotografskih razstavah Pokrajina in Fotominiatura ter drugih razstavah Kabineta slovenske fotografije pri Gorenjskem muzeju v Kranju, na Triglavskem slikarsko-kiparskem taboru, na likovnih delavnicah in v zhirijah likovnih del. Je tudi likovni urednik Revije SRP in njene dvojezichne »vzporednice« Lives. Raziskovalno se posvecha preuchevanju slovenske karikature in satirichne ilustracije ter zvezam med kulturno-politichno zgodovino in likovno umetnostjo v 19. in 20. stoletju na Slovenskem. Pri svojem vizualnem ustvarjanju Globochnik uporablja fotografijo, ta najbolj mnozhichni vizualni medij, ki se zmagovito uveljavlja v chasu, ko vizualna umetnost ishche nove poti in se she zdalech ne prepushcha mishljenju, da je izpeta. Njegov fotografski projekt Abstraktni segmenti narave, ki nastaja zhe shest let, predstavlja shiroko zastavljeno serijo posnetkov z enakim naslovom in konceptom. Pri naboru motivov se naslanja na intuitivno opazovanje pokrajine, ki je stalnica njegovega ustvarjanja. Navidez trenutne impresije so plod njegovih vnaprej zamishljenih zaznav fotografirane podobe. Zbrani motivi iz dolochenih delov pokrajine zaradi svoje likovno ustvarjene podobe prehajajo v univerzalno vizualno abstraktno pripoved. Prirojeni obchutek za detajl in kompozicijo ter digitalni fotografski aparat sta bila osnova za Globochnikove izpovedno zanimive fotografske zapise z izrazitim likovnim nagovorom. Preproste in hkrati velichastne motive za fotografije je nashel v okolju bazena za mokro separacijo peska na okljuki Save pod Radovljico. Za te fotografije je znachilna chista likovnost, saj bi podobno lahko vizualno delovale v tradicionalnem slikarskem mediju, pa tudi chutno dozhivetje. Izbral je posamezne segmente in jih po svojem obchutku oblikoval v ustrezne kompozicije. V posnetkih ni konkretnih oblik, cheprav gledalcu omogochajo razlichne asociacije. LiVeS Journal 75 Tatjana Pregl Kobe THROUGH THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE PRINCIPLES OF ART Damir Globochnik is an art historian and critic who has been active in organising exhibitions for which he also writes critical appraisals. For several years now he has also been exhibiting his own photographs from a series entitled Abstract Segments of Nature (2005-2011). Damir has cooperated with a number of different galleries and has exhibited his works at the Slovenian Biennial in Kranj, the exhibition entitled Risba in slika v prostoru Alpe-Jadran, (Drawings and Images between the Alps and the Adriatic) the biennial photographic exhibitions Pokrajina (Landscape) and Fotominiatura (Photo-miniature) and other exhibitions organised by the Cabinet of Slovenian photography at the Gorenjski Muzej in Kranj. He has also been involved in the Triglav painting/sculpture camp, various art workshops and has been a member of the jury in various art competitions. He is also the art editor of Revija SRP and its bilingual version Lives. His research work is in the field of Slovenian caricature and satirical illustration and connections between cultural/political history and art history in the 19th and 20th centuries in Slovenia. For his own visual art Globochnik uses photography, the most widespread of visual media which has conquered the world in a time when visual art is seeking new paths and he is by no means of the opinion that its potential has been exhausted. His photographic project Abstract Segments of Nature, which has been six years in the making, consists of a broad spectrum of different photographs bearing the same title and concept. Throughout his work he chooses his motifs by intuitively observing the landscape. Photographs that appear to be the fruit of on-the-spot inspiration were actually thought out in advance and planned. Motifs from certain sections of landscape become universal abstract visual narrative due to their artistically interpreted image. An innate sense for detail and composition combined with a digital camera were the basis for Globochnik’s photographs which possess a distinct artistic narrative. He found simple yet grandiose motifs for his photographs around the pool for wet sand separation on the meander of the River Sava near Radovljica. These photographs appear like pure art as they would have a similar visual effect and provide a similar emotional experience if they were produced in the traditional painting medium. He selected individual segments and shaped them according to his own feeling into suitable compositions. The photographs contain no concrete forms although they allow the viewer to create various associations. 76 LiVeS Journal Globochnikov likovni nagovor je zavestno abstrakten, ishche lepoto in skladnost oblik. Iz neposredne blizhine fotografira resnichni svet, kakrshnega navadno ne vidimo. Ochishcheno likovno polje prikazuje mikrostrukture, nastale ob denudaciji, v pesku zapisane sledi gibanja vode in zhivali ter nenavadno zrnatost in barvitost sedimentnih usedlin. Podobe chistih linij niso metaforichne, cheprav je v njih ochitna simbolika. Pri fotografiranju Globochnik igra na posebne barvne efekte, za katere izbira svetlobo v dolochenih trenutkih dneva. Oblika in barva sta enakovredni, posebnega pomena pa je svetloba. Barvo podozhivi v njeni materialni in simbolni mochi, izbrana svetloba pa ozhivi telo podobe. Ko v dolochenem trenutku premishljeno zaustavi trenutek pripovedi, ki jo ustvarja poudarjeno estetska oblika izbranih segmentov narave, deluje kontrastna menjava mehkih in trdih linij predvsem na osnovi harmonichnih prehodov. Reliefnost tekstur je poudarjena z ustreznim zornim kotom fotografiranja, s premishljeno osvetlitvijo proti svetlobi in z osredotochenostjo na izbrani detajl, izkorishchen pa je tudi uchinek odbleskov z mokrih povrshin. Posnetki niso dodatno obdelani, spremenjena je le intenzivnost svetlobnih uchinkov. Izbrani cikel abstraktnih fotografij gledalca nagovarja s chistim estetskim ugodjem, v katerem so optichno zanimive oblike poetichno sugestivne in izrazhajo avtorjevo globoko obchutenje bivanja v danashnjem, z vizualnimi podatki nasichenem chasu. Damir Globochnik kot umetnishki fotograf ishche in odkriva bogastvo oblik resnichnega sveta, ki se izrisuje z delovanjem svetlobe in svetlobnih uchinkov na tistem delu izbranega motiva, ki si ga je zavestno izbral. Mikajo ga detajli narave, pogled v minimalni izsek pokrajine, s katerim iz primerne razdalje in pod precizno izbranim kotom posname magichno privlachne podobe, ki so toliko resnichne kot izmishljene. Motiv ishche toliko chasa, da je vreden njegove pozornosti, in da bi dosegel zazheleno, se pri fotografiranju tako umiri, da dosezhe preprichljivo izpovednost svojih podob. Shele ko najde pravo kompozicijo, s svojo avtorsko poetiko dosezhe konchno uravnotezhenost podobe. S pomochjo svojega strokovnega poznavanja slikarstva lushchi iz sploshnih likovnih zakonitosti dolochena slikarska pravila in jih vkljuchuje v svoje osebno zaznamovane fotografske kompozicije. Zato je v njih plemenita harmonichnost in tiha velichina preproste, a vizualno uchinkovite likovnosti. Jasno opredeljene kompozicije zapolnjujejo slikovno povrshino tako, da je ohranjena in vidna njena struktura in elementarna barva. Oblikovne strukture, ki se nahajajo v resnichni naravi in se iz nje napajajo, pa omogochajo le slutnjo konkretnega motivnega izhodishcha. LiVeS Journal 77 Globochnik’s visual narrative is consciously abstract, searches for beauty and the harmony of forms. He takes photographs of the real world as we do not usually see it from close-up. The purified visual field shows microstructures that came into being through denudation, the traces of water and animal movement recorded in the sand and the unusual graininess and colourfulness of the sedimentary deposits. The clean lines are not metaphorical although symbolism is inherent in them. Globochnik plays with certain colour effects for which he chooses the light conditions prevalent at particular times of the day. Colour and form are of equal importance while light is of special importance. He experiences colour in all its material and symbolic power while the chosen light gives life to the body of the image. When at a precise moment he decides to capture the narrative formed by the accentuated aesthetic form of chosen segments of nature, the contrasting exchange of soft and hard lines functions above all on the basis of harmonic transitions. The 3D nature of textures is emphasised using an appropriate shooting angle, deliberately shot against the light and focused on the chosen detail. The effect of strong reflections from wet surfaces is also made use of. The photographs are not further edited, only the intensity of light effects is changed. The chosen series of abstract photographs address the viewer with pure aesthetic delight in which optically interesting forms are poetically suggestive and express the photographer’s deep feeling for existence in this present time that is so full of visual information. Damir Globochnik as an art photographer seeks and finds a wealth of forms in the real world which then appear through the working of light and light effects in that part of the chosen motif which he consciously chooses. He is enticed by nature’s minute details, the view of a minimal section of landscape which photographed from an appropriate distance and at a precisely chosen angle makes a magically attractive image that is as real as it is made up. He searches for a motif until he finds one that is worthy of his attention and in order to achieve what he desires he calms himself in order that his images bear a convincing message. Only once he has found the right composition does he give the final image its final equilibrium with his own artistic style. Helped by his expert knowledge of painting, he takes certain rules of painting from the general principles of art and includes them in his own photographic compositions. That is why they possess the elevated harmony and quiet majesty of simple but visually effective art. Clearly defined compositions fill the image in such a way that its structure and elementary colour are visibly preserved. The forms of structures existing in real life give away only an inkling of the real source of the motif. 78 LiVeS Journal Sposhtovanje tradicije v umetnostnozgodovinskem pogledu je v Globochnikovi fotografski ustvarjalnosti gotovo prepoznavna vrednota. Njegovo iskanje lepote se na fotografiranih podobah kazhe kot prefinjen obchutek za prepoznanje kompozicijskih znachilnosti, usklajenosti barv in struktur. Zaznamujejo jih mochni kontrasti in skrbno iskanje zharechih barvnih poudarkov, v mehkih potezah valovitih tal pa presenechajo ostre, skoraj nasilno prekinjene linije, ki s svojo dramatichnostjo dajejo slikam pravo energijo. Postopno odkrivanja sveta, kakrshnega belezhi s fotografskim aparatom, vkljuchuje tudi njegovo posebno zheljo po premishljenem izboru. Vechja izbira motivov, ki se mu odpira na njegovih pohodih po izbrani pokrajini, pomeni tudi zanj vechjo mozhnost, da najde kompozicijo, ki jo ishche. S svojimi inventivnimi fotografskimi izseki ishche lepoto in posvecheno vzvishenost skozi perspektivo likovnih zakonitosti. Ko se mu v dolochenem trenutku zazdi, da je odkril to, kar ishche in kar ga pritegne, se podobe rodijo skorajda same od sebe. LiVeS Journal 79 Respect for tradition in an art historical sense is certainly evident in Globochnik’s photography. His quest for beauty manifests itself in his photographs as a refined sense for recognising characteristics of composition, the harmony of colours and structures. The photographs are full of strong contrasts and the meticulous search for glowing colour highlights, while it is surprising to find in the soft lines of the undulating ground sharp, almost violently interrupted lines, which with their dramatic nature give the photographs true energy. His gradual uncovering of nature as he records it with his camera also includes his special wish for a wellconsidered selection. The large number of motifs he encounters during walks on his chosen terrain also means a greater possibility of finding the composition he is looking for. With his inventive photographic segments he is looking for beauty and the sublime through the perspective of the universal principles of art. When in a precise moment he feels that he has found what he is seeking and what attracts him, the photographs are born almost of their own accord. Translated from Slovenian by Marko Petrovich LiVeS Journal 80 Damir Globochnik LIKOVNA DELA /FOTOGRAFIJE/ 1 Iz ciklusa Abstraktni segmenti narave, 2008 2 Iz ciklusa Abstraktni segmenti narave, 2006 3 Iz ciklusa Abstraktni segmenti narave, 2005 4 Iz ciklusa Abstraktni segmenti narave, 2004 5 Iz ciklusa Abstraktni segmenti narave, 2005 6 Iz ciklusa Abstraktni segmenti narave, 2008 7 Iz ciklusa Abstraktni segmenti narave, 2007 8 Iz ciklusa Abstraktni segmenti narave, 2008 Naslovnica 9 Iz ciklusa Abstraktni segmenti narave, 2008 Damir Globochnik (roj. 1964) je doktor umetnostnozgodovinskih znanosti, muzejski svetnik in likovni kritik. Izdal je naslednje knjige: 12 jeznih mozh / 12 zgodb o slovenski karikaturi (1998), Vodishki chudezhi (1999), Pesnikova podoba / O portretih in karikaturah pesnika dr. Franceta Presherna (2000), Afera Theimer (2001), Portreti/Porträts/Ritratti – Slovenski likovniki v Avstriji in Italiji (skupaj s Tihomirjem Pinterjem, avtorjem fotografskih portretov; Mohorjeva zalozhba v Celovcu in Gorici, 2002/2003), Presheren in likovna umetnost (Mohorjeva zalozhba v Celovcu, Gorici in Celju, 2006), Kulturnozgodovinske shtudije (Slovensko drushtvo likovnih kritikov, 2009) in Pavliha 1870 / Levstikov satirichni list (Slovenska matica, 2010). Z delovanjem domachih fotografov se je podrobneje seznanil v okviru Kabineta slovenske fotografije pri Gorenjskem muzeju, za katerega skrbi kot kustos za umetnostno zgodovino. Sam pa se s fotografiranjem intenzivneje ukvarja zadnjih deset let. Svoj osrednji fotografski ciklus Abstraktni segmenti narave kontinuirano dopolnjuje. Pripravil je nekaj samostojnih razstav: Galerija Mestne obchine Kranj (2006), Shtudijski oddelek Osrednje knjizhnice v Kranju (2007), Galerija Domplan v Kranju (2008, 2009), Galerija Pasazha v Radovljici (2010) in Galerija Vodnikova domachija v Ljubljani (2011). Zhivi in deluje v Radovljici. LiVeS Journal 81 1 82 2 LiVeS Journal LiVeS Journal 83 3 84 4 LiVeS Journal LiVeS Journal 85 5 86 6 LiVeS Journal LiVeS Journal 87 7 88 8 LiVeS Journal LiVeS Journal 89 Damir Globochnik ARTWORKS /PHOTOGRAPHS/ 1 From the cycle Abstract segments of nature, 2008 2 From the cycle Abstract segments of nature, 2006 3 From the cycle Abstract segments of nature, 2005 4 From the cycle Abstract segments of nature, 2004 5 From the cycle Abstract segments of nature, 2005 6 From the cycle Abstract segments of nature, 2008 7 From the cycle Abstract segments of nature, 2007 8 From the cycle Abstract segments of nature, 2008 Front cover 9 From the cycle Abstract segments of nature, 2008 Damir Globochnik (born in 1964) has a PhD in art history, is a member of a museum council and an art critic. He has written the following books: 12 Angry Men / 12 stories about Slovenian caricature (1998), Miracles in Vodice (1999), The Poet’s Portrait / About portraits and caricatures of the poet France Presheren (2000), The Theimer Affair (2001), Portraits – Slovenian artists in Austria and Italy (photographs by Tihomir Pinter; Mohorjeva zalozhba in Klagenfurt and Gorizia, 2002/2003), Presheren and Art (Mohorjeva zalozhba in Klagenfurt, Gorizia and Celje, 2006), Studies in history and culture (Slovensko drushtvo likovnih kritikov, 2009) and Pavliha 1870 / Levstik’s satirical journal (Slovenska matica, 2010). Damir became acquainted with the activities of local Slovenian photographers within the Kabinet of Slovenian photography at the Gorenjski Muzej where he is curator for art history. He has been a keen photographer for the past ten years. He keeps adding to his main photographic cycle Abstract segments of nature and has held several independent exhibitions: at the gallery of Kranj city council (2006), the study department of the Central library in Kranj (2007), Galerija Domplan in Kranj (2008, 2009), Galerija Pasazha in Radovljica (2010) and Galerija Vodnikova domachija in Ljubljana (2011). He lives and works in Radovljica. LiVeS Journal 90 Damir Globochnik CHASHCHENJE NARODOTVORNIH PESNIKOV VODNIKA IN PRESHERNA V procesu izoblikovanja narodne identitete oziroma spreminjanja slovenskega ljudstva v sodoben narod v drugi polovici 19. stoletja je osrednjo povezovalno vlogo odigrala misel o samosvojosti slovenskega jezika in literature. Ozemeljskoupravna enota z imenom Slovenija namrech uradno ni obstajala, ni se bilo mogoche opreti na ideologijo zgodovinskega prava, ni bilo nacionalno osredinjenega plemstva. Angleshki zgodovinar Alan John Percival Taylor meni, da naj bi Slovenci imeli manj preteklosti kot katerokoli drugo ljudstvo v habsburshki monarhiji – z izjemo Malorusov (Ukrajincev).1 Zato ni presenetljivo, da je bil program Zedinjene Slovenije (prvi slovenski politichni program) edini narodni program v habsburshki monarhiji, ki je temeljil samo na naravnem pravu z jezikom kot nacionalnim oznachevalcem. Osrednja vloga jezika, literature in kulture v procesu narodnega konstituiranja ni bila le slovenska posebnost. Taylor poudarja, da so mnoga srednjeevropska nacionalna gibanja od konca 18. stoletja dalje ustvarili in vodili pisci.2 Meshchanski izobrazhenci in voditelji, ki so bili tvorci in nosilci slovenskega kulturnega, narodnega in politichnega vzpona v drugi polovici 19. stoletja, so se odlochili mitizirati kulturo oziroma jo postaviti na mesto zgodovine. Nekoliko poenostavljena misel bi se lahko glasila: che so se zheleli zoperstaviti oznachevanju Slovencev kot pripadnikov »nezgodovinskega« naroda in utemeljiti narodni program, so morali umetno ustvariti herojska obdobja slovenske zgodovine in se nasloniti na mozhe, ki so ta program napovedovali. Namesto da bi oblikovali umetni spomin na domnevno slavno zgodovinsko preteklost, opozarjali na velike politichne dogodke, vojashke zmage in davno samostojnost, so se oprli predvsem na narodnobuditeljsko in zdruzhevalno vlogo slovenskega jezika in pisne kulture. Za slovensko nacionalno samovzpostavitev naj bi bili bolj kot zgodovinska zavest, drzhava, dinastija, vera in razni programi zasluzhni avtentichni literarni dosezhki. Govorimo seveda o umetno ustvarjenem mitu o jeziku, pisateljih in pesnikih, ki naj bi bili glavni, edini pravi tvorci in aktivni oblikovalci slovenstva. K identiteti vsakega naroda sodijo narodotvorni junaki, tega se je dobro zavedala tudi slovenska izobrazhenska in politichna elita. Pod vplivom misli o samosvojosti jezika in literature kot nadomestku za politichne uspehe, bleshcheche zgodovinske dogodke, vojskovanja, zmage in poraze, so vlogo, ki so jo pri drugih narodih imeli veliki vladarji, voditelji, politiki, pri Slovencih prevzeli ustvarjalni posamezniki, kulturni delavci, knjizhevniki, pesniki. Vodilne pesnike poznajo tudi drugi narodi, a jim marsikdaj ne pripisujejo osrednje zdruzhevalne in narodotvorne vloge. LiVeS Journal 91 Damir Globochnik VENERATION OF THE NATION-BUILDING POETS VODNIK AND PRESHEREN In the process of formation of national identity which saw the Slovenians become a modern nation in the second half of the 19th century, the central role was played by the idea of the uniqueness of Slovenian language and literature. The territorial administrative entity called Slovenia did not officially exist yet and it was not possible to fall back on the ideology of historical law, there being no nationcentred nobility. The English historian Alan John Percival Taylor believes Slovenians have less history than any other nation in the Habsburg monarchy – with the exception of the Ukrainians.1 It is therefore not surprising that the United Slovenia (Zedinjena Slovenija) program (the first Slovenian political program) was the only national program in the Habsburg monarchy which was based only on natural law with the language as national identifier. The central role of language, literature and culture in the process of national establishment was not just a Slovenian particularity. Taylor emphasises that many central European national movements from the end of the 18th century onwards were created and led by writers.2 The educated middle-classes, who were behind the cultural, national and political rise of Slovenians in the second half of the 19th century, decided to mythicise culture and set it in the place of history. Put a little more simply: if they wanted to oppose the labelling of Slovenians as members of an »unhistorical« nation and establish a national program, they had to artificially create heroic periods of Slovenian history. Instead of creating an artificial memory of a supposedly glorious past, drawing attention to great political events, military victories and long-standing independence, they mainly referred to the nation-building and unifying role of the Slovenian language and written culture. Genuine literary achievements were supposed to have done more for Slovenian national self-establishment than historical memory, powerful dynasties, religion or various programs. We are of course talking about the artificially created myth surrounding language, writers and poets who were supposed to be the main and only true creators and active shapers of Slovenian identity. Every nation has its nation-building heroes and the Slovenian intelligentsia and political elite were well aware of this. Influenced by the idea of the uniqueness of language and literature as a substitute for political successes, brilliant historical events, military campaigns, victories and defeats, the role played in other nations by great rulers, leaders and politicians was taken over for the Slovenians by creative individuals, artists, writers and poets. Other nations too have leading poets but they often fail to attribute a central unifying and nation-building role to them. 92 LiVeS Journal Takole je v znamenitem eseju v prvem ponatisu Preshernovih Poezij razmishljal pesnik, pisatelj, urednik in kritik Josip Stritar (1836–1923): »Vsak omíkan narod ima v literaturi mozha, kterega ne chestí, ne hvali samo, kterega zares ljubi, kakor svojega prijatelja; vse mu je lepo na njem, vse ljubo, she celó njegove napake; rad se díchi in ponasha zh njim in gorje mu tujcu, kteri bi se lotil njegovega ljubljenca – gréh se mu zdi vsaka beseda, ktera bi ga kolikaj grajala; gréh se mu zdi she premrzla hvala. Vsak narod ima mozha, kterega si misli s sveto, chisto glorijo okoli glave. Kar je Anglezhem Shakespeare, Francozom Racine, Italijanom Dante, Nemcem Göthe, Rusom Pushkin, Poljakom Mickiewicz – to je Slovencem Preshiren! Vreden je vsaj, da ga chasté in ljubijo ter se ponashajo zh njim in hvalijo nebesa, ki so jim zhe tako zgodaj, tako nenadoma 'z domachimi pesmami Orfeja poslale’.«3 Mladoslovenci Stritar, Jurchich in Levstik, ki so leta 1866 pripravili ponatis Preshernovih pesmi, so Presherna postavili na visok pesnishki in narodni piedestal. Vendar je Presheren mesto najvechjega pesnika ter simbola narodne in jezikovne eksistence, ki naj bi si ga pridobil z vlogo v procesu konstituiranja slovenske skupnosti, nesporno zasedel shele na zachetku 20. stoletja. V drugi polovici 19. stoletja je pesnishki Parnas moral deliti s prvim slovenskim pesnikom in »znamenitim buditeljem k zhivljenju narodnem«4 Valentinom Vodnikom (1758–1819) in staroslovenskim pesnishkim prvakom Jovanom Veselom Koseskim (1798–1884). Pesnik, chasnikar, jezikoslovec in prevajalec, franchishkan Valentin Vodnik – »pervi budnik narodnega duha in pervi Vodnik k Parnasu, kamor so doslej she vsi narodi hodili, si lovorovih vencov slave in ponosnosti iskat«,5 ki si je v duhu razsvetljenstva prizadeval za kulturni razvoj slovenskega naroda in v chasu Ilirskih provinc za uveljavljanje slovenshchine v sholah, je bil v dobrshnem delu 19. stoletja delezhen vechjih chasti kot Presheren. Vodnik je leta 1806 izdal pesnishko zbirko Pesme za pokushino, urejal pa je tudi prvi slovenski chasnik Lublanske novice (1798 do 1800). V 19. stoletju so bili na voljo razlichni nachini javnega chashchenja pesnishkih vodníkov in glasnikov narodnega prebujenja (objave, ponatisi in prevodi njihovih del, chlanki v chasnikih in revijah, proslave, predavanja, likovne upodobitve, postavljanje javnih spomenikov …). Slovenci so se s tem lahko seznanili pri vechjih narodih, od katerih so postopoma prevzeli vse mehanizme, organizacijske in manifestativne oblike chashchenja zasluzhnih velmozh. Sklicevali so se na domache ustvarjalne osebnosti, na njihov pomen za afirmacijo slovenstva, in se hkrati ozirali k tujim zgledom. Razlichni tuji vzorci in mehanizmi slavljenja so narekovali formo in vsebino slovenskega ravnanja. Pri tem seveda ni shlo za goli tehnichni prenos nekega vzorca na slovenska tla, temvech za prilagoditev potrebam slovenskega narochnika, ki je v 19. stoletju prihajal iz meshchanskih vrst. LiVeS Journal 93 This is how in a famous essay that appeared in the first reprint of Presheren’s Poezije the poet, writer, editor and critic Josip Stritar (1836–1923)expressed his thoughts: »Every civilised nation has in its literature a man it not only reveres and praises but whom it truly loves like a friend; everything about him is beautiful and dear, even his mistakes; it likes to pride itself with him and woe betide the foreigner who criticises the idol – the smallest word of disapproval would seem like sin; even praise that is not passionate enough would be like sin. Every nation has a man it considers to have a pure and holy halo around his head. What the English have in Shakespeare, the French in Racine, Italians in Dante, the Germans in Goethe, Russians in Pushkin, the Poles in Mickiewicz – the Slovenian equivalent is Preshiren! He is worthy of being honoured and loved and boasted about and of the heavens being thanked for having so soon and so unexpectedly ‘sent Orpheus bearing Slovenian songs’.«3 The Mladoslovenci Stritar, Jurchich and Levstik who in 1866 prepared a reprint of Presheren’s poems, placed Presheren on a lofty poetic and national pedestal. However, Presheren did not take his full place as the greatest poet and symbol of national and linguistic existence which he was supposed to have earned with his role in the process of building up the Slovenian nation until the beginning of the 20th century. In the second half of the 19th century he had to share the poets’ Parnassus with the first Slovenian poet and »prominent rouser of the life of the nation« 4 Valentin Vodnik (1758–1819) and the Staroslovenski poet Jovan Vesel Koseski (1798–1884). The poet, journalist, linguist, translator and Franciscan priest, Valentin Vodnik – »the first rouser of the nation’s spirit and the first guide to Parnassus where all nations have hitherto gone in search of laurel wreaths and pride«,5 strove for the cultural growth of the Slovenian nation in the spirit of the enlightenment and in the time of the Ilyrian Provinces he campaigned for the use of Slovenian in schools. For the greater part of the 19th century he was praised and honoured more than Presheren. In 1806, Vodnik published a collection of poetry Pesme za pokushino, and was also editor of the first Slovenian newspaper Lublanske novice (1798 to 1800). In the 19th century there were several ways of publically honouring poetic leaders and heralds of national awakening (publications, reprints and translations of their works, articles in newspapers and magazines, celebrations, lectures, visual depictions, the erection of public monuments…). Slovenians were able to learn this from larger nations from whom they gradually took over these ways of honouring meritorious men. They referred to creative Slovenians, their importance for the affirmation of Slovenian identity and at the same time looked to foreign examples. Different foreign examples and methods of praise dictated the form and content of the Slovenian actions. Of course, this was not just a technical transferral of a pattern onto Slovenian soil, but an adaptation to the needs of the Slovenian subscriber who in the 19th century came from the middle classes. 94 LiVeS Journal Tudi upodobitve narodotvornih pesnikov (slike, kipi, grafike, tiskane reprodukcije, spomeniki …) so nastajale pod vplivom zgledov pri drugih evropskih narodih (Nemci v habsburshki monarhiji in v drugem nemshkem cesarstvu, Chehi idr.); tega seveda ni mogoche oznachiti kot izjemen pojav. Slovenska likovna umetnost praviloma prevzema motivni svet in nachine njegove interpretacije od likovnih del in vzorcev, ki so nastali v tujih umetnishkih centrih. Vendar povzemanje tujih vzorcev ni imelo le shablonskega znachaja. Slovensko okolje je zmoglo dati svoj pechat importiranim umetnishkim oblikam. Najpomembnejsho vlogo pri utrjevanju pomena nekega velmozha so imeli javni spomeniki (nacionalni spomeniki), predvsem po zaslugi svoje simbolne pomenljivosti. Do konca 18. stoletja so bili spomeniki predvsem privilegij zasluzhnih oseb plemenite krvi, v 19. stoletju pa se je z njimi zachelo potrjevati tudi meshchanstvo. V Evropi se je pojavil pravi spomenishki kult. Tudi habsburshko monarhijo je zajela spomenishka vnema. Enajst narodov, zhivechih pod zhezlom habsburshkih monarhov, je zhelelo poskrbeti za spomenike svojih znamenitih osebnosti. Vzor za spomenike v vechjih mestih monarhije so bili spomeniki, ki so nastajali na Dunaju. Slovenski javni spomeniki so slavili zlasti osebnosti s kulturnega podrochja. Dokazovali naj bi dolgo pot, ki jo je v preteklosti prehodil slovenski ustvarjalni duh, in bili bodrilo za bodochnost. Rabili naj bi potrjevanju kulturne, ne politichne identitete, vendar je bila meja med kulturnim in politichnim pogosto zabrisana. Spomenike so Slovenci seveda lahko postavljali le v okoljih, v katerih so si pridobili dovolj politichnega vpliva. Nemci so v shtajerskih mestih postavili nekaj monarhichnih spomenikov. Spomenishka prizadevanja so Slovence zajela z nemajhno zamudo. Shirsha slovenska javnost je zachela o spomenishkih vprashanjih resneje razmishljati shele sredi 19. stoletja. Po letu 1848 so se vrstili pozivi za spomenike Vodniku, Valvasorju, Vegi, Slomshku, Wolfu, Linhartu, Knobleharju, Kopitarju, Zhigi Herbersteinu in drugim pomembnim Slovencem. Prve spomenike so pogojno predstavljali bolj ali manj umetnishko zasnovani nagrobniki (Chopov, Korytkov in Vodnikov nagrobni spomenik). Preshernov nagrobnik iz leta 1852 na pokopalishchu v Kranju je bil prvi spomenik (spomenishki nagrobnik), ki je zrasel iz mnozhichne narodnozavedne pobude (ustanovitev posebnega odbora, povabilo za zbiranje prispevkov, ki je potekalo po vseh slovenskih dezhelah). Cheprav je shlo za nagrobnik na mestnem pokopalishchu, je to znamenje zhe dobivalo znachaj javnega spomenika. LiVeS Journal 95 Depictions of nation-building poets (paintings, statues, drawings, printed reproductions, monuments etc) were also influenced by examples from other European nations (Germans in the Habsburg monarchy and in the other German empire, the Czechs and others). Slovenian visual art generally borrowed motifs and manners of interpretation from visual art produced in foreign art centres. But foreign examples were not simply copied – the Slovenian milieu imprinted its own character on imported art forms. The most important role in the consolidation of a great man’s importance was played by public monuments (national monuments), above all due to their symbolic significance. Up until the end of the 18th century, monuments were the privilege of deserving individuals of noble blood, but in the 19th century the middle classes too began seeking confirmation in this way. A true monument cult sprang up in Europe. Even the Habsburg monarchy was taken over by the monument craze. The eleven nations living under the rule of the Habsburg monarchs wanted to provide monuments for their famous personalities. The monuments in the main cities of the monarchy were modelled on the monuments in Vienna. Slovenian public monuments paid homage above all to personalities from the field of culture. They were supposed to show the long road that the Slovenian creative spirit had trod and act as encouragement for the future. They were to help consolidate cultural not political identity, but the line separating the cultural from the political was often blurred. Of course, Slovenians could only erect monuments in places where they had gained sufficient political influence. The Germans erected several monarchic monuments in Styrian towns. The monument craze spread amongst the Slovenians with considerable delay. The broader Slovenian society only began seriously thinking about the question of monuments towards the middle of the 19th century. After 1848, there were calls for monuments to be erected in honour of Vodnik, Valvasor, Vega, Slomshek, Wolf, Linhart, Knoblehar, Kopitar, Zhiga Herberstein and other important Slovenians. The first monuments were in fact more or less artistically designed tombstones (Chop’s, Korytko’s and Vodnik’s tombstones). Presheren’s tombstone from 1852 at the cemetery in Kranj was the first monument, which grew from a mass national awareness initiative (the foundation of a special committee and invitation to begin collecting contributions which took place throughout all the Slovenian lands). Although it was a tombstone in a city cemetery, this memorial possessed the character of a public monument. 96 LiVeS Journal Slovenci so v chashchenju svojih velmozh precej zaostajali za vechjimi evropskimi narodi. Leta 1859 so sicer izdali Vodnikov album (Vodniku posvechen zbornik s slovenskimi in nemshkimi prispevki), z javnim kipom pa so leta 1852 oziroma 1859-1860 pochastili avstrijskega feldmarshala grofa Radetzkega, ki je bil tudi chastni meshchan Ljubljane.6 Spomenik Radetzkega je bil prvi reprezentativni javni spomenik v Ljubljani. Medtem pa so Nemci leta 1859 praznovali 100-letnico Schillerjevega rojstva kot narodni praznik, ki naj bi se ga udelezhile vse stranke in vsi sloji naroda.7 Friedrich Schiller je tudi na Kranjskem od zachetka 19. stoletja veljal za najpopularnejshega nemshkega pesnika, za »velikana nemshkega Parnasa«. Levstik omenja, da so ljubljanski Nemci imeli v mislih postavitev Schillerjevega spomenika.8 Slovesnost pred Vodnikovim spomenikom, 13. oktober 1929 Ceremony around the statue of Vodnik, 13 October 1929 Prvi nacionalni spomenik in zachetek slovenskega spomenishkega kiparstva pomeni Vodnikov spomenik v Ljubljani. Denar zanj so zbirali vech kot trideset let. Slovesno so ga odkrili leta 1889. Avtorju celopostavnega Vodnikovega kipa Alojziju Ganglu (1859–1935), ki se je sholal pri znamenitih dunajskih kiparjih Casparju von Zumbuschu in Edmundu Hellmerju, je uspelo ujeti korak s tedanjimi spomenishkimi snovanji v prestolnici. V neobarochni maniri izdelani Vodnikov spomenik je odrazhal Zumbuschev koncept spomenishke figure ali kompozicije na mogochnem arhitekturnem podstavku. LiVeS Journal 97 Slovenians were quite far behind the larger European nations as regards the veneration of their great men. In 1859 they published Vodnik’s Album (an album dedicated to Vodnik with Slovenian and German contributions), and in 1852 and 1859-1860 they honoured the Austrian Field Marshal Count Radetzky who was also an honorary citizen of Ljubljana with a public monument.6 Radetzky’s monument was the first public monument in Ljubljana to be dedicated to a person. Meanwhile in 1859, the Germans celebrated the 100th anniversary of Schiller’s birth as a national feast, which was supposed to be attended by all parties and all social strata.7 Since the beginning of the 19th century Friedrich Schiller was considered to be the most popular German poet even in Carniola – the »giant of the German Parnassus«. Levstik mentions that the Germans in Ljubljana intended to set up a monument to Schiller.8 Vodnik’s monument in Ljubljana is Slovenia’s very first national monument. It took over thirty years to gather the money needed for it and it was ceremoniously unveiled in 1889. The man behind the statue was Alojzij Gangl (1859–1935) who learnt his trade from the famous Viennese sculptors Caspar von Zumbusch and Edmund Hellmer. He succeeded in catching the monument trend prevalent in the capital at the time. The monument’s neo-baroque style reflected Zumbusch’s concept of a monumental figure or composition on a mighty architectural pedestal. Gangl designed Vodnik’s statue in larger than life dimensions according to a style, which was typical of German monuments of writers in the first half of the 19th century. He softened strict German realism with flowing neo-baroque. In terms of costume, Vodnik’s monument kept to the trend of portraying the honouree in contemporary dress. The debate over the choice of costume (the socalled »Kostümstreit«) with those preferring old style on the one hand and those in favour of modern garments on the other appeared because there were more and more monuments dedicated to scientists and artists. As artistic taste changed, so too the neo-romantic concept had to give way to the honouree being depicted in contemporary dress. Gangl’s draft for Vodnik’s monument also had an »antique« accessory (part of a column), which was however omitted in the final version. The next monument campaign to hit Slovenia was the Presheren monument in Ljubljana. The sculptor Ivan Zajec (1869–1952), who received first prize in a competition in 1899, created the statue of the poet and his muse between 1900 and 1904. Zajec conceived the poet in evening dress with a quill and a book of poetry – Poezije – in his hands. The monument was unveiled in a ceremony that took place on 10 September 1905 in the central square in Ljubljana as it was to draw attention to the universally Slovenian nature of the capital of the central Slovenian region of Carniola. 98 LiVeS Journal Vodnikov kip v nadnaravni velikosti je Gangl oblikoval po shemi, ki je bila, kar se tiche upodabljanja pisateljev, znachilna zlasti za nemshko spomenishko kiparstvo prve polovice 19. stoletja. Nemshki strogi realizem je razrahljal z neobarochno razgibanostjo. Glede kostuma je Vodnikov spomenik sledil tendencam po predstavitvi slavljenca v sodobnih oblachilih. Vprashanje kostuma (t. i. »Kostümstreit«), v katero so se zapletli zagovorniki antichnih in zagovorniki sodobnih oblachil spomenishkih figur, se je pojavilo zato, ker je bilo vedno vech spomenikov posvechenih znanstvenikom in umetnikom. Na liniji sprememb umetnishkega okusa se je neoromantichni koncept moral umakniti slavljenchevi figuri v sodobni opravi. Tudi Ganglov osnutek za spomenik Vodniku je imel »antichni« dodatek (del stebra), ki pa ga pri konchni verziji ni bilo vech. Naslednja osrednjeslovenska spomenishka akcija je bila postavitev Preshernovega spomenika v Ljubljani. Kipar Ivan Zajec (1869–1952), ki je prejel prvo nagrado na natechaju leta 1899, je kipa pesnika in muze izdelal med letoma 1900 in 1904. Zajec si je pesnika zamislil v salonskem oblachilu, s peresom in knjizhico Poezij v rokah. Spomenik so slovesno odkrili 10. septembra 1905 na osrednjem krizhishchu v mestu, saj naj bi opozarjal na vseslovenski znachaj glavnega mesta osrednje slovenske dezhele Kranjske. Preshernov spomenik je z nekaterimi secesijskimi detajli na podstavku, za katere je bil bolj kot Zajec zasluzhen arhitekt Maks Fabiani (1864–1962), poskushal dohitevati razvoj spomenishkega kiparstva. Toda alegorija (pesnik in muza), akademski realizem in pozni historizem na prelomu stoletja niso bili tedaj najaktualnejsha spomenishka reshitev. Muza izvira iz grshko-rimske tradicije. Utelesha izpeljavo motiva »poeta laureatus« (lat.; pri Grkih in Rimljanih na tekmovanju med pesniki z lovorovim vencem ovenchan zmagovalec). Delno razgaljena mladenka, ki ima v roki lovorovo vejico, slavi pesnika in bdi nad njegovo genialnostjo. Spomenik je naletel tako na hvalospeve (pesnikovi ljubitelji in liberalna stranka) kot na ostro kritiko (predstavniki moderne, katolishki krogi). Ochitno pa je bilo, da je moral Zajec, ki je podobno kot njegov oche, kipar France Zajec (mdr. avtor prvega Vodnikovega doprsnega kipa, 1858, in serije kipcev slavnih slovenskih mozh iz patiniranega mavca, okrog 1870), ustvarjal v tradicionalni spomenishki liniji Rauch-Rietschel (od klasicizma Christiana Daniela Raucha do realistichnih prizadevanj njegovega uchenca Ernsta Rietschla), ustrechi prichakovanjem narochnikov ter sploshnim slogovnim in reprezentanchnim merilom dobe. LiVeS Journal 99 Odkritje Preshernovega spomenika v Ljubljani, 10. september 1905 The unveiling of Presheren’s monument in Ljubljana, 10 September 1905 With a few art nouveau features on its pedestal (more the work of architect Maks Fabiani (1864–1962) than Zajec), the monument to Presheren attempted to catch up with developments in the field of monument sculpting. However, allegory (the poet and the muse), academic realism and late turn of the century historicism were not the most up-to-date ideas and styles for monuments. The muse has its roots in Greek-Roman tradition. It embodies the motif »poeta laureatus« (Lat.; in Greek and Roman poetry competitions, the winner was crowned with a laurel wreath). The partly unclothed young lady, with a laurel branch in her hand, honours the poet and keeps watch over his geniality. The monument was both praised (by fans of the poet and the liberal party) and severely criticised (by modernists and Catholic circles). It was, however, clear that Zajec had to satisfy the expectations of customers and the general style and standards of the period. His style – like that of his father, the sculptor France Zajec (the man behind the first bust of Vodnik (1858) and series of small statues of famous Slovenians made of patinated plaster, around 1870) – was along the traditional lines of monuments made by Rauch-Rietschel (from the classicism of Christian Daniel Rauch to the realism of his pupil Ernst Rietschl). 100 LiVeS Journal Na konchni videz spomenika je poleg raznovrstnih svetovalcev in dunajskih profesorjev vplivalo tudi javno mnenje, ki se je zavzemalo za stvaritev po vzoru Goethejevega in Schillerjevega spomenika. Preshernov kip na primer spominja na enega izmed dvornih ministrov Marije Terezije na Zumbuschevem spomeniku na dunajskem Ringu, ter tudi na Schillerja in Goetheja pred gledalishchem v Weimarju, figura muze pa na Benkovo dunajsko arhitekturno plastiko Fortune, ki se zgleduje po Makartovi Ariadni. Opombe: Po: A. J. P. Taylor, »Videz demokratichnosti: Pozno poletje habsburshke monarhije, 1897– 1908«, Habsburshka monarhija 1809–1918, Ljubljana 1956, str. 228. 2 Po: A. J. P. Taylor, »Narodi«, prav tam, str. 32. 3 Josip Stritar, »Preshirnove poezije«, Pesmi Franceta Preshirna, Ljubljana 1866, str. 15–16. 4 Po: Sh., »Vodnik«, Novice, 1865/6. 5 »Slovésnosti, obhajane v spomin stoletnega rojstnega dneva Valentina Vodnika, ocheta slov. pesnishtva«, Novice, 1858/6. 6 Ljubljanchani so leta 1852 postavili kip Radetzkega v naravni velikosti. Ker ni bil dovolj imeniten (shlo je zgolj za odlitek), so ga leta 1859 zamenjali z novim doprsjem, ki je delo tedaj najslavnejshega dunajskega kiparja Antona Dominika Fernkorna. Upodobljenchevo oblachilo krasijo odlikovanja, okrog glave ima lovorov venec kot simbol zmage in slave. Podstavek je izdelal domachi kamnosek Ignacij Toman ml. 7 Po: Franz Mehring, »Goethe in danashnji chas«, Prispevki k zgodovini knjizhevnosti, Ljubljana 1952, str. 28 (prvich objavljeno 1899 v Neue Zeit). 8 Po: Fran Levstik, »Iz Ljubljane, 29. oktobra«, Slovenski narod, 1868/90. LiVeS Journal 101 The final appearance of the monument was influenced not just by various advisors and Viennese professors but also by public opinion, which wanted something similar to the statues of Goethe and Schiller. The statue of Presheren, for example, is reminiscent of one of the court ministers of Maria Theresa on Zumbusch’s monument on the Vienna Ring, as well as of Schiller and Goethe in front of the theatre in Weimar. The muse, meanwhile, reminds one of Benko’s statue of Fortune in Vienna which itself is modelled on Makart’s Ariadne. Notes: 1 From: A. J. P. Taylor, »Democratic Pretence: the Indian Summer of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1897-1908«, from: The Habsburg Monarchy 1809–1918 (1941, revised edition 1948). 2 From: A. J. P. Taylor, »The Peoples«, ibid. 3 Josip Stritar, »Presheren’s poetry«, Pesmi Franceta Preshirna, Ljubljana 1866, pp. 15–16. 4 From: Sh, »Vodnik«, Novice, 1865/6. 5 »Ceremonies honouring one hundred years since the birth of Valentin Vodnik, the father of Slovenian poetry«, Novice, 1858/6. 6 In 1852, the people of Ljubljana erected a natural-sized statue of Radetzky. As it was not of a high enough quality (it was only a cast), it was replaced in 1859 with a new bust, the work of the most famous Viennese sculptor at the time Anton Dominik Fernkorn. Radetzky’s dress is adorned with medals and around his head he has a laurel wreath as a symbol of victory and glory. The pedestal is the work of the Slovenian stonecutter Ignacij Toman ml. 7 From: Franz Mehring, »Goethe and our time«, Prispevki k zgodovini knjizhevnosti, Ljubljana 1952, pg. 28 (Goethe in unserer Zeit; first published in 1899 in Neue Zeit). 8 From: Fran Levstik, »From Ljubljana, 29 October«, Slovenski narod, 1868/90. Translated from Slovenian by Marko Petrovich 102 LiVeS Journal Ivan Cankar SLOVENSKO LJUDSTVO IN SLOVENSKA KULTURA Cenjeni poslushalci! Zdaj, v tem viharnem volivnem boju, je dela veliko, chasa malo. Zato mi oprostite, che to predavanje ni tako temeljito in dovrsheno, kakor bi se spodobilo za tako vazhen predmet. Smatrajte torej to predavanje le kot poskus, morda celo kot ponesrechen poskus vechjega in temeljitejshega dela. Vendar pa se mi zdi, da je ravno zdaj, ravno ob tem viharnem chasu potrebno govoriti o slovenskem ljudstvu in o slovenski kulturi, – zakaj nikoli she kakor zdaj ni bilo toliko pridigovanja, toliko, chasih jako klavrnega besedichenja o narodu in narodnosti, o ljudstvu in o kulturi! – I Dolgo je zhe, kar se ukvarjam s peresom; marsikatero bridko ochitanje sem preslishal v teh tezhkih letih, marsikatero hudo grajo in pa tudi, kar je bilo she posebno grenko, marsikatero neumno hvalo. Ampak v vsakem ochitanju, v vsaki graji in v vsaki hvali se je ponavljala pesem, ki sem se tako navadil nanjo, da mora biti zapisana tudi na mojem grobu: »To ni za ljudstvo!« Za par ljudi pishesh, za par ljudi se muchish, za par ljudi si stradal od zachetka do konca; kajti ljudstvo te ne razume, ono je tuje tebi in tvojemu delu, ti si tuj njemu in njegovemu zhivljenju! Tako se je godilo meni, drugim pa se ne godi nich boljshe. V ljubljanskem gledalishchu igrajo lepo moderno ali pa tudi klasichno dramo. Drugo jutro zhe prepevajo po Ljubljani tisto ljubeznivo pesem: »To ni za ljudstvo!« Nashe ljudstvo ne mara takih rechi, nashe ljudstvo ni zrelo za take rechi, ne ponujajte nashemu ljudstvu torte, ko je komaj zhgancev vajeno! In res – moderna ali klasichna drama izgine sramotno z odra, na odru pa se prikazhe domacha umetnost, ki ima na chelu zapisano geslo »ejdush« in »ga zhe 'maja!« – Tako se godi gledalishchu, drugim pa se ne godi nich boljshe. V Ljubljani razstavijo slovenski umetniki svoje slike in kipe. Da je njih umetnost velika in chista, tega jim zhiva dusha ne odreka. Ampak vsi ljubljanski zvonovi zapojo takoj tisto prisrchno pesem: »To ni za ljudstvo!« LiVeS Journal 103 Ivan Cankar THE SLOVENIAN PEOPLE AND SLOVENIAN CULTURE Ladies and gentlemen! In this heated election battle there is much work to be done and very little time to lose. So excuse me if this lecture is not as thorough as it should be for so important a subject. Consider, therefore, this lecture to be only an attempt, maybe even only a failed attempt to achieve a greater and more thorough piece of work. However, it seems to me that it is right now, in these stormy times that we should be talking about the Slovenian people and Slovenian culture, – for never before has there been so much preaching and so many empty words about the nation and nationality, about the people and culture! – I For a long time now I have been a writer and have heard many a bitter rebuke in these difficult years, many a severe reprimand and also – something that has been particularly painful – much nonsensical praise. But every rebuke, reprimand and expression of praise has contained the verse to which I have grown so accustomed that it should be written on my grave: »That is not for the people!« You write only for a select few, you toil only for a few people, all this time you have starved only for a small number of people; for the people do not understand you, they are alien to you and your work; you are alien to them and their lives! That is what it was like for me and others fare no better. In the theatre in Ljubljana they put on beautiful modern as well as classical dramas. And the following morning they sing out all over Ljubljana that amiable song: »That is not for the people!« Our people do not like such things, our people are not mature enough for such things, do not offer our people cakes when they are hardly used to corn mush! And it’s true – modern or classical dramas disappear shamefully from the stage and on the stage appears peasant art, on whose forehead are written the catchwords »by gosh« and »got’im!« – That is what it is like for theatre and others fare no better. In Ljubljana, Slovenian artists display their paintings and sculptures. No-one denies that their art is great and pure. But all the bells of Ljubljana immediately sing out that amiable song: »That is not for the people!« LiVeS Journal 104 Nashi umetniki ne delajo za ljudstvo, ne poznajo ga in zato jih tudi ono ne pozna. Naj torej stradajo in zhivotarijo nadalje, kakor so stradali in zhivotarili doslej! Nashe ljudstvo ne rabi umetnosti, doslej je zhivelo brez nje, pa naj zhivi brez nje do konca! In resnichno: nashi umetniki so pobrali shila in kopita in so pobegnili v tujino, vsi do zadnjega, s svojo umetnostjo vred. Zakaj spoznali so v svoji modrosti, da je vendarle nekoliko prijetnejshe, che stradajo v tujini, nego da bi stradali domá, kjer imajo na prezhgani juhi she ochitanje in zasmeh v zabelo. Tako se godi umetnosti, znanosti pa se ne godi nich boljshe. Nekaj mladih ljudi, nekaj idealistov, je zachutilo potrebo, da pripovedujejo ljudem ne samo o antikristu in o farju, temvech da mu pokazhejo, slepcu doslej, pot do spoznanja in resnice. Ampak tudi njim je zabrnela v ushesa nasha narodna himna: To ni za ljudstvo! Stari gospodarji in poznavalci ljudstva se jim pomilovalno posmehujejo: Kaj treba nashemu ljudstvu spoznanja in resnice! Che bi spoznavalo, bi spoznalo najprej svoje uboshtvo in bi postalo rabiatno; che bi ugledalo pot do resnice, bi nashlo takoj pot izpod prizhnice – in kje bi ostala potem far in antikrist, te dve nashi najsvetejshi narodni svetinji, ta dva stebra slovenskega zhivljenja in nehanja tekom burnih desetletij ? – Vsi vi tezhaki na polju slovenske kulture: obujte shkornje, nategnite jermena, povezhite cule, zakaj – »To ni za ljudstvo!« * V spoznanju, da nashe ljudstvo ni kulturno, sta si edina obadva stara slovenska tabora. Tako dobe chasih celó najhujshi sovrazhniki mirno zatishje, da se poljubijo v slogi in bratstvu. Nekoch je na Dunaju vodnik naroda oznanil vsemu svetu: Nashe ljudstvo je zaostalo v kulturi za sto let, nashe ljudstvo je neumno in zabito! In takoj je zvonilo in potrkavalo tisochero zvonov na zelenih holmih prostrane slovenske domovine: Obrekovalec ljudstva! Nashe ljudstvo ni zabito in neumno, temvech nashe ljudstvo hodi v cerkev, pod prizhnico in v spovednico, nashe ljudstvo ne mara vashe tujinske kulture, nashemu ljudstvu zadostuje bozhja beseda in svetinja ochetov! ... Tako sta si edina obadva tabora in obadva tabora ne vesta, koliko grenke resnice je skrite v tem nekulturnem kulturnem boju, v teh kulturnih besedah o nekulturi! * LiVeS Journal 105 Our artists do not work for the people, they do not know the people and the people do not know them. So may they starve and continue to live miserably as they have starved and lived miserably so far! Our people do not need art, they have lived without it thus far so may they live without it to the end! And truly: our artists fled abroad, every one of them, taking their art with them. For in their wisdom they realised that it is nevertheless a little more pleasant if they starve abroad than if they starve at home where their soup is additionally seasoned with reproaches and scoffs. That is what it is like for art and it is no better for science. Some young people, some idealists, felt the need to tell the people not only about the antichrist and about the parish priest but to show them, those who were hitherto blind, the path to reason and the truth. But their ears too picked up the drone of our national anthem: That is not for the people! Old leaders and those who know the people deride them saying: What do our people need reason and the truth for! If they had reason they would become aware of their poverty and would grow furious; if they saw the truth they would flee from the churches – and where would that leave the parish priest and the antichrist, these two of our holiest national idols, these two pillars of Slovenian life during the turbulent decades? – All you labourers on the field of Slovenian culture: put on your boots, pull tight your belts and tie up your bundles, for – »That is not for the people!« * Both Slovenian political sides agree that our people are not cultured. This means that sometimes even the worst of enemies enjoy peace and quiet and embrace each other fraternally. Once, in Vienna, the representative of the nation announced to the whole world: Our people are culturally one hundred years behind; our people are stupid and backward! And at once rang out a thousand bells on the green hills of the Slovenian homeland: Defamer of the people! Our people are not stupid or backward, our people go to church, listen to the sermons and go to confession, our people do not like your foreign culture, our people need no more than the word of God and the idol of our forefathers! ... So both sides agree and neither side knows how much bitter truth is hidden in this uncultured cultural struggle, in these cultured words about lack of culture! * 106 LiVeS Journal Ko sem prvikrat slishal tisto brutalno ochitanje: Ne delash za ljudstvo, vi vsi ne delate za ljudstvo! – sem bil globoko potrt. Naravno je, da chloveku ne more biti prijetno pri srcu, che mu poklican besednik narodov zaluchi v obraz: Nepotreben si, nepotreben s svojim delom vred! Pojdite in obesite se vsi po vrsti v Latermanovem drevoredu; ljudstvo bo vedelo o vashem pravichnem koncu prav toliko, kolikor je vedelo o vashem delu in zhivljenju! ... Moj obchutek je bil podoben bridkosti chloveka, ki je romal ponochi zaspan in truden, tri dolge ure; in ko se mu zdi, da zhe vidi svetlo okno svojega doma, spozna nenadoma in ves prestrashen, da stoji na tistem krizhpotu, odkoder je bil nastopil svoje klavrno romanje ... Kaj torej ? Dvomil nisem niti za trenotek, da govore ljudjé resnico, da pojo cerkveni zvonovi neskaljeno pesem: da je to tako imenovano kulturno delovanje izgubljeno in brezplodno, kakor voda v pesku. In da je tisti modrijan pravichno besedoval o vislicah v Latermanovem drevoredu ... V tej bridkosti in potrtosti me je prijel usmiljen chlovek pod pazduho in me je vodil v krchmo. Nastezhaj je odprl duri, iztegnil je roko in je govoril téle pametne besede: Ne zhaluj, prijatelj! Saj je resnica in pismo, da vi vsi ne delate za ljudstvo; da je vse vashe nehanje in trpljenje nepotrebno, che mislite, da darujete ljudstvu; da vas ljudstvo ne razume, kakor ga vi ne razumete! – Ampak, prijatelj: sursum corda! Ne delujete za ljudstvo, zato pa delujete za narod; ne trpite za ljudstvo, zato pa trpite za narod; narodu darujete in narod vam bo hvalezhen! ... Nisem razumel te globoke modrosti, toda prijatelj, ki je bil usmiljen, mi je razlozhil stvar na jako prijeten nachin: Glej to prostrano, zakajeno, slabo razsvetljeno izbo! Glej te ljudi! Njih obrazi so grobi, v njih ocheh je vech skrbi in sovrashtva, nego uchenosti, njih roké so tezhke in okorne, njih obleka je zakrpana in posvaljkana, iz ust pa jim zhganje smrdi ... Glej, to je ljudstvo! ... Njih lica so groba, ker so ozhgana od sonca, njih roké so tezhke in okorne, ker so trudne od dela, v njih ocheh je skrb in sovrashtvo, ker so ugledale krivico, iz ust jim smrdi zhganje, ker je shampanjec drag ... Glej, to je ljudstvo! ... Stopi predenj in mu beri Maeterlincka in Wedekinda, pa ti bo odgovorilo: Ne norchuj se, kanalja, zakaj dolga so tvoja ushesa ... In she boljshe ti bo odgovorilo: Plachaj, kultura, kar si dolzhna mojemu delu, nato se mi pokloni, da se ti poklonim tudi jaz ... Tako, prijatelj, sva videla ljudstvo, poglejva she narod. Narod je sedel v salonu in je bil zhe nekoliko pijan. Izba je bila svetla in prijazna, mize so bile pogrnjene. In za mizami je sedel chrno oblecheni, veseli, glasni narod. LiVeS Journal 107 When I first heard that brutal reproach: You are not working for the people; none of you are working for the people! – I was deeply saddened. It is natural that one is distressed if a spokesman for the people tells you directly: You are superfluous, you and your work are unnecessary! All of you go and hang yourselves in Laterman’s boulevard; the people will know about your righteous end as much as they knew about your life and work! ... My feeling was similar to that of a man who has been walking three long hours in the night and is tired out and sleepy; when finally he thinks he sees the bright window of his home he suddenly realises in fear that he is standing at the same crossroads from which he started out on his miserable trek... What then? I did not doubt for a second that the people were speaking the truth and that the church bells sing out the clear song: this so-called cultural activity is a fruitless loss, like water disappearing in sand. And that that the wise-man’s words about the gallows in Laterman’s boulevard were just... In this state of pain and dejection a merciful man grabbed me by the arm and led me into an inn. He opened wide the doors, stretched out his arm and spoke these wise words: Do not grieve, my friend! For in truth none of you are working for the people; all your efforts and sufferings are unnecessary if you believe you are offering something to the people; the people do not understand you just as you do not understand them! – But, my friend: sursum corda! You are not working for the people but you are working for the nation; you are not suffering for the people but you are suffering for the nation; you are offering something to the nation and the nation will be grateful to you! I did not understand this profound wisdom, but my friend who was merciful explained this in a very pleasant way: Look at this large, smoke-filled, poorly lit room! Look at these people! Their faces are rough, their eyes express more worry and hate than learning, their hands are heavy and awkward, their clothes patched and crumpled, their breath smells of brandy... See, these are the people! Their cheeks are rough from being burned by the sun, their hands are heavy and awkward because they are tired by heavy work, their eyes are filled with worry and hate because they have seen injustice and their breath smells of brandy because champagne is expensive... See, these are the people! ... Stand up in front of them and read them some Maeterlinck or Wedekind and they will say to you: Do not mock, scoundrel, for your ears are long ... And they will also say: Pay up, culture, what you owe my work, then bow down to me that I too may bow down to you ... So, my friend, we have seen the people, let us now look at the nation. The nation was sitting in the drawing room and was already a little drunk. The room was bright and pleasant, the tables were set. And at the tables sat the happy, loud-voiced nation dressed in black. LiVeS Journal 108 Njegov obraz je bil rdech in vroch; iz lic je puhtelo vino, v ocheh je gorela preshernost zhivljenja. Pa se je vzdignil izza mize lep in postaven gospod, potrkal je s prstanom ob kozarec in je izpregovoril: Gospoda slavna! Ker smo tako lepo zbrani, je potreba, da pokazhemo kletim sovragom, kdo da smo! Kaj je slovenski narod? Slovenski narod je teptan ... Natakar, zapri duri, da ne bo smrdelo sem tisto ljudstvo s svojim zhganjem in tobakorn ... Teptan je, pravim! Ampak po krivici uzhiva nash narod to preziranje in zanichevanje: visoko se je vzdignila njegova kultura – tak zapri ... ti prokleto ljudstvo! – in nash narod je stopil v ravno vrsto z drugimi mogochnimi narodi! Zatorej zapojemo lahko s ponosom ... In po salonu je velichastno zaorila himna: »Slovenec sem ...« Nato so hoteli zapeti she »Hej, Slovani«, toda glave so klonile in glasovi so umirali ... Ljudstvo se je razshlo zhe zgodaj, ker je bilo trudno, narod pa je ostal pod mizo in je smrchal ... * Moj prijatelj je bil hudoben, toda vsaka resnica je hudobna. Pokazal mi je narod, kakrshen je v polnochni navdushenosti, ki je najbolj odkritosrchna in ki najochitneje razodeva nashe kulturno stanje ... Nashi narodni prazniki, veliki semnji nashe kulture, niso bili drugega nich, nego polnochna navdushenost ... S kakshno glorijo so pozdravljali prvo slovensko umetnishko razstavo! Chlovek bi si bil mislil, da je napochil nenadoma dan vstajenja, da je nasha umetnost reshena, nasha kultura rehabilitirana, da stopimo lahko z jasnim obrazom pred narod, ki je rodil Michelangela! Ampak komaj je zashlo sonce, so pobegnili slavnostni govorniki v krchme in so se muzali in smejali: To je bil hec! Takega pa she ne! Ali ste videli tiste packarije? Pochenega grosha bi ne dal zanje vse skupaj! Jakopich pravi, da je naslikal svetnika, pa je bolj podoben ljubljanski barabi ali pa trzhashkemu fakinu, kakor pa svetniku! Ljubshi mi je zhabji pildek za Shentklavzhem! ... – Prej si govoril o vstajenja dnevu! – se zachudi mlad poet. Slavnostni govornik pa ga usmiljeno pouchi in okara: Vstajenja dan, kultura, umetnost, znanost – to, pesniche, so polnochni strahovi! Pameten narodnjak jih kliche podnevi, zato ker ve, da ne pridejo; opolnochi pa jih pusti pri miru! ... She prijaznejsha je druga zgodba, ki sem jo nekoch zhe opisal. Napravili so velik shod, imenitno manifestacijo v prilog slovenske univerze. Dvorana je bila natlachena, prishel je ves chrno oblecheni, izobrazheni, navdusheni, dostojni narod; ljudstva ni bilo od nikoder in ga tudi treba ni bilo: ne sodilo bi bilo v dvorano nich boljshe, kakor delavec v »Piccolovo« redakcijo. Nastopili so govorniki drug za drugim, dolga vrsta jih je bila. Govorili so, da se je zemlja tresla in da so meni, ki sem mehak chlovek, stopile solze v ochi. Tisti vecher sem bil preprichan, da je slovenski narod enkrat za vselej reshen, ali pa da bo reshen vsaj naslednje jutro ob prvi zori. LiVeS Journal 109 Its face was red and hot; wine was seeping from its cheeks, its eyes were burning with joy for life. A handsome man got up from the table, knocked the ring on his finger against a glass and began to speak: Ladies and gentleman! As we are so finely gathered here it is necessary that we show the damn enemies who we are! What is the Slovenian nation? The Slovenian nation is being trampled upon – waiter, shut the doors so the smell of the people with their brandy and tobacco will not reach us – it is being trampled upon I say! But it is unjust that our nation should suffer this contempt and scorn: its culture has come very far – that’s it shut them – the damn people! – and our nation has stepped in line with other mighty nations! So we can proudly sing... And the hymn »Slovenec sem ...« [»I am a Slovenian«] resounded magnificently through the room: Then they wanted to sing »Hej, Slovani« [»Hey Slavs«] but their heads bowed and their voices died away... The people left early because they were tired while the nation stayed under the table and slept... * My friend was cruel but all truth is cruel. He showed me the nation as it is in its midnight enthusiasm, which is most sincere and which most clearly reveals the state of our culture... Our national feast-days, our culture’s great fairs, were nothing more than midnight enthusiasm ... With what pomp they greeted the first Slovenian art exhibition! One would have thought the day of resurrection had suddenly dawned, that our art was saved, our culture rehabilitated and that we can step shameless before the nation that gave birth to Michelangelo! But hardly had the sun gone down, the honourable speakers escaped to the inns and smirked and laughed: That was a joke! Never seen anything like it! Did you see those scribbles? I wouldn’t give a halfpenny for it all! Jakopich says he has painted a saint but he resembles a Ljubljana rascal or a vagabond from Trieste more than a saint! I prefer one of those worthless drawings they sell behind St. Nicholas’! ... – A little earlier you mentioned resurrection day! – says the young poet in surprise. The speaker mercifully reprimands and instructs him: Resurrection day, culture, art, science – these, dear little poet, are midnight ghosts! A wise patriot calls on them by day because he knows they do not come; and at midnight he leaves them alone! ... The second story, which I have already once related, is even more pleasant. They prepared a great assembly, a great manifestation in favour of a Slovenian university. The hall was packed full of the educated, enthusiastic, respectable nation dressed in black; the people were nowhere to be seen and it was better that they were not there: they would have been as out of place in the hall as a manual labourer in the editorial office of the »Piccolo«. The speakers took their turns to address the public; there was a long line of them. They spoke so that the earth trembled and tears welled up in my eyes for I am a sensitive soul. That evening I was convinced that the Slovenian nation was saved once and for all, or that it would be saved at the latest the next morning at dawn. LiVeS Journal 110 Po dovrsheni slovesnosti sedejo slavnostni govorniki v krchmo, brishejo si potna chela in se muzajo: Toliko dela za tako neumnost! Kaj pa nam je treba univerze! Che bi jih imeli troje: v Ljubljani eno, v Shishki eno in na Vrhniki eno, – jaz bi shel na Dunaj! – – Pa si tako lepo govoril! – se zachudi mehkobni poet. Slavnostni govornik pa se razljuti: Kaj govoril! Ali mislish, da bom govoril o nashi nekulturi? Saj sem narodnjak? Navadi se razlochevati med mislijo in besedo, med pametjo in navdushenjem! Mi govorimo o kulturi, zato ker je nimamo; ko bi jo imeli, bi molchali o nji! – In osramochen je povesil glavo poet ... Tudi tretja zgodba je prijetna v precejshnji meri. V Ljubljani so postavljali Preshernu spomenik in so napravili veliko slavlje. Kdo je bil slavljen: ali Presheren, ali njegov spomenik, ali oche Janez Bleiweis, ali zhupan Hribar, she ni natanko dognano; dognano je le toliko, da je bilo tako veliko in imenitno slavlje, kakrshnega narod she ni dozhivel; vse je bilo brez mere navdusheno, posebno zategadelj, ker ni vedelo zakaj. O Preshernu je vedel tisti narod le toliko, da je rad vino pil, da je zhivel v divjem zakonu in da je zaljubljene pesmi pel; o spomeniku je vedel toliko, da je neizrecheno neokusen – ampak slavlje je bilo lepo in lep je bil dan. Lep je bil dan, she lepshi je bil vecher. Toliko cvichka se she nikoli ni stochilo v Ljubljani, toliko slovesnih govorov se she nikoli ni govorilo, celi potoki najglasnejshih fraz so curljali po ulicah in so se stekali v Ljubljanico. Narod je bil navdushen in je na velichasten nachin dokazal svoje neomajno rodoljubje – in praznik je bil semenj motovilastega slavokrichanja in bobnastega vseslovanstva. Zakaj na semnju je bil Preshernov spomenik, Preshernovega duhá ni bilo; na semnju je bil narod, ljudstva ni bilo! – Popoldne shele je prishlo ljudstvo. In ljudstvo ni slavilo praznika, ljudstvo ni bilo navdusheno, ne za Preshernov spomenik, ne za vseslovanski boben, ne za fraz curljajoche potoke. Ljudstvo je prishlo pozdravit tistega chloveka, ki je pred petdesetimi leti v svojem obupu in v svoji bridkosti slutil, kar vidi danes ljudstvo samo – svetel cilj na gori: »Najvech sveta otrokom slishi Slave, tja bomo nashli pot –« Takrat se je jasno pokazala silna razdalja med ljudstvom in narodom. Morda sta chutila to silno razdaljo obadva, ljudstvo in narod – morda sta videla obadva tisti brezmejno shiroki, brezdanje globoki prepad, ki ju lochi od nekdaj in ki je do vrha napolnjen s smradljivo vodo smradljivih fraz ... * LiVeS Journal 111 After the ceremony the honourable speakers went to an inn, wiped their perspiring brows and smirked: So much work for such nonsense! Why do we need a university! Even if we had three of them: one in Ljubljana, one in Shishka and one in Vrhnika, – I would go to Vienna! – – But you spoke so well! – says the sensitive poet in surprise. The speaker grows angry: Speak! Do you think I will speak about our lack of culture? Am I not a patriot? Learn to distinguish between ideas and words, between intelligence and enthusiasm! We speak about culture because we do not have it; if we had it we would keep quiet about it! – And the poet bowed his head in shame... The third story is also quite pleasant. In Ljubljana a monument was erected to Presheren and they prepared a great celebration. Who was being celebrated: Presheren, his monument, or father Janez Bleiweis, or mayor Hribar has not yet been established; what is certain is that the nation has not yet seen so great a celebration; all were enthused beyond measure, particularly because they did not know why. All the nation knew about Presheren was that he liked to drink wine, that he lived outside wedlock and that he sang romantic songs; all they knew about the monument was that it is unspeakably tasteless – but the celebration was nice and it was a nice day too. It was a nice day and the evening was even better. Never had so much cvichek been drunk in Ljubljana, never had so many speeches been made, whole streams of the loudest phrases trickled down the streets and flowed into the Ljubljanica. The nation was enthused and was manifesting its steadfast patriotism in style – and the feast was a circus of awkward cheerleading and drum-beating pan-Slavism. Presheren’s monument was at the fair but Presheren’s spirit was not; the nation was at the fair but the people were not! – The people did not arrive until the afternoon. And the people did not celebrate; they were not enthused, not by Presheren’s monument, not by the pan-Slav drum, not by the flood of clichés. The people came to greet the man who fifty years ago had felt in his despair and in his pain what the people now see for themselves – a bright goal on the mountain: »The greater part of the world belongs to the children of Slava. We will find the way there –« That is when the immense gap between the people and the nation became manifestly clear. Maybe they both felt this great distance, the people and the nation – maybe they both saw this infinitely wide and fathomless gulf, which has always separated them and which is full to the brim with the putrid water of putrid clichés ... * LiVeS Journal 112 Stvar je tedaj taka: ljudstvu je kultura tuja, narodu pa je znana samo po imenu in mu je le pretveza za pijano navdushenost. Na tak nachin visi nasha kultura v zraku, zhivi sama svoje zhivljenje – in kadar nekoch pogine, se nobeno oko ne bo solzilo za njó, narod in ljudstvo bosta zhivela svoje zhivljenje v miru in nemiru dalje, kakor sta zhivela doslej. Ljudstvo ima svojo cerkev in svojo prizhnico, kakor je imelo cerkev in prizhnico pred tristo leti; kar se naroda tiche, je pa za njegovo navdushenost Marko Pohlin tudi dober; – in imenitnih imen imamo naposled zhe toliko, da jih je zadosti za tisoch narodnih praznikov ... Resnico oznanjata obadva tabora: kultura je nepotrebna tako ljudstvu kakor narodu! – * Kaj je kultura? Kateri pojem izrazha ta beseda, ki je nam vsem tako domacha in hkrati tako strashno tuja? Literatura, umetnost, znanost – to je le zunanji izraz, je le dokument narodove kulture, je dokument narodovega dushevnega in materialnega blagostanja. Nasha slovenska kultura, kakor je na danashnji stopinji, je rezultat vsega nashega dushevnega in materialnega dela od zachetka zavednega narodovega zhivljenja do danes. – Zgodovina narodove kulture in zgodovina naroda samega je zgodovina njegovega politichnega, druzhabnega in gospodarskega razvoja. * She pred nedavnim chasom je bilo sploh nespametno govoriti o slovenski narodni kulturi. Zgodovina slovenskega naroda je zgodovina tlachana, hlapca, ki je sluzhil na vekov veke in ki se je tako korenito navadil sluzhiti, da mu je preshlo suzhenjstvo v meso in kri. Stoletja je sluzhil politichno in druzhabno tistemu gospodarju, ki mu je bil najblizhji; stoletja je romal v nochi in mraku njegov zasuzhnjeni duh po cesti, ki vodi v Rim. Prvo veselo znamenje mlado vzklile kulture se je pokazalo v reformacijski dobi. V drugi polovici shestnajstega stoletja sta Primozh Trubar in Jurij Dalmatin postavila prvi in velichasten spomenik slovenski kulturi. Omejena in nerazumna je trditev, da je bilo tisto veliko gibanje samo in edino versko gibanje, da ni torej pomenilo za slovenski narod nich drugega, kakor malopomemben korak iz ene cerkve v drugo, iz enega dushevnega suzhenjstva v drugo. V tem kakor v vseh znamenitih kulturnih bojih si je dalo dushka mogochno, v masi ljudstva dremajoche hrepenenje po svobodi. Verski reformatorji so bili buditelji tega hrepenenja, so bili njegovi voditelji proti cilju. V tem boju proti tradiciji suzhenjstva so se prvi posluzhili orozhja literature in so tako napisali prvi dokument kulture slovenske: prvi dokument hrepenenja po svobodi, po vishjem dushevnem in telesnem blagostanju. – LiVeS Journal 113 The situation is as follows: the people are alien to culture while the nation knows it only by name and uses it as an excuse for drunken enthusiasm. Our culture hangs in the air, lives a life of its own – and when some day it disappears, no eye will shed a tear over it, the nation and the people will carry on living their lives in peace and in war as they have lived this far. The people have their church and their sermons just as they had them three hundred years ago; as for the nation, Marko Pohlin also satisfies its enthusiasm; – and after all we now have so many famous names that they would suffice for one thousand national feast-days... The truth is being proclaimed by both sides: culture is needed neither by the people nor by the nation! – * What is culture? What is the meaning of this word which we are all so familiar with and which is at the same time so terribly alien to us? Literature, art, science – these are only external expressions, documents of the nation’s culture, documents of the nation’s artistic and material wellbeing. Our Slovenian culture, in its present state, is the result of all our artistic and material efforts since the beginning of the nation’s conscious existence and to this day. – The history of the nation’s culture and the history of the nation itself is the history of political, social and economic development. * Until recently it was even unwise to talk about Slovenian national culture. The history of the Slovenian nation is the history of a serf, a farmhand who has served since time immemorial and who has grown so accustomed to serving that servitude has become his nature. For centuries he served politically and socially the lord who was closest to him; for centuries his enslaved soul trod in the dark night the road that leads to Rome. The first joyous sign of the freshly sprouting culture manifested itself in the time of the Reformation. In the second half of the sixteenth century Primozh Trubar and Jurij Dalmatin erected the first great monument to Slovenian culture. It is narrow-minded and unreasonable to say that that great movement was only a religious movement and that, therefore, it had no more significance for the Slovenian nation than that it was a small step from one church to another, from one spiritual servitude to another. In this as in all important cultural struggles, it was the great but dormant longing for freedom present amongst the people that was released. The religious reformers were the initiators of this longing and were those that led it towards the goal. In this struggle against the tradition of servitude those first ones used the weapon that is literature and thereby wrote the first document of Slovenian culture: the first document of longing for freedom, for greater wellbeing of body and soul. – LiVeS Journal 114 In ker so to storili, jih je doletela usoda velike vechine kulturnih delavcev: izgnani iz domovine so poginili v temì, njih delo pa je unichila rimska cerkev z ognjem in mechem ... Slovenski narod se je pogreznil v hujshe tlachanstvo, upognil je hrbet pod tezhjim jarmom ... * Drugo veliko kulturno gibanje so bili kmechki punti v shestnajstem in sedemnajstem stoletju. Vsaka ped svobode, ki si jo pribori ljudstvo, je korak naprej v kulturi. Tisti obupani, v svojem obupu do blaznosti pogumni kmetje, ki so pozhigali grashchine in ki so se upirali cesarski vojski s kosami, cepci in vilami, tisti kmetje, ki so obeshali valpte in gnali grashchake pred plug, niso bili manjshi delavci na polju slovenske kulture, nego Trubar in Dalmatin. – Matija Gubec, ki so ga posadili v Zagrebu na razbeljen tron ter mu dali na glavo razbeljeno krono in mu potisnili v roko razbeljeno zhezlo, zasluzhi v vékomen spomin tron od brona na Markovem trgu in krono od zlata. – Trubar in Dalmatin sta zapisala v knjigo spomenik slavnega svojega dela, puntarski kmetje so ga zapisali v kamenito slovensko zemljo s svojo vrocho krvjo ... Zakaj doletela jih je tista usoda, ki je usoda velike vechine kulturnih delavcev: poginili so v sramoti, njih delo pa so pokonchali z ognjem in mechem! ... * Nobeno delo, ki ga je izvrshil chlovek v prilog svobode, torej v prilog kulture, ne izgine za vekomaj, ne ogenj ga ne more za vekomaj pokonchati, ne mech! – S krvjó tistih nashih delavcev prvorojencev je bila pognojena njiva vse nashe poznejshe kulture. In kadar bo zhetev dozorela, kadar bodo kose pripravljene, se bomo spominjali muchenikov! – * Sto let in dalj je lezhal na tleh slovenski narod, suzhenj tujinske gospode. Vzhivel se je pod suzhenjstvo kakor konj pod komat. Tako se je vdal in ponizhal, da si ni mogel misliti vech ne sebe ne svojega soseda brez valpta z bichem v roki. Zelo pravichna in resnichna je tista lepa Trdinova povest o Petru in Pavlu (...........). (Da bi ta suzhenjska slov. zemlja oskrunila podplat svobodnemu chloveku!) Vzdramil se je narod shele pod vplivom svezhe sape, ki je dihala s Francoskega, tudi slovenskemu narodu se je zableshchalo v ocheh, ko je vzplamenela v Parizu luch velike francoske revolucije ... in Vodnik je navdushen pozdravljal zhezlo Napoleonovo ... No, ta preporod je bil kakor hipno [prebujenje], ko se chlovek strese in se mu zalesketajo ochi ... Napoleon je shel – in che je bilo ljudstvo tepeno prej z bichem, je bilo tepeno zdaj s shkorpijoni. Kako se je godilo Slovencem od Napoleona do Franca Jozhefa, popisuje dr. Lonchar v svoji broshuri Politichno zhivljenje Slovencev: LiVeS Journal 115 And because they did this, they were met by the fate that met the vast majority of artists and writers: exiled from their homeland they perished in obscurity while their work was destroyed by the Church of Rome using fire and the sword... The Slovenian nation sank into even greater servitude, its back bent under a heavy yoke... * The other great cultural movement were the peasant uprisings in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Every inch of freedom won by the people is a step forward in culture. Those desperate peasants whose desperation pushed them to crazy heights of bravery, who burned down the manor houses and who stood up against the emperor’s army with scythes, flails and pitchforks, those peasants who hung reeves and drove noblemen to pull ploughs, were no less workers on the field of Slovenian culture than Trubar and Dalmatin. – Matija Gubec who in Zagreb was made to sit on a red-hot throne and was crowned with a red-hot crown and given a red-hot sceptre to hold in his hand deserves to be remembered forever with a bronze throne on Mark’s Square and a crown of gold. – Trubar and Dalmatin wrote in their books a memorial to their great work while the revolting peasants wrote it into the stony Slovenian earth with their hot blood... For they were met by the fate which is the fate of the vast majority of artists and writers: they died in shame and their work was destroyed with fire and the sword! ... * No work done by man to achieve freedom, i.e. for the benefit of culture, ever disappears; neither fire nor the sword can destroy it forever! – It was the blood of those first workers of ours that made fertile the field of all our later culture. And when the harvest ripens, when the scythes are ready, we will remember the martyrs! – * One hundred years and more the Slovenian nation lay on the ground, a slave of foreign nobility. It grew accustomed to servitude like a horse grows accustomed to a horse-collar. It surrendered and humbled itself to such an extent that it could no longer imagine either itself or its neighbour not being chased by a reeve with whip in hand. That nice tale about Peter and Paul by Trdina is particularly true and just (...........). (this slave-like Slovenian soil would dishonour the sole of a free man!) The nation was roused only under the influence of a fresh wind blowing from France; the Slovenian nation’s eyes too lit up when in Paris the light of the great French Revolution flared up... and Vodnik greeted Napoleon’s sceptre with enthusiasm... Well, this rebirth was like a momentary [awakening], when one shakes himself and one’s eyes sparkle... Napoleon left – and if the people had previously been beaten with whips they were now beaten with scorpions. What it was like for the Slovenians in the time between Napoleon and Franz Josef is described by Dr. Lonchar in his brochure The Political Life of Slovenians: LiVeS Journal 116 »Obupen je bil socialni, kulturni in politichni polozhaj Slovencev v predmarchni dobi. Domache plemstvo so bili izgubili popolnoma; kar je bilo plemstva, je bilo odtujeno narodu in je delalo za nemshke, lashke in madzharske koristi. S slovenskimi zhulji je bogatelo na shkodo slovenstvu. Tudi meshchanstvo je bilo neslovensko po duhu in deloma tudi po krvi. Mali trgovci in obrtniki, o katerih bi se lahko reklo, da ni doma meshchanov, kadar gredó kmetje na polje, so bili odvisni od tuje gospode in tujih uradnikov in so se jim zato prilagodovali v mishljenju in vedenju ... Kmet ni bil svoboden, temvech podlozhen svojemu grashchaku. Trli sta ga tlaka in desetina kakor tudi veliki davki ... Tlachanstvo pa je slabo vplivalo na moralo slovenskega naroda, ki mu je vzgojilo servilizem, hlapchevsko ponizhnost pred gospodo, kar je umevno, ako se je med grashchinskimi uradniki nahajal oskrbnik, ki se je bahal: “Jaz sem chetrta bozhja oseba na zemlji!” –« * Zhe v drugi polovici teh zhalostnih chasov je zhivel in pisal najvechji slovenski pesnik, Presheren. V kakshnih politichnih in druzhabnih razmerah je zhivel, kako je zhivel, izginil in poginil on sam in njegov najozhji prijateljski krog, to je prvo in strashno znamenje nove dobe. Presheren je zhivel kakor proletarec in se je hotel obesiti, predno ga je reshila smrt; Andrej Smole, idealen chlovek, je zhivel viharno zhivljenje in je klavrno umrl; Chop se je utopil. Zhivljenje, nehanje in smrt teh ljudi je zhaloigra, ki jo bo treba she napisati in ki odpira duri nastezhaj v preteklost nashega naroda in v njegovo prihodnost do nashih dni. Zakaj nikoli poprej kakor v Preshernovi dobi se ni tako jasno odprlo brezno med narodom in ljudstvom. Presheren je bil velik pesnik in ljudstvo ga ni vech razumelo; njegove pesmi, iz srca pete, so zvenele in izzvenele brez odmeva – ljudstvo jih ni slishalo. Ljudstvo ni vech poznalo tistih, ki so darovali na njegovem oltarju svoje telo in svojo dusho. Zachela se je dolga vrsta tragedij, grozna vrsta, ki ni zakljuchena do danashnjih dni. Vsa strma cesta nashe kulture je oroshena in pognojena s solzami in s krvjó. Vsi ti nashi veliki in pravichni pesniki, umetniki in znanstveniki, ki so s poshteno mislijo in mochno voljo zidali dalje in vishje na zgradbi nashe kulture – vsi so plachali svoje pochetje s svojo srecho in s svojim zhivljenjem. V narodu, ki so ga ljubili, so bili tujci, v najboljshem sluchaju nepoznani, v navadnem sluchaju zasmehovani in zanichevani. Ne z zlatimi, s krvavimi chrkami je pisana knjiga slovenske kulture. Zakaj se je tako godilo in zakaj se je moralo tako goditi – o tem jutri! – * LiVeS Journal 117 »The social, cultural and political situation of Slovenians in the pre-March period was hopeless. The local nobility was completely lost; the aristocracy was estranged from the nation and worked for German, Italian and Hungarian interests. It was by Slovenian hard labour that they grew rich to the detriment of the Slovenian nation. The bourgeoisie too was un-Slovenian in spirit and partly also of nonSlovenian extraction. Small businesses and traders depended on the foreign nobility and foreign officials and therefore adapted their thinking and their behaviour accordingly... The peasant was not free but subject to the lord of the castle. He was crushed by the compulsory labour and the tithes as well as heavy taxes... Serfdom had a negative effect on the morale of the Slovenian nation, making it servile and humble like a slave in the face of nobility, which is understandable if the nobleman’s officials included stewards who boasted: “I am the fourth person of the Godhead on Earth!” –« * In the second half of this sad period lived and wrote the greatest Slovenian poet, Presheren. The political and social circumstances he lived in, the way he and his closest friends lived, disappeared and died, were the first and terrible signs of the new age. Presheren lived like a proletarian and wanted to hang himself before he was saved by death; Andrej Smole, an idealist, lived a tumultuous life and died in misery; Chop drowned. The life, work and death of these people are a tragedy which has yet to be written and which opens wide the door to our nation’s past and its future up to the days we live in. The gulf between the nation and the people had never before opened up as clearly as it did in Presheren’s time. Presheren was a great poet and the people no longer understood him; his poems, sung from the heart, resounded and died away without an echo – the people did not hear them. The people no longer knew those who gave up their body and their soul at the people’s altar. There began a long series of tragedies, a terrible series which is not over to this day. The whole length of our culture’s steep road has been sprinkled and rendered fertile with blood and tears. All our great and just poets, artists and academics who with honest thought and power of will built up our culture’s edifice – they all paid for their actions with their happiness and their lives. To the nation they loved they were foreigners, in the best of cases they were unknown, usually they were mocked and ridiculed. The book of Slovenian culture is written not in letters of gold but in letters of blood. About why it was this way and why it had to be this way – I will speak tomorrow! – * LiVeS Journal 118 Cenjeni poslushalci! Kakor so mi povedali nekateri drugache zelo razumni in prekanjeni ljudje, sem govoril vcheraj na tak nachin, da me ljudstvo ni razumelo. To je naravnost prokletstvo, ki lezhi na meni. Prishel sem, da bi svechano protestiral proti temu, da mi slovenski kulturni delavci ne delamo za ljudstvo, da nas ljudstvo ne razume – in glej, zdaj zhe spet protesta ni razumelo. To je res velika zhalost in bridkost in verjemite mi, da sem se razjokal, ko sem tisto slishal in bral ... Zatorej vas prosim, cenjeni poslushalci: che je med vami kak diplomiran in uchen narodnjak, ki bi mojih besed ne razumel, naj se oglasi in blagohotno mu bom razlozhil, kar bo treba ... In ker je ravno prilika tako lepa, naj omenim she neko chisto posebno kuriozno stvar, ki me je doletela v Trstu. Neki narodnjak je govoril in pisal, da jaz ne razumem trzhashkih razmer in da Trzhachani ne razumejo kranjskih – da bi bilo potemtakem boljshe, che bi jaz ostal v Ljubljani (Ljubljanchani bi spet rekli, da naj ostanem na Dunaju) – kar se pravi po domache: kakshen hudich pa te je klical sem, pojdi, odkoder si prishel. – V enem oziru je imel tisti narodnjak prav, da ne poznam trzhashkih razmer. Nisem namrech vedel doslej, da so trzhashki narodnjaki vrgli Zedinjeno Slovenijo v morje adrijansko in da imamo zdaj spet sedem slovenskih provincij. Jaz ponizhni slovenski pisatelj in vseslovenski socialist sem si mislil, da sem povsod domá, kamor postavim svojo nogo v slovenski domovini. Zdaj vidim, da so narodnjaki ukrenili drugache in jemljem to stvar na znanje. Kar se pa nas socialnih demokratov tiche, izjavljam, da ostanemo vseslovenski, kakor smo bili in da se drzhimo trdno svoje narodne avtonomije, ki ne bo obsegala samo trzhashko okolico, temvech vso Slovenijo od Adrije do Drave! – Sinochi sem govoril o narodu in o ljudstvu, o strashni usodi nashe dushevne kulture in o bedi nashih kulturnih delavcev. Dovolite, da nadaljujem o tej zhalostni stvari! – II Ni dolgo tega, da sem videl delavce, ki niso ne strokovno, ne politichno organizirani. Sedeli so v gostih gruchah, zhenske in moshki, v umazani, zatohli krchmi; pred vsakim parom steklenica zhganja. Nikoli she nisem videl tako izpitih, upalih obrazov – izpitih in upalih od tezhkega dela, od slabega zhivljenja in od zhganja. Peli so narodne pesmi – hripavo krichanje brez melodije in brez besed ... Ko sem jih gledal in poslushal, mi je bilo slabo – slabo ne od zatohlega vzduha, ki je puhtel iz krchme kakor iz apnenice, tudi ne od alkoholnega smradu – temvech slabo od srama in srda. LiVeS Journal 119 Ladies and Gentlemen! I have been told by some otherwise very intelligent and clever people that I spoke yesterday in a way that was not understood by the people. This is simply a curse that plagues me. I came to formally protest against the idea that we Slovenian writers and artists do not work for the people, that the people do not understand us – and look, yet again they have failed to understand the protest. This is really sad and it pains me; believe me I cried when I heard it and read it... So I ask you dear ladies and gentlemen: if amongst you there is a university graduate or educated patriot who does not understand my words, contact me and it will be my pleasure to explain what is necessary... As the occasion is fitting, let me mention another particularly curious thing that happened to me in Trieste. A patriot was writing and saying that I do not understand the circumstances in Trieste and that the people of Trieste do not understand the Carniolans and that it would therefore be better if I stayed in Ljubljana (and the people of Ljubljana would tell me to stay in Vienna) – in other words: what the hell brought you here, go back where you came from. – In one sense the patriot was right in saying that I do not understand the situation in Trieste. For I was not aware that the patriots in Trieste had thrown Unified Slovenia into the Adriatic Sea and that we now again have seven Slovenian provinces. Being a humble Slovenian writer and pan-Slovenian socialist I thought I was at home everywhere I set foot in the Slovenian homeland. I now see that the patriots acted differently and I accept this as a fact. As for us social democrats, we will remain pan-Slovenian as we were and we will stick firmly to our national autonomy, which will not include just the surroundings of Trieste but all of Slovenia from the Adriatic to the Drava! – Last night I spoke about the nation and the people, about the terrible fate of our culture and the misery of our artists and writers. Let me say some more on this sad subject! – II Not long ago I saw some workers who were neither professionally nor politically organised. They were sitting in close groups, men and women, in a filthy, stuffy inn; in front of each couple there was a bottle of brandy. Never before have I seen such drained, sunken faces – drained and sunken from heavy labour, from poor living conditions and from brandy. They were singing folk songs – hoarse shouting without melody and without words... As I watched them and listened to them I felt sick – not sick from the stuffy air which billowed from the inn as from a lime-kiln, nor from the smell of alcohol – but sick through shame and rage. LiVeS Journal 120 V srdu in sramu sem pomislil: kaj niso celo ti ljudjé, ti neizobrazheni, neorganizirani, ki jih je dostojni kulturni narod z zanichevanjem zavrgel in ki jih imenuje pozhivinjene – kaj niso celó ti ljudje kulturni delavci? Kaj ne sloni vsa kultura na njih izmuchenih plechih, kakor je slonela nekoch grshka kultura na plechih helotov, rimska kultura na plechih vsenarodnih suzhnjev? Kaj ni delo teh zanichevanih, nepoznanih tisti temelj, na katerem zidamo svoje kulture babilonski stolp, ki se skoro dotika zhe oblakov? ... Oblakov se dotika babilonski stolp nashe kulture in tisti, ki ga nosijo na svojih trudnih plechih, ga ne vidijo, ker so njih motne ochi uprte v tlà! ... She sem slishal njih divje, nerazlochno krichanje in sem povesil glavo in sem shel osramochen po svoji poti ... * Par dni pozneje sem prishel v prijazno ljubljansko rodbino in pogostili so me s chajem. Stanovanje je bilo urejeno po nenavadnem, chisto umetnishkem okusu. Tam sem videl pohishtvo, zbrano in izbrano s skrbno, chutecho roko in zrelimi ochmi, tako da so se starodavne dragocenosti: umetelno rezljane kranjske skrinje, omare, stari stoli, majolike iz razlichnih chasov in krajev, pozlacheni pasovi in z zlatom vezene avbe stare slovenske noshe – da so se vse te stvari prijetno in naravno druzhile z izdelki nove obrtne umetnosti. Prijetna je bila izba in she prijetnejshi so bili ljudjé v tej izbi. Na mladih obrazih, v veselo smejochih se ocheh, v lahkih kretnjah – samo zhivo zhivljenje! Nich preteklosti, nich spominov, ne obzhalovanja, ne strahu; vedri pogled veselo uprt v veselo prihodnost! Govoril sem z njimi; zhe njih chisti glas je razodeval dushevno in srchno inteligenco. Kar je lepega rodila nasha kultura, jim je bilo znano in drago, jim je preshlo v um in srce. Z lahkoto in brezskrbnostjo otroka so potrgali zlate sadove, ki jih je obrodilo drevo nashe kulture, to drevo, ki je vzraslo iz zemlje, pognojene s trudom in trupli nashih kulturnih delavcev ... Ko sem stopil na cesto, sem se spomnil na tiste pijane, izpite in izmuchene ljudi ... Bog vedi, che ni bilo nakljuchje tako hudobno, da je bash kulturno delo tistih pri zhivem telesu mrtvih, zakopanih ljudi napravilo tako chudno pot, da se je spremenilo na poslednjem svojem koncu v prijazen smehljaj lepe, nedolzhne Melite ... In spomnil sem se na mladoletne, prezgodaj ostarele, v prashne cunje oblechene, trudne delavke – ki se rodé in delajo in se zgrudijo v prezgodnji grob, – ki so zhivele in niso videle zhivljenja. Bog vedi, che ni hotelo hudobno nakljuchje, da je delo in zhivljenje ene izmed tistih kulturnih delavk napravilo tako chudno pot, da se je na svojem poslednjem cilju spremenilo v svetal pogled chrnooke nedolzhne Anke ... * LiVeS Journal 121 In anger and shame I wondered: are not even these uneducated, unorganised people whom the respectable cultured nation has disdainfully rejected and whom it calls brutish – are not even these people doing something for the culture? Does not all culture rest on their exhausted shoulders as Greek culture once rested on the shoulders of the helots and Roman culture on the shoulders of slaves? Is not the work of these disdained, unknown people the foundation on which we build our culture’s tower of Babel that is now almost touching the clouds? ... Our culture’s tower of Babel is touching the clouds and those that carry it on their weary shoulders cannot see it for their blurry eyes are cast downwards! ... I could hear their wild, indistinct shouting and hung my head and went on my way in shame... * A few days later I visited a friendly family in Ljubljana and they offered me tea to drink. The flat was arranged according to an unusual, very artistic taste. I saw furniture, collected and chosen by an attentive, sensitive hand and mature eyes so that all the precious antiques: skilfully carved Carniolan chests, wardrobes, old chairs, majolicas from different times and places, gilded belts and headdresses from old Slovenian national costumes with golden thread – all these things went pleasingly and naturally together with products of more recent date. The room was pleasant and the people in the room even more so. Their young faces, happily smiling eyes, relaxed gestures – all full of life! No past, no memories, no regrets, no fear; a cheerful gaze happily considering a happy future! I spoke with them; their clear voices revealed intelligence of spirit and of heart. All the beautiful things that our culture had given birth to were known to them and dear to them, had become part of their hearts and understanding. It was with the ease and insouciance of a child that they had plucked the golden fruits which the tree of our culture had borne; that tree which had sprouted up from the ground rendered fertile by the hard labour and corpses of our artists and writers ... As I stepped out onto the road I remembered those drunken, drained and worn out people... God knows if it was not a wicked turn of fate that made the cultural work of these people, who were like living corpses buried alive, take such a strange course and that in its final run it changed into the friendly smile of the beautiful, innocent Melita ... And I remembered the young exhausted worker women dressed in dusty rags who aged prematurely – who are born and work and drop into an early grave, – who lived without seeing life. God knows if it was not the wicked will of fate that made the life and work of one of those workers for the culture take such a strange course, that in its final destination it changed into the bright gaze of the blackeyed, innocent Anka ... * LiVeS Journal 122 Kultura je shla, kakor ne more biti drugache, v svojem razvoju vzporedno s politichnim in socialnim razvojem. V politichnem in drzhavnem zhivljenju se je uveljavila moch meshchanstva, v socialnem zhivljenju je zavladal kapitalizem neomejeno. In vsa kultura, kolikor se pojavlja v svojih zunanjih znamenjih, je postala meshchanska in kapitalistichna ali boljshe recheno, je stopila v sluzhbo meshchanstva in kapitalizma. Velika masa ljudstva je bila s svojim delom producent kulture, ne pa njen konsument ... Kitajski kuliji kopljejo v Transvaalu diamante, nosijo pa jih dame v New Yorku; delavke v Belgiji izdelujejo dragocene in umetne chipke, nosijo pa jih demimondke v Parizu ... Dragotin Kette je dopolnil Presherna in je pisal nesmrtne verze; on je umrl mladoleten v velikem uboshtvu, dragocenosti njegovih verzov pa ljudstvo ne pozna, polastil se jih je tisti mali del meshchanske mladine, ki je umetnosti zheljan ... * Kakor si je osvojila moderna kapitalistichna druzhba ljudske roke in ljudsko delo, zato ker se je polastila produktivnih sredstev, tako in natanko tako si je usuzhnjila tudi umne delavce. Pisatelj, umetnik, znanstvenik je prav tak hlapec in suzhenj meshchanske druzhbe, kakor tvornishki, zheleznishki, rudnishki delavec. Dushevno blagostanje, dushevna kultura se ne da misliti brez materialnega blagostanja, brez materialne kulture. Kdor si je osvojil sredstva za proizvajanje materialne kulture, tisti si je osvojil zhe tudi hkrati dushevno kulturo ter si jo je najel za deklo in hishno ... Kakor sluzhi naporno telesno delo milijonov in milijonov le neznatni manjshini v blagor in udobnost, tako sluzhi dushevno delo prav tisti neznatni manjshini v veselje in razvedrilo ... Konkreten sluchaj: Grashchak stanuje v lepi vili, pol ure od mesta. Nachrt za vilo je napravil umetnik arhitekt, zidali so jo delavci zidarji, poslikal jo je slikar umetnik, kipe je postavil kipar, vrt je obdelal vrtnar. Ko so delavci in umetniki opravili svoje delo, so shli po svojih potih, grashchak pa je prishel in se je naselil tam tako po domache, kakor da je bil vilo sezidal in olepshal sam in kakor da je njegov pravichni in zasluzheni dom ... Pod vecher se obleche v chrno obleko, ki mu jo je napravil krojach, poprej she pouzhije malo vecherjo, ki mu jo je pripravil kuhar, nató sede v voz, ki so ga napravili tvornishki delavci in ki ga vodi voznik, ter se pelje v gledalishche, da poslusha dramo ali opero, ki jo je ustvaril umetnik gospodu grashchaku v chast in razvedrilo in ki jo proizvajajo dramatichni umetniki ali operni pevci; za njim v lozhi sedi livriran sluzhabnik, da ploska ali zhvizhga namesto svojega lenega gospodarja, in naposled sedé gospod grashchak morda she v restavracijo, vecherja tam vdrugich in bere morda navsezadnje she humoristichen feljton, ki sem ga napisal jaz gospodu grashchaku v boljshe prebavljanje ... LiVeS Journal 123 Culture developed, inevitably, in parallel with political and social developments. On the political and state scene, the power of the bourgeoisie came into effect while on the social scene the power of capitalism predominated. And all culture, at least its external manifestations became bourgeois and capitalistic; in other words culture was at the service of the bourgeoisie and capitalism. The vast majority of people were makers of culture through their work, but were not its consumers... Chinese kulis dig for diamonds in the Transvaal which are then worn by ladies in New York; female workers in Belgium produce precious and highly artistic lace which is then worn by demimondaines in Paris... Dragotin Kette continued in Presheren’s vein and wrote immortal verse; he died at the age of twenty-three in great poverty and the people do not know of the great value of his verse, which has been seized upon by the small portion of bourgeois youth that is fond of art... * Just as modern capitalist society has seized the people’s hands and the people’s work because it has taken possession of the means of production, in exactly the same way it has also enslaved those who work with their intellect. The writer, the artist and the academic are just as much farmhands and slaves of bourgeois society as are factory and railway workers and miners. Culture is unthinkable without material wellbeing, without material culture. Whoever has succeeded in acquiring the means for producing material culture has at the same time succeeded in possessing culture and has hired it to be his maid... Just as the backbreaking labour of millions and millions of people creates wellbeing and comfort for a small minority of people, in the same way the fruits of art are a source of joy and entertainment for this small minority alone... A concrete example: the lord of the manor lives in a beautiful villa, half an hour away from the city. The plan for the villa was drawn up by an artist/architect, it was constructed by builders, painted and decorated by painters and artists, the statues were erected by the sculptor, the garden tended by the gardener. When the workers and artists finished their work they all carried on with their lives while the lord of the manor came and took up residence there as if he had built and decorated the villa himself and as if it were his rightful and well-deserved home... In the evening he puts on his black suit made for him by a tailor, a little earlier he has had a light supper prepared for him by a cook, then he sits in his carriage, made by factory workers and driven by a driver, and goes to the theatre to see a play or an opera written by an artist in honour and for the entertainment of the lord of the manor and which is put on by actors or opera singers; behind him in the box sits the servant in livery, to clap or whistle instead of his lazy master, and after this the lord of the manor may go to a restaurant to have a second supper and perhaps also read a humorous article written by me for the lord of the manor to help his digestion... LiVeS Journal 124 To je plastichen sluchaj, ampak zdi se mi, da razodeva vso smeshnost in hkrati vso krivico ustroja kapitalistichne druzhbe. Seveda pravi grashchak ves srdít in uzhaljen: Saj so plachani vsi po vrsti: arhitekt, zidar, slikar, kipar, vrtnar, krojach, voznik, tvornishki delavec, vsi do pisatelja, ki je spisal dramo, do komponista, ki je opero uglasbil, vsi do zadnjih shtatistov na odru ... in morda celo Cankar ni pisal svojega feljtona zastonj ... Vsekakor: edinole prekanjeni Ribnichan je pripravil svojega konja tako dalech, da se je navadil zhiveti brez hrane; ampak komaj se je tega navadil, je poginil ... Delavec in umetnik stojita v sluzhbi kapitala, hranita ga in mnozhita z mochjó svojih rok in svojega uma, kopichita neprestano in zmerom vishje materialno in dushevno kulturo ... V njih rokah, v njih umu shele je postal kapitál zhiv, so postala produktivna sredstva delujocha ... Kapitalist sprejemlje bogati blagoslov, sedi v restavraciji in prebavlja ... * Za slovenski narod je bil ta razvoj kulture she veliko vechja nesrecha nego za vse druge narode. Pri nas se je razvijalo meshchanstvo zelo pochasi; saj she ni dolgo tega, da je bila vechja polovica nashega meshchanstva tujerodna, slovenskemu zhivlju in slovenski narodni kulturi zhe od zachetka sovrazhna. Kar je takoimenovanega slovenskega meshchanskega sloja, je po svoji veliki vechini she jako mlad in je izshel na ravnost iz kmetskega in delavskega ljudstva. Chudno je in premishljevanja vredno, da ta mladost in to ljudsko pokolenje nashega meshchanstva ni na korist ne meshchanstvu samemu, ne ljudstvu, in najmanj she kulturi. V drugih narodih si je ohranilo ali pa vsaj pridobilo, ali pa tudi samo oponasha in hlini ljubezen do dushevne kulture in razumevanje zanjo ter igrá tisto vlogo, ki so jo igrali v prejshnjih vekih bogati aristokratje in shkofje, blagodarni zashchitniki in obenem kruti gospodarji dushevne kulture in njenih delavcev. Nashe meshchanstvo pa je po svojem velikem delu podobno okornemu mesarju, ki ni znal ne brati ne pisati, ki nikoli ni slishal ne peti ne zvoniti o kaki umetnosti ali znanosti in ki nenadoma zadene v loteriji veliki dobitek. Zdaj je gospod. Kupi si kochijo z dvema paroma konj, natakne si cilinder postrani na glavo, na vsaki izmed deseterih debelih prstov si natakne po troje prstanov z briljanti, vozari se po korzu in kliche ljudstvu: Odkrijte se, jaz sem aristokrat! ... Neki ugleden, osebno poshten in izobrazhen politik je povedal zadnjich javno v Ljubljani: Jaz sem burzhoá, mi smo burzhoazna stranka. In on sam, ki je to izjavil, je sin ubogega kmeta in od dalech se mu pozna, da nosi she zmerom chevlje na kveder. LiVeS Journal 125 This is a concrete example but it seems to me that it reveals both the ridiculousness and the injustice of the way capitalist society works. The lord of the manor will of course reply in anger and offence: They are all paid: the architect, the builder, the painter, the sculptor, the gardener, the tailor, the driver, the factory worker, all including the writer who wrote the play and the composer who wrote the music for the opera, even the walk-ons are paid... and perhaps even Cankar did not write his article for free... After all: only a wily man from Ribnica managed to teach his horse to live without food; but as soon as the horse got used to this he died... The worker and the artist are in the service of capital, nourishing it and multiplying it with the power of their hands and their intellect, constantly accumulating ever greater material and artistic culture... It is only in their hands and in their intellect that capital has come alive, that the means of production have begun to function... The capitalist receives a rich blessing, sits in the restaurant and digests... * For the Slovenian nation this development of culture was a much greater misfortune than for all other nations. Our bourgeoisie developed very slowly; not long ago the majority of our bourgeoisie consisted of foreigners who were hostile to the Slovenian population and Slovenian culture. The vast majority of this socalled Slovenian bourgeoisie is still very young and directly descended from the peasants and the workers. It is strange and thought-provoking that the youth and peasant origin of our bourgeoisie are of no benefit neither for the bourgeoisie itself nor for the people and least of all for culture. In other nations the bourgeoisie has preserved or at least acquired culture, or even just pretends to love and understand it and plays the role which used to be played by the rich aristocrats and bishops – kind protectors and at the same time cruel masters of culture and those that create it. The majority of our bourgeoisie resembles an awkward butcher who knows neither how to read or write and who has never heard a thing about art or science and who unexpectedly wins the lottery jackpot. Now he is a fine gentleman. He buys a carriage with two pairs of horses, puts his top hat on at a cocked angle, on each one of his ten fat fingers he slips three diamond rings, drives down the promenade and shouts to the people: take off your hats, I am an aristocrat! ... One respectable, honest and educated politician stated publicly in Ljubljana the other day: I am a bourgeois, we are the bourgeois party. And he who said this is the son of a poor farmer and it is clear from a mile off that he still wears hobnailed shoes. LiVeS Journal 126 Poznam veliko drugih, ki bi za noben denar ne sedli za isto mizo, kjer sedé delavci v delavski obleki ... v Ljubljani jih je veliko, tudi v Trstu se jih morda ne manjka. Saj sem zhe videl mladega gospoda, ki ga je bilo sram, da je shla po cesti njegova mati z njim, ker je bila po kmechko oblechena; shel je en korak pred njo in se je delal, kakor da je ne pozná. Ti nashi parveniji, ti nashi mesarji s cilindrom postrani so burzhoazijci samo po zunanjosti, so samo po zunanjosti aristokratje. Edine chednosti drugorodnih burzhoazijcev in aristokratov, da chuvajo, pomagajo mnozhiti dushevno kulturo, ali da jo vsaj uzhivajo, te chednosti v nashi burzhoaziji ni. Poznam v Ljubljani gospoda, ki je aristokrat od nog do glave, velik narodnjak in navdushen za vseh stotero narodnih svetinj, ali koliko jih zhe je. Voljen je v razlichne potrebne in nepotrebne odbore, predseduje skoro vsak vecher tej ali oni potrebni ali nepotrebni seji – skratka, steber slovenskega naroda, eden izmed najimenitnejshih in najzasluzhnejshih stebrov ... Pa ga prasham: Ali ste brali to ali to? – Ne. Novejshe slov. literature principielno ne berem. – Ali ste bili v razstavi? – Ne, v razstave principielno ne hodim! – Ne, dram principielno ne hodim poslushat! – – Glejte, ta principielni narodnjak je tipus teh slovenskih navdushenih narodnjakov. Na vseh koncih in krajih krichi o kulturi, razzhaljen je, che odreka kdo slovenskemu narodu kulturo, sam pa ne gane zanjo niti mezinca, on je in hoche ostati principielno zabit! – * Silno tenka je plast tiste nashe burzhoazije, ki si je ohranila ali pridobila smisel za dushevno kulturo. Tako tenka je ta plast, da sama iz svoje mochi ne more vech vzdrzhati podjetja, ki se mu pravi slovenska dushevna kultura. Odjemalci izdelkov kulturnih delavcev so dandanashnji po vechini samo she mlada dekleta iz premozhnejshih hish, uchiteljice in gimnazijci. Burzhoazija je pustila svojo dushevno kulturo na cedilu, ne placha vech svojih delavcev in slovenska dushevna kultura je napovedala bankrot. * Strashen je ta bankrot, strashnejshi in za narod sramotnejshi, kakor che bi falirale vse slovenske banke od prve do zadnje. Strashen in sramoten je ta bankrot in traja zhe dolga desetletja; brezposelni delavci tavajo kakor berachi od ogla do ogla, iz kraja v kraj. Dalech je she dan, ko [bo] ozdravljeno in razshirjeno to propalo podjetje slovenske dushevne kulture; ozdravilo in razshirilo pa ga bo slovensko ljudstvo! – * LiVeS Journal 127 I know many others who would never sit at the same table as workers in their work-clothes ... in Ljubljana there are many of them and in Trieste too there is probably no lack of them. I once saw a young gentleman who was ashamed because his mother who was dressed in peasant style went down the road together with him; he walked one step ahead of her and pretended not to know her. These upstarts of ours, these butchers with their cocked top hats are only bourgeois on the outside, are only aristocrats on the outside. The only virtue of the foreign bourgeoisie and aristocracy which is that they protect and help nurture culture, or at least enjoy it, is completely absent from our bourgeoisie. I know a gentleman in Ljubljana who is an aristocrat from head to toe, a great patriot and enthusiastic about all one hundred of our national idols or how many of them there are. He has been elected to various necessary and unnecessary committees, almost every evening he presides one or other necessary or unnecessary meeting – in other words, a pillar of the Slovenian nation, one of the most distinguished and meritorious of pillars... And I asked him: Have you read this or that? – No. I do not read modern Slovenian literature as a matter of principle. – Have you seen the exhibition? – No, I do not go to see exhibitions as a matter of principle! – No, I do not go and see plays as a matter of principle! – – Look, this principled patriot is typical of these enthusiastic Slovenian patriots. He constantly talks about culture, is offended if anyone denies the Slovenian nation its culture and yet does not so much as move his little finger for it; he is and wishes to remain narrow-minded – but with principles! – * The members of our bourgeoisie who have preserved or gained a sense for culture are very few in number. So few that on their own they can no longer keep the company known as Slovenian culture up and running. Nowadays, the consumers of what artists and writers produce are mainly girls from the more well-to-do households, female teachers and grammar school pupils. The bourgeoisie has turned its back on culture, no longer pays those that produce it and Slovenian culture is facing bankruptcy. * This bankruptcy is terrible, more terrible and more shameful for the nation than if all the Slovenian banks went bankrupt. This bankruptcy is terrible and shameful and has lasted several long decades; unemployed workers stray about like beggars from one corner to another, from one place to another. The day when the ruined company that is Slovenian culture will be healed and expanded is a long way away yet; but it will be healed and expanded by the Slovenian people! – * LiVeS Journal 128 Principielni rodoljub in narodnjak vprasha z navdushenim svojim glasom: Zakaj pa vi pesniki ne pojete za ljudstvo, zakaj vi slikarji ne slikate za ljudstvo, zakaj vi uchenjaki ne pishete za ljudstvo? Kolika hinavshchina v tem vprashanju in kolika neumnost! Chloveshka druzhba, kakrshna je dandanes, je kratila delavnemu ljudstvu vsako izobrazbo, ga je oropala vsake vishje dushevne kulture, zakaj rabila je njegovo moch na polju, v tvornicah, na zheleznici, v rudnikih. Tako je z rokami suzhnjev, z delom suzhnjev postavila temelj kulture, gmotno blagostanje. Nato je udinjala in usuzhnjila kulturne delavce, da so na tem temelju gradili krasno zgradbo umetnosti in znanosti ... Zdaj pa, ko bi bil chas plachila, ko je zgradba zhe skoraj dograjena, pride falirana druzhba in vprasha: Kdo pa vas je najel? Zakaj pa ne delate za ljudstvo? Jaz ne rabim te vashe umetnosti, nisem je narochil! Delajte za ljudstvo! Ti, Zupanchich, skochi na zheleznico in beri tam kurjachu svoje sonete! Ti, Lajovic, vleci svoj klavir v rudnik in komponiraj rudarjem simfonijo! Ti, Groshelj, pojdi v predilnico in razlagaj delavkam Darwinovo teorijo! In ti, ljubi moj Cankar, pojdi chitat svoje novele ljubljanskim barabam! – Kulturne delavce je primoral razvoj chloveshke druzhbe, da so se odtujili masi ljudstva; primoral jih je dosedanji razvoj dushevne kulture, da so zidali naprej, kjer so njih predniki zacheli. In ker se je danashnja kapitalistichna druzhba polastila v svoj prid vsakega dela, tako telesnega kakor dushevnega, ker je ta druzhba odrekala ljudstvu vsako kulturo, kakor mu she dandanes odreka v mnogih krajih umetnost branja in pisanja – se ni moglo zgoditi drugache, kakor da so se kulturni delavci zmerom bolj in bolj oddaljevali ljudstvu. Ljudstvu so bili odtujeni, tista druzhba pa, ki jim je odtujila ljudstvo, jih je zdaj tudi sama pustila na cedilu. Na cedilu jih je pustila in se jim smeje v obraz: Zakaj pa ne delate za ljudstvo? * Tako zhivé sluzhabniki bankrotne slovenske dushevne kulture dandanes strashno zhivljenje brezposelnega fabrishkega delavca. Kako so zhivotarili nashi pesniki in umetniki od Presherna pa do najnovejshih chasov, vam je znano. Beda pa je zmerom vechja, zakaj teh dandanashnji tako nepotrebnih kulturnih delavcev je zmerom vech, odjemalcev pa ni, ker je podjetje bankrotno ... Chasih sem zhe pisal o usodi in zhivljenju umetnikov, ampak ljudjé so mi komaj napol verjeli in so mislili, da pripovedujem romantichne bajke. Toda niti besedica ni pretirana, niti besedica ni izmishljena – resnica sama je tako kruta in grda, da jo je tezhko opisati in da ni potreba zraven prav nobene fantazije. LiVeS Journal 129 The principled patriot asks enthusiastically: Why do you poets not compose for the people, why do you artists not paint for the people, why do you scholars not write for the people? How much hypocrisy in this question and how much stupidity! Human society as it stands this day, robbed the working population of an education and any superior culture because it needed it to work in the fields, in the factories, on the railways and in the mines. That is how it used the hands of slaves and the work of slaves to build the foundations for culture and material wellbeing. Then it hired and enslaved artists and writers and academics to build the beautiful edifice of art and science on these foundations... And now that the time to pay up has come, the edifice being almost finished, the ruined company comes and asks: Who hired you? Why are you not working for the people? I do not need your art, I did not order it! Work for the people! You, Zupanchich, go off to the railway and read your sonnets to the fireman! You, Lajovic, drag your piano into the mine and compose a symphony for the miners! You, Groshelj, go to the mill and explain Darwin’s theory to the working women! And you, my dear Cankar, go and read your short stories to the scoundrels of Ljubljana! – Artists and writers were forced by the evolution of human society to alienate themselves from the mass of the people; the evolution of culture forced them to continue building where their forefathers had begun. And as today’s capitalist society has taken possession of all work, both physical and intellectual, as this society has refused to give the people any culture and refuses even nowadays to give it the art of reading and writing – it was inevitable that the gap between the artists and writers and the people kept getting wider. They were alienated from the people, and the society which alienated the people from them has itself turned its back on them now. It has turned its back on them and is now mocking them by saying: Why are you not working for the people? * This is how the servants of bankrupt Slovenian culture nowadays live the terrible life of an unemployed factory worker. You are aware of how miserably our poets and artists from Presheren onwards have lived. And the misery is increasing as the number of these so unnecessary artists and writers is growing while there are no customers for the company has gone bankrupt... I used to write about the fate and life of artists but people only half believed me and thought I was telling romantic stories. But not one word is exaggerated, not one word is untrue – the truth itself is so cruel and so ugly that it is difficult to describe it and there is no need for any fantasy whatsoever. LiVeS Journal 130 Morda vam je znana zgodovina ljubljanske cukrarne, (Zhivljenje tam, Kette in Murn.) Razstava pri Miethkeju (Groharjevo stradanje). Tratnik v Monakovem (za skodelico kave – pokrajino). Smrekarjeva karta iz Monakovega. Nashe zivljenje na Dunaju – v Studentenheimu. Zupanchichevo Chez plan – polno slave, malo cigaret. Moja knjiga – ki jo je shkof sezhgal – moja stanovanja – bolj humoristichno. Znanstveniki ne dobé ne zalozhnika ne tiskarja. – Saj to ni za ljudstvo! * Zdaj pa je vprashanje: kje je izhod iz tega bankrota, iz te brezposelnosti? Na to vprashanje nam je nehoté in nevedé prav lepo in natanko odgovoril tisti principielni narodnjak, ko je zasmehovaje vprashal: Zakaj pa ne pishete za ljudstvo? – Lepo in pravichno nam je odgovoril, povedal je tisto, kar smo zhe mi zdavnaj chutili in hoteli v svojem srcu: zgodí naj se, kakor se mora zgoditi: z ljudstvom k ljudstvu. Kadar pogine – in Bog daj, da bi se kmalu zgodilo – ta gnila, z vsemi hudimi in naglavnimi grehi oblozhena druzhba, takrat ne smé poginiti z njó, kar so zgradili v njenem okrutnem suzhenjstvu nashi kulturni delavci. Takrat se bo pokazalo, da so nashi kulturni delavci v suzhenjstvu krivichne in neposhtene druzhbe delali za ljudstvo; da bo ljudstvo, kadar postavi svojo tezhko nogo na tilnik temu zlaganemu narodu in zlaganemu narodnjashtvu, da bo ljudstvo trgalo sadove s tistega drevesa, ki so ga kulturni tlachani za svoje nehvalezhne gospodarje sadili ter ga gnojili s svojo srchno krvjó! – Vse, kar so delali in kar so ustvarili, vse, za kar so trpeli in umrli nashi delavci – od Trubarja in Dalmatina, od Matija Gubca in puntarskih kmetov – do Presherna in Ketteja in do vseh tistih, ki trpe in delajo v sramotepolni sedanjosti – vse tisto bo nekoch svobodna last svobodnega ljudstva! – * Takih besed se ustrashi principielno navdusheni narodnjak. Prestrashi se in pravi: Saj sem jaz tudi za ljudstvo! To pravi posebno takrat, kadar so volitve blizu. Zakaj principielno navdusheni narodnjaki imajo to chudno manijo, da neznansko radi zastopajo ljudstvo, kjerkoli, kadarkoli in kakorkoli. – Saj sem jaz tudi za ljudstvo! – Na vseh koncih in krajih mu leze izpod suknje strah pred ljudstvom in zanichevanje do ljudstva. Nekih starih zaprashenih tradicij, ki jih imenuje narodne svetinje, se drzhi kakor klòp; ljudstvo mu je she zmerom nekaj takega, kar sedi ali stojí pred njim, zakliche trikrat »zhivio« ter izgine nato kakor kafra – do prihodnjih volitev. Njemu ni ljudstvo drugega nich, kakor trobojna zastava, ki roma krizhem cele Slovenije po razlichnih narodnih semnjih, zato da listi potem lahko pishejo: »Prishli so tudi nashi vrli Trzhachani.« – LiVeS Journal 131 Perhaps you are acquainted with the history of the Ljubljana sugar mill, (The life there, Kette and Murn.) The exhibition in the Salon Miethke gallery, Vienna (Grohar’s starvation). Tratnik in Munich (for a cup of coffee – a landscape). Smrekar’s postcard from Munich. Our life in Vienna – in the Studentenheim. Zupanchich’s Across the plain – much fame, few cigarettes. My book – which the bishop set fire to – my flats – more humorous. Academics find neither publishers nor printers. – That’s not for the people! * Now the question is: where is the way out of this bankruptcy, this unemployment? The principled patriot gave us a nice, precise answer to this question without even wanting to when he asked in a mocking tone: Why do you not write for the people? – He gave us a nice fair answer and told us what we had already felt for a long time and wanted in our hearts: may it happen as it should happen: with the people to the people. When it perishes – and I pray this will happen soon – this rotten society with all its capital sins, then that which our artists and writers built in its cruel bondage must not die with it. Then it will be evident that our artists and writers, enslaved by the unjust and dishonest society were working for the people; and once the people place their heavy foot on the neck of this false nation and this false patriotism, the people will pluck the fruits from the tree that the cultural serfs planted for their ungrateful masters and fertilised with their hearty blood! – All that they did and created, all that our artists, writers and peasants suffered and died for– from Trubar and Dalmatin, from Matija Gubec and the revolting peasants – to Presheren and Kette and all those who suffer and work in the shame-filled present – all this will one day be the free property of the free people! – * The principled and enthusiastic patriot becomes afraid when he hears such words. He is afraid and says: But I too am for the people! He says this especially when elections are looming. For the principled and enthusiastic patriots are strangely obsessed with representing the people wherever, whenever and in any way possible. – But I too am for the people! – Fear of the people and disdain for the people ooze from him. He sticks religiously to some old dusty traditions he calls national idols; the people are still something that sits or stands before him, he shouts »hello« three times and disappears not to be seen again – until the next elections. For him the people are nothing more than a tricolour flag which criss-crosses Slovenia, stopping at various national fairs, so the papers can then write: »Our valiant compatriots from Trieste have come too.« – 132 LiVeS Journal Komaj pa se ljudstvo nekoliko vzdrami, komaj zachne misliti, da trobojnica ni ne edina ne poglavitna rech, temvech da pride najprej telesni blagor in potem shele narodna slovesnost – zhe je narodnjak razzhaljen, krichi in obrekuje to svoje ljudstvo. ki se je tako nenadoma in neprichakovano izvilo iz trobojne zastave in ta koreniti narodnjak bi videl najrajshi, che bi se tisto slovensko ljudstvo, ki se mu ne ljubi vech »zhivio« klicati kakemu vodenemu programu, ker ima drugih skrbi prevech – che bi vse tisto ljudstvo dezertiralo v Ameriko, ali makár na luno. – Ob vsaki besedi, ob vsaki kretnji, ob vsakem dejanju pokazhe ocilindren narodnjak, da mu je ljudstvo zoprno, da se ga naravnost bojí. Ob vsaki svoji besedi, v vsakem svojem volilnem programu in oklicu pokazhe, da ima rad – ne ljudstvo, temvech ljudsko ponizhnost. Dokler je ljudstvo ponizhno, dokler veruje v prazne fraze, dokler nosi zastavo krizhem domovine in stavi slavoloke in mlaje ocilindrenim in ofrakanim malikom – dotlej je ljudstvo narod, dotlej se imenuje nashe dobro, zavedno ljudstvo. – Komaj se zaveda svoje mochi in svoje pravice – tedaj je naenkrat zapeljano ljudstvo, zbegano ljudstvo, z eno besedo: ljudstvo – in narodnjak se razzhaljen obrne od njega ... Zakaj to je najpopolnejsha razlaga: navdushen narodnjak je za ljudske pravice, ne pa za ljudsko pravico. Ljudska pravica je samo ena – pravic pa je zelo veliko in imajo najrazlichnejsha imena; v Trstu jim pravijo svetinje. Za te svetinje – jaz bi res rad enkrat videl, kakshne so – se navdushujejo narodnjaki; tisto edino, veliko, poslednjo pravico sovrazhijo, ker se je boje; in kadar nam pribori socialna revolucija to veliko poslednjo pravico, nam bo priborila z njó tudi mogochno ljudsko kulturo – in takrat ne bo vech prostora ne za tiste sicer vsega sposhtovanja vredne svetinje, ne za narod in ne za njegove solzave narodnjake! – Naj se tem prisiljenim in vsiljenim prijateljem ljudstva she tako natanko dokazhe, kako puhlo je njih narodnjashtvo in da pomeni ravno nekaj nasprotnega, nego pa ljubezen do ljudstva – nazadnje vprashajo popolnoma nedolzhno: Kako da nisem prijatelj ljudstva? Saj sem! – Taki so, kakor kranjski klerikalec, ki je pravkar poljubil zhupniku roko in se na to zachudil: Jaz da sem klerikalec? Kaj pa je to, klerikalizem? ... (Zgodba o kmetih.) Kakshno sovrashtvo do ljudstva? Kaj je to, sovrashtvo do ljudstva? Jaz sem prijatelj ljudstva! – Prijatelj je – sinochi pa mu je kanalja kozhuh vzel! – * Ni she dolgo tega, kar sem spoznal chloveka, ki zhivi med delavci zhe petnajst let. Ko je prishel mednje, so ljudjé pljuvali nanj, gospod zhupnik sam se je toliko ponizhal, da mu je pljunil v usta – stran, brezverec, antikrist! – Ko je zachel delavce pouchevati, da jih je najprej shele privedel do spoznanja krivice, katere suzhnji so, – ni dobil prostora v celem kraju, skrivati se je moral s svojimi prijatelji o mraku na kakem travniku ali na polju. Kamor se je prikazal, se je prikazalo brzh tudi par zhandarmov. In ní se zgodilo redkokdaj, da je premishljeval o svojem kulturnem delu med shtirimi stenami ter zhivel na drzhavne stroshke. Tudi se mu je pripetilo, da je moral naskrivaj pobegniti iz domovine v svobodno Shvico – seveda se je chez par mesecev povrnil ter nadaljeval svoje delo. LiVeS Journal 133 But as soon as the people are roused, as soon as they see that the tricolour is not all that matters but that corporal wellbeing comes first and only then national celebration – the patriot is offended and shouts and speaks ill of the people who have so suddenly and so unexpectedly extricated themselves from the tricolour flag. This radical patriot would be happiest if the Slovenian people that have grown tired of merrily greeting the leadership programs because they have too many other worries – if all these people left for America, or even the moon. – With every word, every gesture, every action, the top hat wearing patriot shows that he finds the people repulsive, that he is simply afraid of them. With every word in each of his election programs he shows that he likes – not the people, but the humbleness of the people. As long as the people are humble, as long as they believe in empty clichés, as long as they carry the flag all over the homeland and erect triumphal arches and maypoles for these top-hat and tails wearing idols – then the people are the nation and are called our good, faithful people. – As soon as they become aware of their power and their rights – then they immediately become the misled people, the bewildered people, or with one word: the people – and the patriot turns away from them in disgust... This is the best explanation: an enthusiastic patriot is in favour of people’s rights but not the people’s right. The people’s right is only one – while there are very many rights and they have so many different names; in Trieste they call them idols. These idols – I would really love to see once what they look like – are a source of great enthusiasm for the patriots; they hate that one, great, last right because they are afraid of it; and when the social revolution wins for us this last great right, it will also have won for us the great culture of the people – and then there will be no more room neither for the idols, that are otherwise worthy of all respect, nor for the nation, nor for its sentimental patriots! – May it become patently clear to these involuntary friends of the people how hollow their patriotism is and that it means something contrary to love for the people – in the end they ask so innocently: How am I not a friend of the people? I am! – That is what they are like, like the Carniolan clericalist who kisses the parish priest’s hand then wonders: Me a clericalist? What is clericalism? ... (A story about peasants.) What hatred for the people? What is hatred for the people? I am a friend of the people! – He is a friend – but last night the rascals stole his fur coat! – * Not long ago I met a man who has lived with workers for fifteen years now. When he joined them people spat at him, even the parish priest humiliated himself to such an extent that he spat in his mouth – go away you godless person, antichrist! – When he began teaching the workers, to make them first of all aware of the injustice which made them slaves, – he did not find a room in the whole place and was forced to hide with his friends at night on some field or meadow. Wherever he appeared, there immediately appeared a couple of gendarmes. And it was not rare that he found himself contemplating his cultural work between four walls and living off the state. He even had to escape the homeland and flee to Switzerland – but of course he returned after a couple of months and continued his work. LiVeS Journal 134 Danes, po petnajstih letih so tisti delavci strokovno in politichno organizirani, stojé v kulturnem oziru visoko nad mnogoterimi diplomiranimi narodnjaki; po zhganju ne smrdí vech tam, petje ni vech brez melodije in brez besed – samo ne verjamem, che bi tiste besede ugajale narodnjakom; njih knjizhnica je bogata in knjige niso nerazrezane, temvech dozhivel sem veselje, da so rabljene in posvaljkane take knjige, o katerih pravijo narodnjaki, da niso pisane za ljudstvo ... Tam in takrat sem videl, kaj je resnichno, pogumno, vztrajno kulturno delo, ki se ne prestrashi nichesar, ki nikoli ne omahuje, nikoli ne obupuje. Ob tem velikem delu se mi je zazdelo moje lastno delo zelo malenkostno in zelo malo koristno. Zakaj spoznal sem, kod vodi in kam drzhi edina pot do reshitve ljudstva iz tlachanstva, do reshitve kulture iz danashnjega bankrota, do reshitve kulturnih delavcev iz sramotne brezposelnosti, iz zanichevanja in ponizhanja! – * Edina pot je boj ljudstva, brezobziren boj, dokler ne pade poslednja barikada, dokler ni dosezhen poslednji cilj! Boj za popolno socialno in politichno osvobojenje – zakaj brez socialne in politichne svobode je nemogocha kulturna svoboda. Dokler bo ljudstvo suzhenj druzhbe, suzhenj tega anonimnega naroda – dotlej bo tlachanila, dotlej bo brezpravna in ponizhana tudi dushevna kultura. Boj za osvobojenje ljudstva je kulturen boj – in kdor ta boj obrekuje, kdor mu podstavlja nechiste cilje, je sovrazhnik ljudstva in sovrazhnik kulture. OPOMBA K CANKARJU Cheprav je minilo vech kot sto let od Cankarjevega predavanja z naslovom Slovensko ljudstvo in slovenska kultura, ki ga je imel dva vechera 24. in 25. 4. 1907 v dvorani Delavskega doma v Trstu, in chetudi so v besedilu neizogibni specifichni sledovi dobe nastanka, je v njem cela vrsta kot britev izostrenih socialnokritichnih formulacij, ki nekoliko shirshemu pogledu s smislom za »tekstualno metaforichnost« she danes zvenijo osupljivo aktualno (nich manj kot Cankarjeva dramatika), she posebno v kontekstu danashnjega »neokapitalizma« kot »poante« vzhodnoevropskega socialistichnega intermezza. Razmerja ljudstvo – narod, ljudstvo – kultura, narod – kultura (narodna, danes tudi »nacionalna« in »nadnacionalna«), politika – kultura, revni – bogati, desnica – levica (Cankar ibid.: »obadva stara slovenska tabora«) so kljuchna vozlishcha neizprosno resnicoljubne (Cankar ibid.: »vsaka resnica je hudobna«) esejistichne analize slovenskega etnofenomena v »prostorchasu«. Edinost, tedanji dnevnik istoimenega slovenskega politichnega drushtva v Trstu, se je ob predavanje obregnila z ochitkom, da zaradi centralnoslovenske radikalne kritichnosti ni primerno za trzhashke Slovence, izpostavljene na obrobju. (Besedilo predavanja po ZD, k. 25, 1976) (Op. ur. I. A.) LiVeS Journal 135 Now, fifteen years later, those workers are professionally and politically organised, and are culturally far superior to many patriots who are university graduates; there is no more smell of brandy, the singing is no longer devoid of melody and words – but I do not believe the words would be to the liking of the patriots; their library is well-stocked and I found to my pleasure that the books are well used and even the books the patriots say are not written for the people show signs of wear... I saw then and there what true, brave, persistent work is; work that is not afraid of anything, that does not waver and never despairs. When I saw this great work I felt my own work was very insignificant and of hardly any use. For I discovered the only path which can save the people from servitude, save culture from its present-day bankruptcy, save artists and writers from shameful unemployment, contempt and humiliation! – * The only road is the people’s struggle, a ruthless struggle until such time as the last barricade falls, until the final goal is reached! The struggle for complete social and political liberation – cultural freedom cannot exist without social and political freedom. For as long as the people will be slaves of society, slaves of this anonymous nation – they will continue to live in bondage and culture too will be humiliated and devoid of rights. The struggle for the liberation of the people is a cultural struggle – and whoever speaks ill of this struggle, whoever says it has dishonest goals, is an enemy of the people and an enemy of culture. EDITOR’S NOTE Although over one hundred years have passed since Cankar’s lecture entitled The Slovenian People and Slovenian Culture was held on two evenings – the 24th and 25th April 1907 in the hall of the Workers’ Centre in Trieste, and although the text is inevitably marked by the period in which it was written, it nevertheless contains a whole series of razor-sharp socio-critical formulations, which considered more broadly with a sense for »textual metaphor« even nowadays sound astonishingly pertinent (no less so than Cankar’s plays), especially in the context of present-day »neo-capitalism« as comments on the Eastern European socialist intermezzo. The relationships: the people – the nation, the people – culture, the nation – culture (national and »supranational«), politics – culture, the poor – the rich, the right – the left (Cankar ibid.: »both Slovenian political sides«) are key focal points of the unrelentingly truth-loving (Cankar ibid.: »all truth is cruel«) essayistic analysis of the Slovenian ethnic phenomenon in »space and time«. Edinost, the journal of the political association of the same name at that time in Trieste, complained about the lecture saying that due to radical criticism from central Slovenia it is unsuitable for Slovenians from Trieste who lie exposed at the fringes. (Note by ed. I. A.) Translated from Slovenian by Marko Petrovich LiVeS Journal 136 Ivan Trinko BENESHKA SLOVENIJA I – SHOLSTVO POD ITALIJO Poglejmo shole. Shempeterski (Shempeter / Shpeter Slovenov – San Pietro al Natisone; op.ur.) Slovenci jih imajo kakih 25. Ali kakshne so? Od prve do zadnje vse popolnoma in chisto italijanske! Pomisli, dragi bralec! Nash paglavec v shestem letu svojega zhivljenja stopi kot redni slushatelj — na ljudsko univerzo, kjer mora ostati po zakonu tri leta. Uchiteljica ga posadi v klop in ga prichne takoj obdelovati s pristno toskanshchino, kakor da bi se bil otrok rodil in rastel tam kje med Sieno in Firencami. A drobni uchenec, kateremu se ni doslej nikoli sanjalo o drugem jeziku, kakor o domachi slovenshchini, buli in zija v uchiteljico nekako tako, kakor telichek, che mu pride kaj nenavadnega pred debele ochi. Za Boga milega! Kaj se more nauchiti, che niti uchiteljice ne razume? Najprej bi moral postati zmozhen povsem tujega mu jezika, potem shele bi se iz knjig navadil kaj drugega. Ali je to mogoche v treh letih? Mislim, da nikoder ne cvetejo tako bujno pedagoshke neumnosti, kakor v nashih sholah. Pameten chlovek bi rekel: Che hochesh otroka kaj nauchiti, ne govori nepoznanega mu jezika, drugache bo zastonj ves trud. Idi od znanega do neznanega — a noto ad ignotum. No pa, pri nas velja drugachno nachelo: od neznanega do neznanega — ab ignoto ad ignotum! To je vendarle nekaj, kajne? Uchiteljskemu osebju (navadno so le uchiteljice) je prepovedano rabiti slovenshchino v sholi. Sploh sholski nadzornik v Chedadu, kateremu so izrochene v nadziranje nashe shole, najbolj skrbi za to, da se chimprej zatre uboga slovenshchina. Marsikaj zanimivega bi bilo povedati v tem oziru. Toda chemu? Poglejmo rajshi, kam napredujejo v treh letih nashi sholski bosopetci. Resnici na ljubo in na chast bistrim glavicam nashih uchencev ter nadchloveshkemu naporu nashih uchiteljic moram priznati, da se otroci nauchijo brati in pisati, in tudi si vtepejo v glavo marsikako posamichno besedo italijansko; kdor je priden, te na poti lahko pozdravi z »Buon giorno« ali pa z »Riverisco!« – Toda to je vse in drugega nich; in pa she to kmalu pozabijo. Otrok je sicer zmozhen chitanja, a knjige ne razume in prav nich ga ne mika, da bi chital po konchanem sholanju. Na koncu tretjega leta odvrzhe knjige in mu ne preostaja drugega, kakor polagoma se odvaditi vse svoje uchenosti, tako da chez kako leto marsikateri vech ne ve, kaj je a in kaj b. LiVeS Journal 137 Ivan Trinko VENETIAN SLOVENIA I – SCHOOLS UNDER ITALIAN RULE Let us consider schools. Slovenians from Shempeter / Shpeter Slovenov (San Pietro al Natisone) have around 25 of them. But what are they like? All of them completely Italian! Just imagine, dear reader! Our small kid, not yet six years old, becomes a regular pupil in the primary school, which he is obliged by law to attend for three years. The teacher makes him sit down at a desk and immediately begins explaining things to him in an authentic Tuscan dialect as if the child was born and grew up somewhere between Sienna and Florence. But the small pupil who has until this day not heard any language other than his native Slovenian stares at the teacher like a young calf that is faced with something new and unusual. For God’s sake! What can he learn if he cannot even understand the teacher? First of all he should master a completely foreign language and only then would he be in a position to learn something else from books. Can this be accomplished in three years? I believe that nowhere else in the world you can find as much pedagogical nonsense as in our schools. A sensible person would say: if you want to teach a child something do not speak to him in a language he does not understand for all your effort will be in vain. Go from what is familiar to what is unfamiliar — a noto ad ignotum. Well, here we have a rule: from the unfamiliar to the unfamiliar — ab ignoto ad ignotum! Now that is something is it not? Teachers (female for the most part) are forbidden from using the Slovenian language in school. The school inspector from Chedad (Cividale), who is responsible for our schools, is most concerned with suppressing poor Slovenian as soon as possible. Much of interest could be said on this matter. But why? Let us rather consider what progress our little barefoot children make in those three years of school. In all truth and with all due credit to the clever little heads of our pupils and the superhuman efforts of our teachers I must admit that the children learn how to read and write and they even manage to remember some words of Italian; those that are diligent may greet you on the road with a »Buon giorno« or a »Riverisco!« – But this is all and even this they soon forget. The child may be able to read but he does not understand what he is reading and he has no motivation at all to continue reading after he has left school. At the end of the third year he abandons the books and has no choice but to slowly forget all he has learnt so that after about a year many no longer know what is a and what is b. 138 LiVeS Journal In za tak uspeh morajo nashe obchine potroshiti chez 25 tisoch lir na leto! Kdor po konchani ljudski sholi namerava nadaljevati shtudij, ali kdor samo zheli nauchiti se lashchine in rachunstva za svojo potrebo, ta se vpishe takoj na meshchanske shole v Chedadu ali pa v Vidmu, dobro vedoch, da z domachimi sholami nikamor ne pride. Za nadaljevanje imajo uchiteljski kandidati normalke v Shempetru, katere je vlada ravno tu ustanovila z ochitnim namenom, da bi poitalijanchila ljudstvo. Dijakom so na razpolago gimnazija in nizhje tehnishke shole v Chedadu, v Vidmu pa dve popolni gimnaziji z licejem ter vishje tehnishke shole. Od dveh videmskih gimnazij je ena vladna, druga zasebna nadshkofovska, zdruzhena z bogoslovskim semenishchem. Na tej zadnji se shola najvech Slovencev (sedaj kakih 18), in sicer vsi taki, ki mislijo nadaljevati z bogoslovjem, cheprav imamo tudi vech takih, ki so konchali osmi razred v semenishchu, potem pa to ali ono fakulteto na padovanskem vseuchilishchu, in so sedaj v odlichnih drzhavnih sluzhbah. Zhal, da je takim, vzgojenim zhe od mladih nog v lashkem duhu, malo mar za domachi jezik; vechkrat nochejo vedeti in morda celo res ne vedo, da so sinovi velike majke Slave. Kje naj bi se kaj takega nauchili? Kdo naj bi jim pojasnil slovanske razmere? Kdo naj bi jim izbil iz glave nesramno lazhnive in skrajno absurdne nazore o Slovanih, nazore, katerih se do sita napajajo iz sovrazhnih nam knjig in chasnikov? Ni mogoche, ni prilozhnosti, ker slovenske knjige so jim nedostopne. Pisec teh skromnih podatkov ve najbolje, kako je obstal, ko je dobil sluchajno v roke prvo slovensko tiskovino in je tako zvedel, da imajo tudi Slovenci knjige; prav tako dobro pomni, kaj je moral prestati, preden se je nauchil brez uchitelja, brez slovnice in brez slovarja malce slovenshchine. Nesrecha za beneshke Slovence je, da sploh niti slovenske abecede ne poznajo, in torej ne morejo pravilno chitati slovenskih knjig. To in slovnichne ovire smo nedavno premagali s slovensko slovnico v italijanskem jeziku. A morda she bolj potreben bi bil slovensko-lashki ali vsaj slovensko-latinski slovar, brez katerega ni mozhna uporaba slovenskih knjig. Toda che bi res izshel, kdo naj bi ga kupoval? Poleg kakega duhovnika najbrzh le slovenski dijaki in bogoslovci videmskega semenishcha, katerim je potrebna slovenshchina za poznejshe sluzhbe med nashim ljudstvom. A teh kupcev je premalo, da bi kazalo tiskati slovar samo zanje; saj zhe izdana slovnica lezhi in bo lezhala nerazprodana do sodnega dne! LiVeS Journal 139 And to achieve this success our municipalities must spend over 25,000 lira per year! Whoever, having completed primary school wishes to continue in education or wishes simply to learn Italian and mathematics for his own use must enrol in one of the schools in Cividale or in Udine, knowing full well that the local schools get one nowhere. Those who wish to become teachers may then attend elementary schools in Shempeter which the government has built here of all places with the obvious intention of Italianising the population. Pupils have at their disposal a grammar school and junior technical schools in Cividale, while in Udine there are three grammar schools as well as senior technical schools. One of the two grammar schools is a state school while the other is private, diocesan and is joined with the seminary. Most Slovenians (now around 18) attend the latter, all of them thinking of continuing with theology although we also have several who have completed year eight in seminary followed by a faculty at the University of Padua and now have excellent state jobs. Unfortunately, those who have since a young age been brought up in the Italian spirit care little for their native language; often they refuse to know and maybe really do not know they are children of the great mother Slava. Where would they learn this anyway? Who would explain to them the Slav situation? Who would rid them of maliciously untruthful and utterly absurd ideas about the Slavs, ideas which they gorge themselves with from books and newspapers that are hostile to us? It is not possible; there is no opportunity because Slovenian books are inaccessible for them. The author of these modest facts remembers very well his surprise when he chanced upon some Slovenian printed material and thereby discovered that Slovenians too have books; he also remembers full well what he had to go through before he taught himself a little Slovenian, without a teacher, without a grammar book and without a dictionary. The problem of the Venetian Slovenians is that they do not even know the Slovenian alphabet and therefore cannot correctly read Slovenian books. We have recently overcome this problem as well as grammatical problems with a Slovenian grammar book written in the Italian language. We are, however, perhaps even more in need of a Slovenian-Italian or at least a Slovenian-Latin dictionary without which it is impossible to make use of Slovenian books. But if such a dictionary really were published, who would buy it? Besides the odd priest, probably only Slovenian pupils and seminarians from the seminary in Udine who require knowledge of Slovenian for their later service amongst our people. But these potential customers are too few for it to be worth printing a dictionary only for them; the already printed grammar book is lying unsold and will remain unsold until judgement day! 140 LiVeS Journal Med shempeterskimi Slovenci je okoli 70 % takih, ki ne znajo chitati, a to sicer she ni najhujshe v Italiji, kjer je analfabetov povprechno kakih 67 %. Nekateri se she v poznejshih letih uchijo, da bi mogli dobiti volilno pravico. Tudi vojaki si pridobijo nekaj znanja. »Literatura« pa najbujnejshe cvete med onimi, ki hodijo po svetu s trebuhom za kruhom. Ti namrech pishejo domov, kakor morejo in znajo seveda, sedaj lashki, sedaj nemshki, a sedaj zopet po domache, cheprav v slovenskih pismih ni ne duha ne sluha o gajici, ali o bohorichici, ali sploh o kakem drugem pametnem pravopisu. Zanimivo je to, da je vech zhensk, ki znajo chitati, nego moshkih. Zhenske se uchijo same med seboj. Uchna knjiga jim je slovenski molitvenik. Njim je najvech do tega, da pridejo k mashi z molitvenikom, medtem ko se moshki za to ne menijo. Sicer pa zhenske rade chitajo tudi druge primerne slovenske knjige. Zhal, da jih imajo malo in da jim jih malokdo lahko priskrbi. Poleg knjig Druzhbe sv. Mohorja nashi Slovenci skoraj ne poznajo drugih. Druzhba sv. Mohorja ima na Beneshkem priblizhno kakih 200 udov. Shtevilo je neznatno; lahko bi jih bilo she najmanj petkrat toliko, che bi ne bilo raznih ovir. Glavna ovira se meni zdi pomanjkanje zadostnega pojasnila in priporochila ali agitiranja za Druzhbo s strani duhovshchine. Druga, she vechja od prve, je v tem, da zlasti v dolinah le malo razumejo knjizhno slovenshchino, in je skoraj she chitati ne znajo. Tretja je nasprotovanje z vladne strani, nasprotovanje, h kateremu priganja vlado lokalna sholska oblast in pa z zlim duhom navdano chasnikarstvo, kateremu se ne studi nobeno, tudi najpodlejshe sredstvo, samo da more nashchuvati z njim lashko obchinstvo in vlado zoper mirne beneshke Slovence in zoper Druzhbo svetega Mohorja, ki baje shiri med njimi svoje »panslavistichne« ideale! Sicer je nedavno neki chedadski chasnikar sam priznal, da lahko knjige sv. Mohorja veliko koristijo nashim Slovencem in jim izdatno pomagajo do gmotnega in dushevnega blagostanja in napredka bodisi s svojim pouchnim bodisi s pobozhnim ali celo z zabavnim berilom. In nadaljuje nekako takole: »Mi (namrech chasnikarji, sholska oblast, vlada itd.) smo se poskusili na vse nachine postaviti proti temu, a doslej nam je izpodletelo; treba je novih nachrtov, novih sredstev itd.« – Dragi bralec, ali ni to nekaj posebnega, da se na koncu razsvetljenega XIX. stoletja poskusha odstraniti edino sredstvo, s katerim bi moglo vsaj malce napredovati nashe zapushcheno ljudstvo, in sicer iz strahu pred »panslavizmom«! Skrajna naivnost, che bi ne bila barbarska hudobnost! Dogodilo se je tudi, da so napadli slavno Druzhbo sv. Mohorja celo v drzhavnem zboru v Rimu. V tej povsem neupravicheni in nazadnjashki vojni se je odlikoval poslanec Morpurgo, ki zastopa chedadsko-shempeterski volilni okraj. Za Boga milega! Chlovek bi rekel, da je v Rimu dovolj drugih skrbi in perechih vprashanj. LiVeS Journal 141 Amongst the Slovenians of Shempeter around 70 % are illiterate but this is not the worst rate in Italy seeing as the average proportion of illiterate people is around 67 %. Some of them learn to read in later years in order to acquire the right to vote. Soldiers too acquire some competence. However, »literature« flourishes most amongst those who head out into the world to earn their daily bread. These people write home as best they can, mixing Italian, German and Slovenian although in Slovenian letters there is no sign of the Gaj or the Bohorich alphabets, or any other sensible orthography. It is an interesting fact that there are more literate women than men. Women learn on their own. Their textbooks are their Slovenian prayer-books. They are keen on coming to mass with their prayer-books while men show no interest in this. Women also like to read other suitable Slovenian books. Unfortunately, they have few of them and there are few people that can procure them for them. Our Slovenians hardly know any other books than those of the publishing house Druzhba svetega Mohorja. The Druzhba has around 200 members in Venetian Slovenia. This figure is very small; there could be at least five times as many if there were not various obstacles. The main obstacle seems to me to be the lack of sufficient explanation and recommendation or advertisement for the Druzhba by the clergy. The second, even greater obstacle, is the fact that particularly in the valleys very little official Slovenian is understood and they hardly know how to read. The third obstacle is opposition from the government, which also encourages the local educational authorities and the journalists, who are possessed by the evil one and are not ashamed of using even the most contemptible means just so as to set the Italian population and government against the peace-loving Venetian Slovenians and the Druzhba, which apparently spreads its »panslavist« ideals among them! All the same, a journalist from Chedad not long ago freely admitted that books from the Druzhba are very good for our Slovenians and help them greatly in attaining material and spiritual well-being and progress through their educational, religious and entertaining texts. And he writes something like this: »We (journalists, school authorities, government etc.) have tried in all manner of ways to oppose this but so far without success; we need new plans, new means etc.« – Dear reader, is it not extraordinary that at the end of the enlightened XIX century there are attempts to eliminate the only means by which our neglected people could make at least a little progress, and this through fear of »panslavism«! Extreme naivety if it were not barbaric evil! It occurred that the Druzhba was lambasted even in the national assembly in Rome. Deputy Morpurgo who represents the Chedad-Shempeter constituency, excelled in this completely unjustified and backward war. For God’s sake! One would have thought there are enough other worries and pressing matters in Rome. 142 LiVeS Journal Chesa se boje ti ljudje? Da jim peshchica Slovencev prekucne res nekoliko prevech shepavo barako italijansko? Gotovo ne poznajo zgodovine male dezhelice, kjer je nekoch beneshka republika in potem nova Italija imela in ima she vedno najzvestejshe drzhavljane, katerim nihche ne more in ne sme ochitati najmanjshe trohice nezvestobe. Slovenska lojalnost je obche znana; Slovenci niso bili in ne bodo nikoli izdajalci. To naj si privezhe na nos Zhid Morpurgo ter naj prihodnjich poskrbi za blagostanje svoje zastopane dezhele povsem drugache, ne pa z zatiranjem uboge slovenshchine! Da bi vlada preprechila vpliv Mohorjevih knjig, je ravno teh dni, po nasvetu Morpurga, med drugim sklenila ustanoviti v Chrnem Vrhu novo sholo na lastne stroshke. No, dobrodoshla! Koristila pa bo kakor vse ostale do zdaj. Shkoda denarja! Bolj chudno je to, da je ista vlada nakupila kakih tisoch izvodov raznih italijanskih knjig, da bi se brezplachno razdelile med sholsko mladino. Med njimi je tudi 300 molitvenikov. No pa, – e se non ridi, di che rider suoli? Smeshno res, da italijanska vlada kupuje molitvenike svojim podanikom. »Il diavolo s'è fatto frate« (vrag je postal menih), kakor pravi italijanski pregovor. Vlada bi bila storila dosti bolj potrebno in chlovekoljubno delo, che bi bila z onimi novci nakupila malce kruha lachnemu ljudstvu v Romagni in na Siciliji, kjer so bili ravno tiste dni veliki izgredi zaradi lakote. In vendar je v isti videmski provinci poleg Slovencev tudi peshchica Nemcev, ki uporabljajo svoj poseben jezik. Njim so bile dovoljene meshane lashko-nemshke shole, ne da bi se kdo spotikal obnje. Toda Veliko-Nemci, ki so si izmislili in pred naivno Evropo razobesili grozno strashilo panslavizma, prav dobro skrbijo, da se nihche ne prestrashi nich manj groznega pangermanizma. Sicer pa, ko bi ne bilo avstrijskih psevdolashkih zhidovskih hujskachev, tedaj se pravi, chistokrvni, kulturo ljubechi Italijani gotovo ne bi vznemirjali, che bi pri preprostem in vsaki politichni tezhnji nedostopnem beneshkem Slovencu zasachili nedolzhno slovensko knjigo. Ta pomislek razjasnjuje vso stvar. Questo è tutto — in shkoda drugih besed. Che pa slovenshchina ne dobi zavetishcha v sholah in priznanja od vlade, ima polno veljavo vsaj v cerkvi. Pridiguje se povsod slovensko, zakaj drugache nikakor ni mozhno. Zhal, da duhovniki sami, neveshchi prave slovenshchine in njenih slovnishkih pravil, chestokrat pachijo, kar she sicer ni popacheno v nashem narechju. Priznati pa vendar moram, da gre zadnje chase tudi v tem oziru na bolje, ne samo zato, ker se mlajshi pomalem zachenjajo pripravljati she preden nastopijo sluzhbo, ampak ker tudi starejshi bolj pazijo na pravilnost, tako da marsikak duhovnik, cheprav v narechju, vendar povsem pravilno pridiguje. LiVeS Journal 143 What are these people afraid of? That this handful of Slovenians will topple the admittedly a little too rickety Italian hut? They almost certainly do not know the history of the small land where once the Venetian Republic and then Italy had and still has its most loyal citizens who no-one can possibly accuse of the smallest trace of disloyalty. Slovenian loyalty is commonly known; Slovenians have never been and never will be traitors. The Jew Morpurgo would do well to remember this and in future attend to the wellbeing of the province he represents in a different way and not by suppressing the poor Slovenian language! In an attempt to curb the influence of books from the Druzhba the government has these very days, (heeding Morpurgo’s advice), decided to finance a new school in Chrni Vrh. Well, welcome! But it will be as of much use as all the others up till now. A waste of money! What is stranger is that the same government has bought around one thousand copies of various Italian books to be distributed free of charge amongst the school pupils. They include 300 prayer-books. O well, – e se non ridi, di che rider suoli? Amusing really that the Italian government is buying prayer-books for its citizens. »Il diavolo s'è fatto frate« (the devil has become a monk), as the Italian saying goes. The government would have accomplished a much more necessary and humanitarian task if it had used the money to buy a little bread for the hungry people of Romagna and Sicily where in those very days there were great riots due to famine. And yet the same province of Udine is also home to a handful of Germans who use their special language. They have been allowed to have mixed Italian-German schools without anyone protesting. The pan-Germanists who invented and presented naive Europe with the terrible bogey of panslavism, take good care that no-one becomes afraid of the no less terrible pan-Germanism. Moreover, without these Austrian pseudo-Italian Jewish agitators the true, cultureloving Italians would not make a fuss if a simple and completely apolitical Venetian Slovenian was found to be in possession of an innocent Slovenian book. This thought explains the whole matter. Questo è tutto — it would be a shame to waste any further words on the matter. Even if the Slovenian language does not find refuge in schools, and recognition from the government, it is fully valid in church. All sermons are in Slovenian for no other language would be understood. Unfortunately, the priests themselves are not proficient in official Slovenian and its grammar and often distort what is not yet distorted in our dialect. But I must admit that in recent times the situation is improving in this respect, not only because the younger ones are beginning to prepare themselves even before they become priests but also because the older ones take more care to speak correctly and many a priest, despite preaching in dialect, nevertheless speaks correctly. 144 LiVeS Journal Krshchanski nauk se prav tako slovensko uchi, v cerkvi seveda, ker v sholah ga ni treba. Za nashe tri zhupnije imamo poseben katekizem, katerega sta s pomochjo rajnkega gorishkega monsignorja Kocijanchicha priredila in izdala zhupnik Muchich in kaplan Peter Podreka, oba pokojna. Toda knjigo uporabljajo le duhovniki in otrokom ne pride v roke. Zanimivo je to, da je v rabi slovenshchina tudi pri krstnem obredu za vsa vprashanja krshchencu ter za Oche nash in Vero. Enako se pri sveti mashi takoj za latinskim evangelijem bere ljudstvu tudi slovensko. She vechja posebnost je ta, da kadar duhovnik obhaja vernike, izgovarja besede Domine, non sum dignus etc. po slovensko takole: »Gaspuod, jest niesan uriedan, de stopish pod mojo strieho, pa raci 'no samo besjedo an ozdravjena bo moja dusha.« (v knjizhni slov.: Gospod, nisem vreden, da stopish pod mojo streho, toda reci eno samo besedo in ozdravljena bo moja dusha. – Op. ur.) Kar se tiche petja v cerkvi, je vse slovensko, ako izvzamemo slovesno latinsko masho in Tantum ergo pri blagoslovu. Pojemo pri tihi mashi, pred in po Tantum ergo, ko je blagoslov. Poleg navadnega petja imamo tudi posebne pesmi za bozhich, za veliko noch in za druge prilozhnosti. Poje pa naskrivaj vse ljudstvo z veliko pobozhnostjo in s pravim chutom. Napevi so sploh preprosti, pochasni in strogo v cerkvenem duhu. Kdo ve, kdaj so nastali! Chlovek, ki ni navajen takega petja, nehote ostane presenechen, kadar ga slishi. Pomislite: meshani zbor iz vech sto glasov, od najvishjih delikatno se prelivajochih zhenskih in otroshkih glasov, v vseh gradacijah, barvah in niansah, do najmogochnejshih basov, vse lepo zlito v popolno soglasje, brez pretiravanja in krichanja, skoraj polglasno, in vse z znakom lahke, mirno v dusho segajoche otozhnosti! Chlovek mora biti res kamenitega srca, che ne obchuti mochnega vpliva tega petja. Ker zhe govorim o petju, naj omenim she, kako je s posvetnim petjem. Rekel sem zhe, da beneshki Slovenci radi pojejo; toda manjka jim slovenskih pesmi in ustreznih napevov. Stare stvari so se porazgubile; na njihovo mesto vse bolj stopajo poulichne, chestokrat skrajno nesramne lashke poskochnice. Pevskih drushtev nimamo, zato pa petje ne napreduje, ampak se samo spreminja, in sicer na slabo, tako da je vsaka nova popevka zopet nova muzikalna neumnost. Mladina sama si ne zna pomagati drugache kakor s tem, da prinasha domov, kar slishi tu in tam pri Furlanih in vojakih. Nikogar ni, ki bi osnoval kako drushtvo ter uvedel petje v pravem pomenu besede. No pa, chemu bi dalje razlagal, kako je z omiko pri beneshkih Slovencih? Chastiti bralci lahko iz teh raztresenih podatkov sami vidijo in sklepajo, da so beneshki Slovenci brez kulturne organizacije. LiVeS Journal 145 Religious instruction is also given in Slovenian, in churches of course, for it is not obligatory in school. For our three parishes we have a special catechism, which was prepared and published by the parish priest Muchich and curate Peter Podreka, (both now deceased) with the help of the late Monsignor Kocijanchich of Gorizia. But the book is used only by priests and the children never get to see it. It is an interesting fact that Slovenian is also employed at christening ceremonies for all the questions and for the Our Father and the creed. Also at mass, the gospel is read in Slovenian immediately after it has been read in Latin. It is perhaps even more interesting that when the priest takes Communion to the sick he says Domine, non sum dignus etc. in Slovenian as follows: »Gaspuod, jest niesan uriedan, de stopish pod mojo strieho, pa raci 'no samo besjedo an ozdravjena bo moja dusha.« (in official Slovenian: »Gospod, nisem vreden, da stopish pod mojo streho, toda reci eno samo besedo in ozdravljena bo moja dusha.« – English: Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed« – Note by ed. I. A.) As regards the singing in church, it is all in Slovenian except for the solemn Latin mass and the Tantum ergo for the blessing. We sing at the silent mass before and after the Tantum ergo, at the time of the blessing. Besides the ordinary singing we also have special songs for Christmas, Easter and other feasts. All the people sing (in secret) with great devotion and with real feeling. The melodies are very simple, slow and strictly in the church spirit. Who knows how old they are! Someone who is not used to this kind of singing is surprised when he first hears it. Just think: a mixed choir consisting of several hundred voices, from the highest delicately flowing women’s and children’s voices, of all tones, colours and nuances, to the most powerful basses, all nicely mingled into complete harmony, without exaggeration and shouting, almost quietly, and all marked by a light, peaceful and soul-touching melancholy air! A man must truly have a heart of stone if he fails to feel the powerful effect of this singing. As I am already talking about singing, may I also mention the broader situation of singing. I have already said that Venetian Slovenians like to sing; but they lack Slovenian songs and suitable melodies. The old songs have disappeared and are increasingly been replaced by often extremely impudent Italian popular songs. We have no choirs so singing makes no progress but only grows worse, and each new popular song is just a new musical stupidity. The young people themselves do nothing but bring home what they hear from the Friulians and soldiers. There is no-one who would found a society and develop singing in the true sense of the word. There is no reason for any further explanation of the state of culture amongst the Venetian Slovenians. The reader can himself make out from these scattered details that Venetian Slovenians are without any cultural organisation. 146 LiVeS Journal Edino, kar jih vezhe skupaj, je vera in sorodnost v shirshem pomenu. Kdaj pride kaj boljshega tudi zanje ? Kdor jim trga iz rok edino sredstvo za napredovanje, namrech slovensko knjigo, misli, da bodo srechni samo tedaj, kadar se utopijo v morju italijanske narodnosti; potemtakem ne bo tako kmalu sreche med njimi. Po eni strani se beneshki Slovenci trdno drzhijo svojega jezika in svojih navad, po drugi strani pa je njihov znachaj ves drugachen kakor znachaj njihovih neposrednih sosedov Furlanov, zato ni mogoche, da bi se z njimi zdruzhili in pomeshali v narodno skupnost. Eh, Boga mi! Po Nadizhi steche she marsikak val, preden se uresnichi kaj takega! (prva objava: Dom in svet, 1898, str. 248-252; zadnje nadaljevanje) II – REZIJA Rezijani so bistroumni in zelo samozavestni. Ponosni so tudi, che se kdo zanima zanje in za njihovo dezhelo. Da bi dajali vtis pomembnosti, pravijo, da so njih predniki prishli iz Rusije, toda ta je prazna in pozna izmishljotina brez stvarne podlage in se opira samo na navidezno sorodstvo med imeni Rezija (Resia) in Rusija. Prave narodne zavesti v shirshem pomenu med njimi ni. Kadar prilika nanese, da so dobre volje in so v druzhbi kakega Slovana, sicer radi poudarjajo: »My nysömö Lashke, my sömö Slavinske, Rozojanuvi!« (v knjizh. slov.: Mi nismo Lahi, mi smo Slovani, Rezijani! – Op. ur.) A najbrzh ima prav Rezijanka, ki je rekla dobro znanemu uredniku cheshkega Slovanskeha přehleda, gospodu Chernemu (Cherný), ko je bil v Reziji: »Nashi mozhje, kadar se napijejo vina, vpijejo Zhiveli Slovenci!, ali kaj to pomaga, ker smo vendar Lahi!« – V resnici so Rezijani dobri Italijani, kakor sem zhe povedal. Kadar imajo med seboj odlichnejshe lashke goste, kar se pogostoma zgodi, se tudi takrat lahko navdushujejo ter pravijo: »Noi siamo italiani«! (Mi smo Lahi.) Seveda je za to navdushenost iskati pravi razlogi v dobichku. Che tujec pride mednje, jim da zasluzhka; torej – Zhivio! che je Slovan; Evviva! che je Lah. A oni ostanejo »Rozojanuvi« (Rezijani), zvesti svoji vladi. Ta zvestoba jim je preshla v kri, kakor tudi ostalim beneshkim Slovencem, iz hvalezhnosti do beneshke republike, ki je svoj chas dobro ravnala z njimi in si jih z lepimi prednostnimi pravicami in ugodnimi koncesijami privezala, da so ji zvesto strazhili drzhavne meje in vhode proti zunanjim sovrazhnikom na severovzhodu. Benechani so bili prebrisani ter so znali z modro politiko vladati. Seveda, republika je zhe davno propadla, tudi pravice in koncesije so splavale po vodi in razlogov za posebno hvalezhnost in vdanost ni vech, a dushevna nagnjenost na Lashko je ostala in ostane, kakor ostanejo zemljepisne posebnosti, lega in naravne tezhnje, ki spajajo in integralno dopolnjujejo furlansko dezhelo s tako imenovano italijansko Slavijo. LiVeS Journal 147 The only thing that binds them together is faith and ties of kindred in a broad sense. When will they too get something better? Those who deny them their only means to make progress, namely the Slovenian book, think they will only be happy once they drown in the sea of Italian nationality; in that case they will not achieve happiness for a long time yet. On the one hand the Venetian Slovenians stick firmly to their language and their traditions, and on the other hand their character is very different from that of their direct neighbours the Friulians so it is impossible for them to unite with them and become one national community. Oh well! More than a wave or two will come down the River Nadizha (Natisone) before something like that happens! (first published: Dom in svet, 1898, pp. 248-252; last in the series) II – RESIA The people of Resia are clever and very self-confident. They are also proud if someone expresses interest in them and their region. In order to make themselves appear more important they say their ancestors came from Russia but this is an empty and recent fabrication without any true foundation and is based only on the apparent connection between the names Rezija (Resia) and Russia. There is no true sense of national belonging in a broad sense amongst them. When it happens that they are in high spirits and in the company of a Slav they like to emphasise: »My nysömö Lashke, my sömö Slavinske, Rozojanuvi!« (in official Slovenian.: Mi nismo Lahi, mi smo Slovani, Rezijani! – We are not Italians, we are Slavs). But the words a woman from Resia spoke to the well-known editor of the Czech Slovansky přehled, Adolf Cherný when he visited Resia are probably true: »Our men, when they have drunk wine they shout Zhiveli Slovenci [Long live Slovenians]!, but what does this help us for we are Italians!« – Actually, the Resians are good Italians as I have already said. When they have among them distinguished Italian guests – which is quite often – then they can also become enthused and say: »Noi siamo italiani«! (We are Italians.) Of course, the first reason for this enthusiasm is profit. If a foreigner visits them then they earn something; so – Zhivio! if he is a Slav; Evviva! if he is an Italian. But they remain »Rozojanuvi« (Resians), loyal to their government. This loyalty has become part of their nature, as it has for all the other Venetian Slovenians, out of gratefulness to the Venetian Republic which treated them well and bound them to itself with preferential rights and favourable concessions so that they faithfully guarded the national borders against external enemies from the northeast. The Venetians were cunning and knew how to govern wisely. Of course, the republic collapsed a long time ago and the rights and concessions are but a memory so there are no longer any reasons for special gratitude and loyalty but an affinity for Italy lives on, as do the geographical characteristics, location and natural inclinations which connect the region of Friuli with the so-called Italian Slavia. 148 LiVeS Journal Knjizhne slovenshchine v Reziji ne poznajo. Obche razshirjena Druzhba sv. Mohorja med tamkajshnjim prebivalstvom nima chlanov. Slovenske knjige so nepristopne zhe zato, ker je rezijansko narechje prevech oddaljeno od knjizhne slovenshchine, silno pokvarjeno in prepleteno s tujkami, da preprosto ljudstvo take knjige ne bi razumelo. Niti mali slovenski katekizem za Slovence videmske nadshkofije jim ne more ustrezati. Razmere so v tem oziru neizrekljivo slabshe kot med shempeterskimi Slovenci, in so celo enake razmeram pri vechini terskih (reka Ter) Slovencev. Iz tega ne sklepam, da bo v jezikovnem oziru kmalu konec Rezijanov; terski (po reki Ter; tudi: chentarski ali tarchentski, po slov. Chenta, ital. Tarcento – op. ur.) Slovenci na primer bodo zhe zdavnaj pofurlanjeni, a Rezija bo ostala she tedaj, kakrshna je danes. Zemljepisne okolnosti, etnichna odpornost in pa zhiva zavednost svojega rezijanstva bodo she dolgo ohranile narodne in jezikovne razmere »in statu quo«. Godi se z Rezijo kakor z nemshkimi naselbinami v Saurisu in Sappadi pod isto videmsko provinco, ki se vzdrzhujejo izvrstno, cheprav so od vseh strani obkoljene od Lahov. Zemljepisne posebnosti jih uspeshno branijo. Vendar pa so tamkajshnji Nemci bolj zavedni in so si izprosili nemshke shole; a poleg tega nihche ne zatira njihovega narechja. Kar se rezijanskega narechja tiche, omenim na kratko, da ima v sebi dokaj zanimivosti. V marsichem se razlikuje od slovenshchine, a ima nekaj analogije s hrvashchino. Z ostalimi beneshkoslovenskimi narechji se ne ujema veliko. Ohranilo je stari aorist. Kot nekaj posebnega in evropskim jezikom tujega kazhe harmonichno spremembo samoglasnikov. Ti se delijo na chiste (e, i, o, u) in na zamolkle (ae, y, ö, ü); na ozke (i, u, y, ü, e) in na shiroke (e, o, ae, ö, a). Vokalna harmonija obstaja v tem: che v besedi prevladuje npr. zamolkli samoglasnik, tudi ostali, njemu podrejeni, morajo biti zamolkli; che prevladuje chisti samoglasnik, so ostali tudi chisti; prav tako shiroki kliche shirokega, ozki ozkega. Npr.: zhaná, dajalnik: zhaenè, mnozhinski rodilnik: zhiní itd. Zanimivo je tudi, kako shtejejo. Do 20 gre kakor povsod; potem: dvajsti anu dan, dvajsti anu dva, in tako do 39; 40 je dvakrat dvajsti, 60 trikrat dvajsti itd. Cheprav Rezija ni zelo obshirna, vendar ima vsaka vas znatne jezikovne posebnosti in razlike. Kar pa hudo kvari staro in samostojno razvito narechje, je zhe zgoraj omenjena preobilica tujih, posebno lashko-furlanskih besed. Mnogo se jih je vrinilo zaradi jezikovne nespretnosti duhovnikov, posebno pri krshchanskem nauku. Sledi naj za primer, z opazko, da she ni tako hudo pokvarjena, narodna pobozhna pesmica, ki jo je g. Cherný zapisal v Njivi: LiVeS Journal 149 The literary Slovenian language is unknown in Resia. The ubiquitous Druzhba svetega Mohorja has no members among its population. Slovenian books are inaccessible because the Resian dialect is too distant from literary Slovenian and is strongly polluted and interwoven with foreign words so the simple people would not even understand such books. Not even the small Slovenian catechism for Slovenians produced by the archdiocese of Udine would be suitable for them. The situation is in this sense much worse than amongst the Slovenians of Shempeter and is equivalent to the situation amongst most of the Slovenians living in the valley of the River Ter (Torre). This does not mean that in a linguistic sense the Resians will soon be lost; the Slovenians from the Ter valley, for example, will long have become Friulian while Resia will still be as it is today. Geographical circumstances, ethnic resilience and the living awareness of their Resian identity will for a long time yet preserve the national and linguistic situation »in statu quo«. The situation in Resia is similar to that of the German settlements in Sauris and Sappada (within the same province of Udine) that are doing an excellent job of preserving their identity although they are surrounded on all sides by Italians. The geographical circumstances successfully defend them. But the Germans that live there are more conscious of their identity and have managed to obtain German schools; besides, no-one is suppressing their dialect. As for the Resian dialect, I will mention briefly that it possesses quite a number of curiosities. It is different from Slovenian in all manner of ways and has some similarities with Croatian. It has little in common with the remaining Venetian Slovenian dialects. It has preserved the old aorist. Something that is unique and not found in other European languages is the harmonic vowel changes. These can be split up into the pure (e, i, o, u) and the muted (ae, y, ö, ü); the narrow (i, u, y, ü, e) and the broad vowels (e, o, ae, ö, a). Vocal harmony exists: if for example in a word the muted vowel dominates, then the others, subordinate to it, must also be muted; if the pure vowel dominates, the others are also pure; in the same way the broad vowel demands a broad one and the narrow a narrow one, i.e.: zhaná, dative: zhaenè, genitive plural: zhiní etc. The way they count is also interesting. Up to 20 is like everywhere; then: dvajsti anu dan (twenty and one), dvajsti anu dva (twenty and two), and so on up to 39; 40 is twice twenty, 60 three times twenty etc. Although Resia is not very large, there are nevertheless significant linguistic differences between the villages. But what is really spoiling the old and independently developed dialect is the above mentioned overabundance of foreign, especially Italian and Friuli words. Many of them have forced their way into the language because of the linguistic incompetence of priests, especially when giving religious instruction. Below is a popular church hymn which Mr. Cherný recorded in Njiva and which is not so badly spoilt: LiVeS Journal 150 Devica Marija, vy mati bozhja, prosite za nas Jezhusha, Jezhusha, nashaha höspuda, ti, ka talyko nas amà! Jezhusha vy stoe dojila, z váshimi roki ha previla; muć tympa stoe pátela za Jezhusha dòrzhat zhivaha. Vy ste ha bila zübila, muć tympa vy stoe ha jiskala, stoe ha naloezla tuv cerkvè tami toemi sapjenc mozhmí. Si von boeshoe valyky kontent ha vydeshtoć tami sapjenc, koj a na moeshoe shće dvanijst lit. Vàs chisto pópol an vüchashe, an höjashe dishépule, an dílashe mirákole an mortve zhive dilashe po svitu üchashe muć judi, o vy, Marija vérdjina! Rezija je zanimiva v marsichem in zato obracha nase pozornost uchenjakov in jih vabi v svoje krilo. Mnogo se je zhe v razlichnih jezikih in v razlichnem duhu in oziru pisalo o njej. Geoloshko in zemljepisno so jo na mestu preuchevali znameniti lashki strokovnjaki profesorji Taramelli, Marinelli, oche in sin, Musoni in drugi. Z narodnega in jezikovnega stalishcha so se zhe v prejshnjih chasih zanjo zanimali razni Slovani, npr. Pysheli, Kopitar, Hanka, Shafařik, Kocianchich in drugi. Nash Rutar jo je opisal v knjigi Beneshka Slovenija (1899). Osebno so si jo ogledali in o njej porochali poljski grof Potocki, Rus Sreznjevski, Sloveno-Hrvat Stanko Vraz, Cheh Cherný, a najimenitnejshe med vsemi poljski jezikoslovni uchenjak vseuchilishki profesor Baudouin de Courtenay, ki je dolgo chasa bival v Reziji ter se je bil tamkaj malodane udomachil. On se je korenito nauchil rezijanskega narechja ter je nabral, obdelal in pri peterburshki carski akademiji dal na svetlo ogromno gradivo, posebno v jezikovnem oziru. V rokopisu hrani she gradivo za popolni rezijanski slovar. Tudi gospa Shulc-Adajevska je sodelovala, kakor recheno, nekaj chasa z njim ter nabrala narodne pesmi in njim ustrezajoche melodije. LiVeS Journal 151 Devica Marija, vy mati bozhja, prosite za nas Jezhusha, Jezhusha, nashaha höspuda, ti, ka talyko nas amà! Jezhusha vy stoe dojila, z váshimi roki ha previla; muć tympa stoe pátela za Jezhusha dòrzhat zhivaha. Vy ste ha bila zübila, muć tympa vy stoe ha jiskala, stoe ha naloezla tuv cerkvè tami toemi sapjenc mozhmí. Si von boeshoe valyky kontent ha vydeshtoć tami sapjenc, koj a na moeshoe shće dvanijst lit. Vàs chisto pópol an vüchashe, an höjashe dishépule, an dílashe mirákole an mortve zhive dilashe po svitu üchashe muć judi, o vy, Marija vérdjina! [text of the song in old dialectal language of Venetian Slovenians] Resia is interesting in many respects and that is why it attracts the attention of scholars. Much has already been written about it in various languages and with various attitudes and motives. The renowned Italian experts and professors Taramelli, Marinelli (father and son), Musoni and others have come to study its geological and geographical characteristics. From a national and linguistic standpoint it has already in previous times been the object of interest for various Slavs, e.g. Pysheli, Kopitar, Hanka, Shafařik, Kocianchich and others. Our Rutar described it in the book entitled Beneshka Slovenija (1899). It has been visited in person and reported on by the Polish count Potocki, the Russian Sreznjevski, the Slovene-Croat Stanko Vraz, the Czech Cherný, but the most distinguished of them all is the Polish linguist and university professor Baudouin de Courtenay who lived for a long time in Resia and almost became one of the locals. He acquired a high level of proficiency in the Resian dialect and he collected, put in order and published at the Royal Saint Petersburg Academy a huge collection of material, especially dealing with linguistics. He also has handwritten material for a complete Resian dictionary. Mrs Shulc-Adajevska too cooperated with him for some time and acquired a collection of folk songs and melodies. 152 LiVeS Journal Med poslednjimi odlichnimi gosti so obiskali Rezijo ruski vseuchilishki profesor dr. Francev in Cheha – vseuchilishki profesor dr. Kadlec in vishji financhni uradnik Kohout. O navadnih turistih raznih narodnosti niti ne govorim. She najmanj so se doslej za Rezijane zmenili Slovenci. Che ti povrshni zapiski vzbudijo kaj zanimanja za malo, a slikovito dezhelico in za njene svojevrstne prebivalce, bo moj namen dosezhen. (prva objava pod naslovom Hajdimo v Rezijo! v Dom in svet, 1907; zadnje nadaljevanje) III – ZGODOVINSKI ORIS Dolochiti, kdaj so se Slovenci naselili v Furlaniji, ni lahka rech; do kod so segali po shirni ravnini, je mozhno vsaj priblizhno ugotoviti iz toponomastike; kaj in kako se je z njimi godilo, se ve in se ne ve. Najbrzh so zacheli siliti v Italijo zhe v drugi polovici shestega stoletja skupno z Avari ali pa tudi sami na svojo roko. Za gotovo se ve (iz Pavla Diakona), da so imeli prve chase pogoste boje z Langobardi, pod katerih oblast so bile prishle Furlanija in beneshko-lombardske pokrajine. Zdi se pa, da so se Slovenci nastanili s presledki in v raznih skupinah. Podkaninski (po goro Kanin) Rezijani niso veliko sorodni ostalim beneshkim Slovencem, a ti se zopet razlikujejo med seboj, ker eni se zdijo bolj hrvashko-srbskega znachaja, drugi pa so bolj ochitno Slovenci. Prvotno zasedeno slovensko ozemlje je bilo precej obshirnejshe kot sedanje. Tako se lahko trdi, da je bil dobrshen del ali pa tudi celoten tako imenovani Zhelezni kanal (Canale del Ferro) od Pontebe navzdol slovenski, a se danes nahaja slovenski zhivelj samo v postranski rezijski dolini. Furlanska ravnina pa ni ohranila nobenega kotichka za Slovence. Da so bili Slovenci v starih chasih razshirjeni v shirokih plasteh po srednji in dolnji Furlaniji do reke Tilmente (Tagliamento) in she chez, o tem pricha veliko shtevilo do zdaj ohranjenih, ponekod na furlansko zaokrozhenih, chisto slovenskih krajevnih imen. Tudi stare listine iz XII. in XIII. stoletja prichajo o navzochnosti obilnega slovenskega zhivlja v onih krajih, kajti vsebujejo lepo shtevilo krasnih staro slovenskih krajevnih in osebnih imen. Toda zgodovina tega slovenskega elementa je precej nejasna in nepopolna. Ne ve se zagotovo, kdaj in kako so bili zasedli Slovenci one kraje. Morda so bile proste naselbine razvrshchene po zemljishchih, opustoshenih in zapushchenih zaradi burnega prehoda selechih se narodov; morda so to bili ostanki slovenskih vojakov, ki so se borili v Italiji skupno z Avari in so se na povratku ustavili, kjer so dobili neobljuden in za poljedelstvo ugoden prostor. Poleg tega so bila njihova naselja pomeshana z romanskimi; zato ni chudno, da so se polagoma potujchili. Sicer pa je bila v XV. stoletju slovenshchina she zelo razshirjena po Furlaniji. Kdaj je izginila, o tem se ne da nich gotovega povedati. LiVeS Journal 153 Some of the latest prominent guests to visit Resia include the Russian university professor dr. Francev, the Czech university professor dr. Kadlec and the senior financial official Kohout. I will not bother to mention the ordinary tourists of various nationalities. The least interest in the Resians has so far been shown by Slovenians. If these brief notes inspire any interest in this small but picturesque region and its unique inhabitants my aim will have been fulfilled. (first appeared under the title Hajdimo v Rezijo! in Dom in svet, 1907; last in the series) III – A HISTORICAL OUTLINE It is difficult to determine when Slovenians settled in the region of Friuli; it is possible at least approximately to determine how far across the broad plain they reached with the help of toponymy. What happened to them is both known and not known. They probably began coming into Italy in the second half of the sixth century together with the Avars or maybe just on their own. It is known for certain (from Pavel Diakon), that in early times they frequently fought with the Langobards under whose rule the regions of Friuli and Venetia-Lombardia had come. However, it seems that the Slovenians settled intermittently and in various groups. The Resians from below Mt. Kanin have little in common with the other Venetian Slovenians who can themselves be split into very distinct groups, some of them having a more Serb-Croat nature while others are more obviously Slovenian. The territory that was originally occupied by the Slovenians was much larger than what they presently occupy. It can be said that a considerable part or even the whole of the so-called Iron Canal (Canale del Ferro) from Pontebba onwards was Slovenian, but nowadays Slovenians can only be found in the side-valley of Resia. No corner of the Friulian plain has been preserved for Slovenians. A large number of completely Slovenian place names (sometimes with Friulian endings) that have been preserved to this day testify to the fact that Slovenians once broadly settled across middle and lower Friuli as far as the River Tilmente (Tagliamento) and beyond. Old documents from the XII and XIII centuries bear witness to the presence of a large Slovenian population in these parts for there a large number of beautiful old Slovenian names of places and people. But the history of this Slovenian element is quite unclear and incomplete. It is not known for certain when and how Slovenians occupied these parts. Perhaps the free settlements were located on land that had been ravaged and abandoned by the tempestuous passage of peoples on the move; perhaps these were Slovenian soldiers who had fought in Italy together with the Avars and stopped on the way back where they found unpopulated ground that was good for agriculture. Besides, their settlements were mixed with Romance ones; it is therefore not surprising that they slowly assimilated. In the XV century, Slovenian was still very widespread in Friuli. It cannot be said for certain when it disappeared. 154 LiVeS Journal Sedanji Slovenci prebivajo po dolinah in hribih, raztezajochih se od gorishkih Brd do Kaninovega pogorja. Razdeljeni so v tri glavne skupine: v Rezijane, v Tarchentske (Terske) in Shempeterske Slovence. Zgodovina Rezijanov je v zvezi z zgodovino Mozhnishke opatije (Abbazia di Moggio), ki je bila ustanovljena leta 1115 po zhelji in oporoki koroshkega grofa Kocelja, v njegovi lasti je bil Zhelezni kanal. Opatiji je bilo darovanih mnogo posestev, med njimi tudi Rezija. Benediktinci so imeli polno cerkveno in posvetno oblast nad to dezhelico, ki jim je nosila precej koristi. Leta 1409 je nastala iz opatije prosta komenda, ki pa si je pridrzhala vse prejshnje pravice. Med onimi, ki so jo uzhivali, je bil tudi sv. Karol Boromejski. Leta 1777 si je beneshka republika prisvojila vse skupaj in od tedaj je postala Rezija samosvoja obchina in zhupnija. Tarchentski ali Terski Slovenci so bili zaradi neurejene razdelitve svojih zemljishch vedno razkosani med seboj ter podvrzheni raznim fevdalcem in v cerkvenem oziru priklopljeni raznim furlanskim zhupnijam. Zato pa nimajo skupne zgodovine. Najzanimivejsha je zgodovina Shempeterskih Slovencev, ki so imeli posebno upravno organizacijo. Sprva so prishli pod vlado Frankov, ki so bili unichili langobardsko kraljestvo in so bili raztegnili svojo oblast chez vse slovenske in tudi hrvashke dezhele. Pozneje so Slovenci prishli pod oglejske patriarhe, katerim so bili nemshki cesarji podelili knezhjo oblast nad vso Furlanijo. Ker so bili vsi ti patriarhi posebno v zachetku iz nemshkih rodovin, so vechkrat podajali svojcem v fevde razne kraje, tudi slovenske; zaradi tega nosijo stari, razrusheni gradovi po gorskih obronkih vechinoma nemshka imena. Navzlic tem fevdalcem so si bili Slovenci zasnovali polagoma za svojo potrebo posebno upravo, ki so si jo ohranili in okrepili tudi tedaj, ko je patriarhat prishel v roke Benetkam. Modra beneshka republika je Slovencem pustila precejshnjo svobodo, jih shchitila pred fevdalci ter jih obdarila z novimi privilegiji, posebno z oprostitvijo razlichnih davkov in dajatev. Njihova dolzhnost je bila chuvati beneshko mejo proti Nemcem, kar so Slovenci zvesto izpolnjevali, tako da jih vlada v listini iz leta 1492 imenuje: Fideles nostri incolae montanearum et convallium. Imeli so torej precejshnjo avtonomijo, cheprav so bili tu in tam podvrzheni she vedno jurisdikcijski, sicer bolj navidezni kot pa dejanski pravici starih furlanskih fevdalcev. Organizacija slovenskih skupnosti je bila strogo demokratichna. V najlepshi obliki, precej modro in natanchno zamishljena, je obstajala med Shempeterskimi Slovenci. Hishni gospodarji posameznih vasi so skrbeli za skupne vashke zadeve, ki so jih obravnavali v sosednjah, to je v vashkih zborih, katerim je predsedoval dekan, ki so ga med sabo izbrali hishni gospodarji. Vasi, katerih je bilo priblizhno 40, so bile zdruzhene v dve skupini, poimenovani Banka (miza) po sredishchnih vaseh Landar in Mersa: Landarska Banka in Merska Banka. LiVeS Journal 155 The present-day Slovenians live in the hills and valleys that stretch from the Gorishka Brda to the Kanin massif. They can be divided into three main groups: the Resians, the Slovenians of the Ter valley and the Shempeter Slovenians. The history of Resia is connected with that of the abbey in Moggio which was founded in 1115 to fulfil the wish and will of the Carinthian count Kocelj who owned the Iron Canal. Much land was given to the monastery including Resia. The Benedictines had complete ecclesiastic and worldly authority over this region, from which they had considerable profit. In 1409, the monastery became a free commendam, which however kept all its previous rights. One of those who enjoyed it was St. Charles Borromeo. In 1777, the Venetian Republic took everything over, and ever since then Resia has been an independent municipality and parish. The Slovenians from the Ter valley or from Tarcento did not have their land partitioned in an organised fashion and were therefore always divided amongst themselves and subject to various feudal lords and ecclesiastically joined to various Friulian parishes. That is why they do not have a common history. The history of the Slovenians of Shempeter is the most interesting as they had a special administrative organisation. First they came under the rule of the Franks who had destroyed the Langobard kingdom and had spread their authority over all the Slovenian and also Croatian lands. Later the Slovenians came under the patriarchs of Aquilea to whom the German emperors had granted princely authority over all of Friuli. As all these patriarchs came (especially at the beginning), from German families they often gave their relations various lands, including Slovenian ones, to run as feudal estates; that is why old, ruined castles on hillsides mostly have German names. Despite these feudal lords, the Slovenians slowly conceived a special administration to suit their needs which they kept and reinforced even when the patriarchate was taken over by Venice. The wise Venetian Republic gave the Slovenians considerable freedom, defended them against the feudal lords and accorded them new privileges especially as regards exemption from various taxes. Their duty was to protect the Venetian border against the Germans which the Slovenians fulfilled loyally so that in 1492 the government referred to them in a document as: Fideles nostri incolae montanearum et convallium. They therefore enjoyed considerable autonomy although here and there they were still subject to the, albeit apparent more than real, right to jurisdiction of the old Friulian feudal lords. The Slovenian communities were organised in strictly democratic fashion. The best form of organisation, which was wisely and precisely conceived, was amongst the Slovenians of Shempeter. The heads of families in the different villages took care of common village matters which they dealt with in village meetings that were presided over by a »deacon« whom the heads of families elected from among their number. The villages, which numbered around 40, were joined into two groups called Banka (table). Each group took its name from the central villages Landar and Mersa, hence: Landarska Banka and Merska Banka. 156 LiVeS Journal Vsaka Banka je imela svojega glavnega dekana, ki so ga volile podrejene vasi. Landarski Banki so bili podvrzheni prebivalci Nadishke (Nadizha) in Sovodnjishke (Sovodnje) doline, Merski pa prebivalci Shentlenarshke in Kozhishke doline. Vsaka vas je imela svoje zastopnike pri svoji Banki, ki so se zbirali v sejo, kadar so to zahtevale skupne zadeve. Enkrat in, che je bila potreba, tudi vechkrat na leto so se zbirali zastopniki obeh Bank na prostem pod slovanskimi lipami pri cerkvici sv. Kvirina v Shempetru. Pri teh obchnih zborih so se obravnavale skupne zadeve cele dezhele, pod predsednishtvom obeh glavnih dekanov. Pri obravnavah je imel besedo sleherni zastopnik raznih vasi, a zapisnik je sestavljal javni notar ali kancelir. Evo torej starega, strogo demokratichnega, malega, a pravcatega parlamenta! Poleg upravne organizacije so imeli tudi sodnijsko. Za Landarsko Banko so volili hishni gospodarji, za Mersko Banko pa odsluzheni sodniki vsako leto po 12 sodnikov (dvanajstijo), ki so sodili v malih in v velikih zadevah, celo morilci so prishli pred nje. Vse to navzlic pravu jurisdikcije, ki so ga imeli po slovenskih krajih stari fevdalci, katerim pa je, kakor se zdi, za ugotovitev svojih pravic zadostovalo, da so prishli enkrat na leto v Shempeter ter se tam skupno in mastno pogostili na stroshke svojih podanikov. Kaj so hoteli drugega? Slovenci so bili v popolnem miru z beneshko republiko, ta pa se jim ni marala zameriti in jih je shchitila proti vsakomur. Celo sodne prizive so delali, kolikor je bilo mogoche, od Banke do Banke, cheprav bi bili morali redno prizivati prvich v Chedad, potem v Videm in kot na najvishjo stopnjo v Benetke. Hujshe zlochine so kaznovali z jecho, za manjshe so vklepali obsojence v klado na javnem mestu ali pa so jih kaznovali z denarno globo. Vsa ta upravna in pravna organizacija je veljala od dobe oglejskih patriarhov do avstrijske vlade. Avstrijski absolutizem je vse razdrl ter na mesto stare razdelitve zasnoval sedanje obchine. V cerkvenem oziru so Shempeterski Slovenci prvi dobili lastno zhupnijo, in sicer najprej v Shempetru, ki jo omenja neka listina (Bulla Coelestini III) zhe leta 1192. Potem so dobili drugo pri Sv. Lenartu; zapisnik zhupnikov shentlenarshkih sega nazaj do leta 1400, toda zhupnija je zhe prej omenjena. Koncem XVIII. stol. je bila ustanovljena tretja zhupnija v Drenkiji, ki je prej spadala pod Volche ob Sochi. Vse tri so podrejene chedajskemu (Chedad) kapitlju. Ena najstarejshih cerkva je starogorsko svetishche (Stara gora – Castel del Monte), ki je tudi slovenska zhupnija, spadajocha pod Chedad. Prapotska (Prepotto) zhupnija je bila tudi slovenska, a zdaj je meshana. Slovenci teh dveh zhupnij ne spadajo k Shempeterskim, ampak tvorijo nekako podaljshanje gorishkih Bricev. Za vse druge Slovence so imeli pri starih furlanskih zhupnijah slovenskega vikarja (Vicarius Sclaborum); shele pozneje so dobile slovenske podruzhnice lastnega duhovnika. LiVeS Journal 157 Each Banka had its head deacon who was elected by the subordinate villages. The Landarska Banka was responsible for the inhabitants of the Nadizha and Sovodnje valleys while the Merska Banka covered the population of the Shentlenarshke and Kozhishke valleys. Each village had its representatives in its Banka who convened when common matters demanded a meeting. The representatives of both Bankas met at least once, and if necessary more than once a year under the Slav linden trees at the church of St. Quirinus in Shempeter. At these general meetings, the common affairs of the whole region were discussed under the chairmanship of both head deacons. Each village representative had the right to speak during the discussions while the minutes were kept by the public notary or chancellor. This was, therefore, an old, strictly democratic, small but genuine parliament! Alongside this administrative system they also had a judicial system. The heads of families voted for the Landarska Banka, while for the Merska Banka retired judges (every year 12 judges) judged minor and major matters including murders. All this despite the right of jurisdiction held by the old feudal lords over Slovenian lands but who it appears were happy to check their right once a year by coming to Shempeter and having a feast at the expense of their subjects. What else could they do? The Slovenians were completely at peace with the Venetian Republic, which did not want to offend them and protected them against everyone. Even appeals were handled, as far as possible, by the Bankas although the first court of appeal was supposed to be in Chedad, followed by Udine and finally Venice. Major offenses were punished with prison sentences while for minor offenses the condemned person was locked in stocks in a public place or they had to pay fines. All this administrative and legal organisation was in place from the time of the patriarchs of Aquilea until Austrian rule. Austrian absolutism destroyed everything and replaced the old partition with the current municipalities. Ecclesiastically, the Slovenians of Shempeter were the first to get their own parish, and it is mentioned in a document (Bulla Coelestini III) that dates back to 1192. Then they got their second one in Sv. Lenart; the records of parish priests in Sv. Lenart go back as far as 1400 but the parish is mentioned even before this date. At the end of the XVIII century a third parish was founded in Drenkija, which previously belonged to Volche ob Sochi. All three belong to the chapter of Chedad. One of the oldest churches is the one on Stara gora – Castel del Monte which is also a Slovenian parish that belongs to Chedad. The parish of Prapotska (Prepotto) used to be Slovenian but is now mixed. The Slovenians in these two parishes do not belong to Shempeter but are a kind of extension of the Gorishka Brda. For all other Slovenians the old Friulian parishes had a Slovenian curate (Vicarius Sclaborum); only later did Slovenian succursal parishes get their own priests. 158 LiVeS Journal Po slovenskih cerkvah je bila od starih chasov v navadi slovenshchina. She zdaj se je ohranila marsikaka melodija s pripadajochim besedilom, ki sega precej nazaj v stare chase, saj je ochitno gregorijanskega znachaja in izvora. Tako npr. pesem za Bozhich, za Veliko noch, za sv. Reshnje Telo in she kaka druga. Ljudstvo prav rado poje v cerkvi tudi pri tihih mashah, in v tem se povsem odlikuje od Furlanov. Duhovniki so si sami pisali ali pa prevajali katekizme in pridige in druge potrebne stvari. Ko so se zachele tiskati slovenske pobozhne knjige, so si jih radi priskrbovali. Zhalibog, da se stari rokopisi niso ohranili! Pach pa obstaja she zdaj silno zanimiv, meshan latinsko-slovensko-lashki zapisnik iz leta 1497, v katerem pravi neki Johanes civis Vegle, da je prevedel »de latino in sclabonico lingua« letne zapushchine »Bratine sfete marie szergneu« (Bratovshchine sv. Marije v Cernjevu). Ta rokopis, kakor tudi nekaj novejshih rezijanskih tekstov, je obelodanil v Petrogradu poljski uchenjak vseuch. prof. Baudouin de Courtenay. Obshirno razpravo o chernejskem, prvem slovenskem datiranem rokopisu, je napisal pokojni dr. Oblak. (prva objava: Jadranski almanah 1923, Trst) IVAN TRINKO – ZAMEJSKI (1863-1954), rojen in umrl v Trchmunu (Tercimonte, Beneshka Slovenija, Italija), iz kmechke druzhine, teologijo shtudiral v Vidmu (Udine), nato duhovnik in profesor, poslanec v videmski pokrajinski skushchini, pisal pesmi (Poezije, 1897), prozo, poljudne razprave (tudi v ital. in lat.), prevajal Presherna, Stritarja, Gregorchicha, Tavcharja ter poljske in ruske pisce v italijanshchino; ukvarjal se je tudi z glasbo in likovno umetnostjo. Najpomembnejshi kulturni delavec Beneshke Slovenije, imenovan »oche Beneshkih Slovencev«. Njegov potopisno-socioloshki spis Beneshka Slovenija je klasichna predstavitev te na skrajni zahod odmaknjene, v osrednji Sloveniji skoraj pozabljene pokrajine; pisanje o njej je utemeljil z besedami: »Upam, da bo vrlo zanimalo ostale Slovence spoznati brate, ki se kakor predstrazha vsega Slovanstva nahajajo pod italijansko krono. In skrajnji chas je, da jih spoznajo, ker morajo prej ali slej poginiti pod navalom lashke narodnosti, ako se ne predrugachijo razmere.« (cit. DiS, 1900, str. 284). Tukajshnja predstavitev je sestavljena iz treh zaokrozhenih odlomkov iz treh tematsko sorodnih, v razlichnih publikacijah objavljenih spisov. LiVeS Journal 159 Slovenian was used in Slovenian churches ever since the days of old. Even nowadays, many a melody and accompanying text has been preserved, its age being considerable as it is clearly Gregorian in character and origin. Examples are hymns for Christmas, Easter, the feast of Corpus Christi and others. The people love to sing in church, even during quiet masses, and this distinguishes them very clearly from the Friulians. Priests wrote or translated their own catechisms, sermons and other necessary material. When Slovenian religious books were first printed they purchased them keenly. Unfortunately, the old manuscripts have not been preserved. But there is a very interesting mixed Latin-Slovenian-Italian record from 1497 in which a certain Johanes civis Vegle says he translated »de latino in sclabonico lingua« the annual legacy of the »Bratine sfete marie szergneu« (Fraternity of Our Lady in Cernjevu). This manuscript as well as some more recent Resian texts were published in Petrograd by the Polish scholar Baudouin de Courtenay. A detailed study of the Chernejski rokopis, the first Slovenian dated manuscript, was written by the late dr. Oblak. (first published: Jadranski almanah 1923, Trieste) IVAN TRINKO – ZAMEJSKI (1863-1954), was born and died in Trchmun (Tercimonte, Venetian Slovenia, Italy). He came from a farming family, studied theology in Videm (Udine), became a priest and professor, was a deputy in the Udine regional assembly, wrote poems (Poezije, 1897), prose, essays (also in Italian and Latin), translated Presheren, Stritar, Gregorchich, Tavchar and Polish and Russian writers into Italian; he was an artist and musician. Trinko is the most important cultural worker of Venetian Slovenia and is known as the »Father of the Venetian Slovenians«. His travelogue-sociological essay Beneshka Slovenija is a classic presentation of this far western region that is almost completely forgotten in central Slovenia; he described his reasons for writing about it as follows: »I hope it will be of great interest to other Slovenians to learn about their brothers who like an advance guard for all Slavs find themselves under the Italian crown. And it is about time they learnt about them for they must sooner or later perish under the Italian assault unless the circumstances change.« (cit. DiS, 1900, pg. 284). The above presentation is composed of three fragments from three essays that deal with similar themes but appeared in different publications. LiVeS Journal 160 Dodatek DEVICA MARIJA Devica Marija, vi mati bozhja, prosite za nas Jezusa, Jezusa, nashega gospoda, tega, ki nas toliko ljubi! Jezusa vi ste dojila, z vashimi rokami ga previla; mnogo chasa ste trpela za Jezusa obdrzhat zhivega. Vi ste ga bila zibala, mnogo chasa vi ste ga iskala, ste ga nashla tu v cerkvi tam med temi modrimi mozhmi. To vam je bilo veliko zadovoljstvo ga videti tam modrega, ko je imel shele dvanajst let. Chisto ves narod on je uchil, on je vodil uchence, on je delal chudezhe in mrtve zhive je delal, po svetu je uchil mnogo ljudi, o vi, Marija devica! LiVeS Journal Supplement VIRGIN MARY Virgin Mary, mother of God, pray to Jesus for us, Jesus, our Lord, who loves us so much! You nursed Jesus, and your hands changed his clothes; you suffered for a long time to keep Jesus alive. You rocked him, and searched for him for a long time, before finding him in the church amongst the wise men. This was for you a great source of satisfaction to see him there so wise, when he was only twelve years old. He taught all the people, he led the disciples, he did miracles brought the dead to life, all over the world he taught many people, o you, Our Lady and virgin! 161 162 LiVeS Journal OPOMBA K TRINKOVIM REZIJANOM Ob Trinkovem tekstu o Rezijanih (gl. zgoraj II) se zdi primerno omeniti »koroshko navezo« tega fenomena. Poleg chisto jezikovne plati (znachilnosti, ki so rezijansko narechje zlasti v starejshi dobi povezovale s koroshko slovenshchino, pozneje je prevladala primorska beneshkoslovenska komponenta) je she dolochena literarna: Andrej Einspieler (1813-1888), slovenski koroshki duhovnik in kulturno-politichni delavec, imenovan »oche koroshkih Slovencev« (kot Trinko »oche Beneshkih Slovencev«), ustanovitelj chasopisov Sholski prijatelj, Slovenec in Mir ter Mohorjeve druzhbe (skupaj s Slomshkom in Janezhichem leta 1851; v letu 2011 ta legendarna zalozhba, ki je »Slovence nauchila brati«, obhaja 160-letnico), je objavil dva Trinkovima sorodna spisa: Beneshki Slovenci (Sh. prijatelj, 1852) in Reziani (ibid., 1856). Zlasti slednji je ilustrativen glede na Trinkovo odlochno zavrachanje »navideznega sorodstva« med imeni Rezija (Resia) in Rusija, zato sledi daljshi tozadevni citat iz Einspielerja: »Stari ljudje pravijo, da so Reziani iz Rusovskega prishli v svoje danashnje kraje. V chasih hudih vojsk so neki Rusi v to dolino pribegnili, kjer ni do tistih dob she nobeden prebival; tu so se ustavili, hishe zidali in v miru zhiveli, in po njih se je ta kraj klicati jel Resia ali Rezia. Rezianski jezik je zares tudi zlo podoben Rusovskemu; zakaj ko so Rusi se po teh straneh nazaj pomikali, je neki Rus tudi na Reziansko prishel, in ko je s starejshimi Reziani govoril, kateri svoj domachi jezik bolj chisto govoré, je dobro umel njih govorjenje, in tudi Reziani so njega razumeli. Verjetno je tadaj, da je jezik Rezianski prav za prav Rusovsko podnarechje, ali sadaj je zlo popachen zavoljo tega, ker zhivé Reziani v sredi Lahov in hodijo po svetu, kjer moraju mnogo druzih jezikov saj za silo govoriti. Je tadaj Reziansko narechje zmes slavjanskih, menda Rusovskih, nemshkih in lashkih ali furlanskih besed, kterim dajajo slavjanske konchnice in slavjansko sklanjanje. Ker pa kupchujejo z Nemci in z Lahi, govoré kakor smo uzhe omenili, tudi za silo nemshko in lashko. Tudi slavni Kolar v svojem slovutnem delu Staroitalia slovanska (díl I. hlava II. chlanek II. § 2. str. 209-212) govori od teh nashih Rezianov. On izpeljuje ime Rezianov od starih Etruskov tako le: »Prebivavci Etrurje so imeli tri imena, dva, da tako rechem, zunanja, namrech: Turi, Turii, Turanje, Tursci, Tusci od tur‚ vol, ogenj’; in Etrusci ali chastivci vatre, ognja pod podobo tura ali vola’; tretje ime znotrajno in domache, to je: Raseni, Razeni, to je‚ Rodjeni« ... itd. (…) Sreznevski pak pishe na omenjenem mestu: »Zlasti to je spomina vredno od dvora Gospodnice, da je zhivel tukej, kakor pravi ustno sporochilo, pervi zachetnik Rezianov, ki je prishel iz Rushije, t. j. iz Rusije, kakor to razlaga Reverendissimus Dominus Odorico Buttolo« – « [cit.: Reziani; Sholski Prijatel – chasopis za sholo in dom, 1856]. Kljub dolocheni problematichnosti tovrstne etimologije je simptomalna sorodnost besed Rezija, Retija (Retijci ali Retoromani v Shvici), Reti in Raseni (oboji Etrurci), Rasha (reka in naselje v Istri), Rashka (reka in naselje v JZ Srbiji, Sandzhak, ime Rascia za staro Srbijo s prestolnico Ras) tako z variantami imena Rusija (Rossija, Rasija) kot tudi z imenom venetske boginje Reitija (Rehtia, Reisia) in praslovanskega svetishcha Retra (Rhetra, Rethtra) na podrochju Luzhice (o tem prim.: Branko J. Hribovshek, Imeni Raetia in Schwyz, SRP 7576/2006 in 77-78/2007). (Izbor, priredba, prevod pesmi Devica Marija v knjizhni jezik in opomba ur. I. A.) LiVeS Journal 163 NOTE ON TRINKO’S RESIANS In connection with Trinko’s text on the Resians (see above II) it is appropriate to mention the »Carinthian connection«. Alongside the purely linguistic aspect (in more ancient times there were links between the Resian dialect and Carinthian Slovenian but later it was the littoral and Venetian Slovenian components that dominated) there is also a specific literary aspect: Andrej Einspieler (1813-1888), Slovenian Carinthian priest and cultural and political worker, known as the »father of the Carinthian Slovenians« (as Trinko was the »father of the Venetian Slovenians«), founder of the newspapers Sholski prijatelj, Slovenec in Mir and Mohorjeva Druzhba (together with Slomshek and Janezhich in 1851; in 2011 this legendary publishing house, which »taught the Slovenians how to read,« is celebrating its 160th anniversary), published two of Trinko’s related essays: Beneshki Slovenci (Sh. prijatelj, 1852) and Resians (ibid., 1856). The latter is very typical considering Trinko’s determined rejection of the »apparent relationship« between the names Rezija (Resia) and Russia, so there follows a longish quotation related to this topic from Einspieler: »Old people say that the Resians came to their present-day home from Russia. In the time of great wars, some Russians sought refuge in this valley where nobody had lived before; they settled here, built houses and lived in peace, and the place was named Resia after them. The Resian language is also very similar to Russian; for when the Russians were retreating from these parts, a Russian also came to Resia and when he spoke to the older inhabitants of Resia who speak a purer version of their language, he could understand very well what they were saying and the Resians too understood what he said. It is probable, therefore, that the Resian language is in fact a dialect of Russian, but now it has been badly distorted because the Resians live amongst the Italians and travel around where they have to speak at least a little of many other languages. Is the Resian dialect, therefore, a mixture of Slavic – supposedly Russian, German and Italian or Friulian words to which they give Slav endings and Slav declensions? As they trade with Germans and Italians they speak, as I have already mentioned, some German and Italian. The renowned Kolar too in his famous work Staroitalia slovanska (díl I. hlava II. chlanek II. § 2. pp. 209-212) mentions these Resians of ours. He derives the name of the Resians from the ancient Etruscans as follows: »The inhabitants of Etruria had three names, two so-called external ones: Turi, Turii, Turanje, Tursci, Tusci from tur‚ ox, fire’; and the Etruscans or worshippers of fire symbolised by the ox’; the third name was internal and used at home: Raseni, Razeni, which is‚ Rodjeni [‘born’]« ... etc. (…) Meanwhile, Sreznjevski wrote: »What is most noteworthy about the settlement of Gospodnica is that here lived, as oral tradition says, the first Resian who came from Russia, as explained by Reverendissimus Dominus Odorico Buttolo« – [cit.: Reziani; Sholski Prijatel – periodical for school and home, 1856]. Despite the problematic nature of this kind of etymology, similarities between the following words: Resia, Raetia (the Rhaeti or Rhaetoromans in Switzerland), Reti and Raseni (both Etrurians), Rasha (river and village in Istria), Rashka (river and town in SW Serbia, Sandzhak, the name Rascia for medieval Serbia with its capital Ras) and variants of Russia (Rossija, Rasija) as well as the name of the Venetian goddess Reitija (Rehtia, Reisia) and the ancient Slav temple Retra (Rhetra, Rethtra, Radgosc) near Luzhice are nevertheless striking (on this case.: Branko J. Hribovshek, Imeni Raetia in Schwyz, SRP 75-76/2006 and 77-78/2007). (Selected, adapted and noted by Ivo Antich) Translated from Slovenian by Marko Petrovich LiVeS Journal 164 Radivoje Peshich SLOVANSTVO IN MI V NJEM NA PRAGU TRETJEGA TISOCHLETJA – CIVILIZACIJA BREZ MILOSTI Raziskovanja zgodovine bolezni nashe civilizacije trajajo zhe dolgo in tako se tudi sámo to raziskovanje spreminja v bolezen, ki paralizira njegova prizadevanja zhe v izhodishchu. Univerzalni sistemi so opushcheni. Prenasichenost z artificialnimi znamenji je privedla do zelo tezhko ozdravljivih ali sploh neozdravljivih mozhganskih zastrupitev. Svet ne more pomiriti vseh svojih mochi. Uporaba chutil je zakrnela. Funkcija jezika je tako obrabljena, tako nestvarna, da sploh vech ne obstaja. Prizadevamo si za nove oblike, ki zhe s samim tem prizadevanjem postajajo antioblike, ker vech ne opazhamo oblik okoli sebe. Ishchemo substancialne analogije, ki nas vlechejo v koncentrichne kroge. Zdavnaj zastareli modeli shole so izmalichili she tisto malo preostale energije. Vzhodna civilizacija dozhivlja nova duhovna in materialna unichevanja. Zahodna civilizacija, tako kaotichno in spacheno skonstruirana, ima eminenten cilj, da chloveku vzame dusho. Prevech je zozhen prostor med Vzhodom in Zahodom. Ta prostor ni zozhen v smislu priblizhevanja, temvech v smislu neprepoznavanja. Velja kot razpoka, ki bi jo bilo po mozhnosti potrebno zapolniti z radioaktivnimi odpadki Evrope, ne pa kot sveta zemlja, na kateri edino lahko pride do pomiritve pobesnelih strasti tako imenovane nove civilizacije ali she nedefiniranega, toda surovo ponujenega novega svetovnega reda. Vsi kontinenti so odkriti. Moramo se sprijazniti s tem dejstvom. Prazni otoki ne morejo dolgo obstajati v svoji idili, ker jih navelichani iskalci silijo v asimilacijo s to nasho, v vsakem primeru porazheno civilizacijo. Pot v vesolje ne obeta nove Zemlje. Vse mozhnosti bega in izolacije so izchrpane. Preostaja nam le novi duhovni kontinent, ki resnichno obstaja in presega nashe ponesrecheno upanje in potrpljenje. Tako religije kot ideologije so porazile same sebe. Ljudem so odvech posredniki za komunikacijo z Bogom. She manj potrebe chutijo ljudje do posrednikov, ki bi jih odtujevali od Boga. Zagovorniki evolucije in revolucij, novih ideologij in idealov, hkrati smeshni in bedni, she naprej sejejo svoje jalove viruse, ki se ljudem gnusijo in se jih izogibajo. Lastniki kapitala in orozhja, ki so zmalichili svojo vest z nezadrzhno pohoto, v svojem obupu in veseljachenju lahko le unichijo ves svet, ki mu zagotovo sploh ne pripadajo, toda v njegovem unichenju bodo naposled lahko nashli tudi lastno smrt. LiVeS Journal 165 Radivoje Peshich SLAVDOM AND WE IN IT AT THE THRESHOLD OF THE THIRD MILLENNIUM – CIVILIZATION WITHOUT MERCY Research into the history of the illnesses of our civilization has lasted as long to convert itself into a kind of illness itself paralyzing its tendencies from the very start. The universal systems have been abandoned. The saturation of the artificial signs led to brain poisoning of the hardly curable or the incurable. The world cannot reconcile all its forces. The use of senses has been stunted. The language function is as exhausted and unreal as to the point of stopping to exist. We tend to create new forms that convert themselves into their very opposites as we fail to recognize the forms proper at all. We search for substantial analogues that, on their part, suck us into concentric circles. The obsolete school models mutilated even the tiniest particle of energy left to us. The East civilization experiences new spiritual and material destructions. On the other hand, the West civilization, construed in a chaotic, even distorted way, sets upon to destroy the human spirit. The space between the East and the West has been drastically cut down. The very aim was not to draw them together, but to make them mutually even less recognizable. The space has been considered a precipice, to be, by chance, filled up with the European radioactive waste, and not a sacred soil on which reconciliation could only be achieved of outraged passions of the so called new civilization and, up to now not even defined, but cruelly introduced, new world order. All the continents have been discovered. This is a fact. Even deserted islands cannot for long enjoy their idyllic peace; the weary explorers have pushed them into assimilation with our civilization, which, in any case, shows to be a defeated one. Journey into Cosmos does not promise a discovery of a new land. All means of escape and isolation have been exhausted. What is only left to us is a new spiritual continent standing above our frustrated hopes and sufferings, which shows to be the truth itself. Both, the religions and ideologies have defeated themselves proper. The world does not need a mediator for his communication with God. And even less does it need any mediator to alienate it from God. The patrons of evolution and revolutions, of new ideologies and ideals, ridiculous and poorly as they might be, keep spreading even further their fruitless viruses rejected with repugnance and fierceness by the world. Poisoning their own conscience with overwhelming lust, possessors of overall capital and arms, could only, in their own despair and joviality, destroy the whole world, to which they did not belong at all, and thus, in its destruction, meet, at last, their own death. 166 LiVeS Journal Ali je chloveshtvo lahko she naprej izpostavljeno temu brutalnemu ponizhanju, temu krutemu koncu? Ali je chloveshtvo zares tako nemochno, da se ne more zoperstaviti lopovom in nevednezhem, ki mu vladajo. Konec koncev, ali se je chloveshtvo sploh sprijaznilo s tako chrno lastno usodo? Mnozhica religij in sekt je preplavila chloveshtvo povsod po planetu. Mnozhica trgovcev s chloveshkimi dushami ponuja reshitev sveta. Seansa mrachnjashtva ne ponehuje. Zhivljenje se zhe zdavnaj dogaja v duhovni kataklizmi. Energija sovrashtva na svetu, nenehno spodbujana z novimi medsebojnimi spori v svetu, je povzrochila spremembo klime. Zbujanje vulkanov, premiki zemeljskih tal, pohod smrtonosnih bolezni v chloveshkem organizmu in celotni naravi. Ker ni vajen videti sebe takega, kot je, chlovek samemu sebi pomeni nichevost. Ko tvega svoje zhivljenje, nima nobenega obchutka za tveganja, na katera je obsodil svoje prihodnje narashchaje. Prezhet z obchutkom odtujenosti, je odtujil vse okrog sebe. Nima svoje preteklosti, odreka se svoje prihodnosti. Zhivi v trenutku, ki ni njegov, v trenutku, ki mu manjka. Zhivi v nekakshnem medchasu, ker je lastni chas iznichil, hitech k nekemu cilju, ki ga ni na obzorju, ki ga nima niti v lastni iluziji. Chloveshtvo se zaveda svoje nesreche. In najpogosteje jo jemlje le kot modno resnichnost. Na vsakem koraku potekajo pogovori o usodi sveta, na vsakem koraku vsi ponujajo reshitve ne glede na stopnjo lastnega osnovnega znanja. Neshteto norih projekcij sveta je v dosegu roke. Podivjana mashinerija destruktivnosti in lazhi ne ustavlja svojega delovanja, ko izpira chloveshko zavest na razlichnih koncih sveta. Pojavlja se na tisoche mogochnikov, na tisoche reshiteljev. Ljudje pa vseeno ostajajo osamljeni in nemochni v svojem trpljenju, osamljeni in nemochni pred lastno konchno katastrofo. Vse ponujene nove utopije vodijo v novo, vse bolj surovo nasilje. Osvajalci tuje svobode vsiljujejo svojo svobodo v imenu namishljene svobode osebnosti. Tako nasilnezhi prevzemajo vlogo osvoboditeljev in vodijo svet v nov sistem suzhenjstva. Vsi imperiji so le navidezno mrtvi. Nikoli jih ni bilo toliko na vseh podrochjih zhivljenja, kot jih je zdaj v tej nashi danashnji civilizaciji. In vsi gojijo iste sanje, iste tezhnje, ista orodja in orozhja, s katerimi vsak dan pohabljajo ljudi, da bi jih obdrzhali v pokorshchini, v vsakdanjem strahu in trepetu, v negotovosti glede pravice do lastnega zhivljenja. Zhivljenje pa se dogaja, kakor da se to dogaja tam nekje nekomu drugemu, kakor da bo vse to shlo mimo nas in nashih najblizhjih. Svet ne sme obtichati v tragichni ravnodushnosti, v katero je zashel. Po drugi strani pa so samotna iskanja smisla vnaprej anatemizirana kot neubogljivost, kot nevarna igra in bogokletstvo. Kdo so sodniki? Uporabimo Sokratov sklep: »Tisti, ki jih je obsodila narava.« LiVeS Journal 167 Is it possible for Mankind to be exposed even further to such a brutal and cruel end? Is Mankind really so weak not to be able to withstand the vagabonds and ignoramuses who rule it? Finally, has Mankind acquiesced to such a grim fate? A great number of various religions and religious sects have overflowed our planet. The equal numbers of vendors of human souls offer salvation of the world. Bigotry keeps spreading and does not quiver at all. Spiritual cataclysm has for long encompassed our lives. Energy stemming from overall hate, constantly fed by new mutual clashes of nations, has caused the change of climate, eruption of volcanoes, movements of soil, mortal diseases of human organism, of the whole structure of nature. Unaccustomed to see himself tor what he really was, man realized now how low he had fallen. Risking his own life, he rejected all thoughts of risks he had condemned his future generations to. Thriving on the feeling of alienation, he keeps alienating everything near his reach. He did not have a past; he denounced his future. He lived in somebody else's time, in a moment that is missing. He lived in a kind of interim time, having destructed his own time, scurrying to an aim yet not appearing on the horizon, not even in his illusions. Mankind is aware of its own disaster. Most often, it considers it only a fashionable reality. Discourses on the fate of the world have been heard on every corner, and what's more, everybody offers solution no matter what degree of their elementary knowledge. Great many ludicrous projections of the world have been at hand. The raging machinery of destruction and lies has not stopped to whitewash the conscience of men no matter in which part of the world they live. Thousands of men came to power, and as many volunteer to save the world. In spite of this, world remained alone and powerless in its suffering, alone and powerless in front of its final catastrophe. All new utopias offered, led to greater and cruder violence. The conquerors of foreign freedoms impose their own liberty in the name of the so-called personal liberty. Thus, conquerors take over the role of liberators and lead the world into a new system of slavery. All empires are dead only provisionally, never have there been as many in all fields of our lives, as there were in our present civilization. And all of them have the same dreams, the same tendencies, means and arms daily to smite the world in order to keep it obedient, in fear and anxiety for its sheer everyday existence, and alarmed for its own right to live. And life is rolling on in the fashion that everything that is happening, always happens to somebody else, as if all this will evade our next of kin and us. More tragic indifference than this could not have overcome the world. On the other hand, lonesome search for quintessence of life has beforehand been anathematized as disobedience, as a dangerous charade and a blasphemy. Who might the judges be? Let's exploit Socrates' conclusion: "those, condemned by nature". 168 LiVeS Journal Ali je po vsem tem sploh she mogoche oklevati? Ali ni zhe prepozno za kakrshen koli poskus iztreznitve? Ali je mozhno ponuditi kakshno novo projekcijo sveta, ne da bi se pri tem zashlo v she eno protislovje v slepi ulici, v katero so zashle vse dosedanje projekcije? Ali je v obstojechi konstelaciji mogoche uporabiti tisti zmeraj prisotni zharek neizprosne resnice dostojnega bivanja? Martin Luther je v trenutku svojega razsvetljenja vzkliknil: »Pojdimo na Vzhod, pojdimo k izvirom!« – Toda na Vzhod ni mogoche oditi z domishljavo namero vsiliti mu svojo svobodo, ker ravno Vzhod je svoboda »par lui même«. Na Vzhodu je prva oseba ednine tvad (ti), ne pa mad (jaz); jushmad (ti, vi, vidva), ne pa asmad (jaz, mi, midva). Ali se svet zmore sprijazniti s to gramatiko filozofije zhivljenja in pristopiti k izvirom, ni zanesljivo. Pot do resnice je tezhka, a je vendarle edina. Vse drugo je brezpotje. Svet pa se nahaja na krizhishchu neskonchnosti. A kljub vsemu, tudi che bi bili to pripravljeni sprejeti, ne moremo podlechi agresiji nesmisla, ki nam vsiljuje skepso. Kajti ta agresija izvaja udarce na narobno stran, na tisto namrech, v kateri zhivimo. Obraz resnice pa je onkraj te narobne strani. Neviden je prav za nas, ker se ne obrachamo k njemu, da bi ga prepoznali. Neprepoznaven je tudi za agresijo. Mi sami smo ga zavrgli, da bi lahko sprejeli narobno stran, ki je spremenljiva in jo kar naprej spreminjamo. A edino na tisti drugi strani smo lahko sami sebi uchitelji, sami sebi sodniki in gospodarji. Le tam se lahko zavarujemo pred agresijo nesmisla. Kmalu bo za nami ostal krvavi ocean drugega tisochletja. V tem oceanu so potonili mnogi svetovi. Za nami bosta ostala Hiroshima in Nagasaki. Ampak je vprashanje, ali bosta res ostala za nami. Predvsem je nujno obvladati okamenelo institucijo in osvoboditi voljo, ki so jo zvezali dosedanji sistemi izobrazhevanja in vzgajanja. Nujno je soochiti se z novimi kulturami in sprevideti, da so vse skupaj podobne druga drugi. Zdi se, kot da so bile izgovorjene zhe vse besede, kot da so zhe zajete vse razsezhnosti, kot da so blokirane vse mozhnosti za razvoj kreativnega duha. Nujno je osvoboditi se mehanichnega delovanja zavesti. Protislovne kulture nashe civilizacije so zmotile strukturo bioloshkega spomina. Duhovno in materialno asimetrichne, obremenjene edino le s skrbjo za lastno dvorishche in za lastne mitologije, korakajoch prek trupel, ne morejo vech ponuditi nichesar razen svoje psevdomoralnosti. Novi narashchaji ne morejo biti vech na zatozhni klopi. Nasha civilizacija nima pravice do chasa, ki prihaja, saj ni imela pravice niti do svojega chasa, ki ga je pohabila, iz njega je naredila pushchavo. Novi narashchaji imajo pravico do lastne shole, do raziskovanja lastne raziskovalne energije, do uporabe lastne zavesti. Ta shola bo vsekakor brez ubogljivcev in sharlatanov. Ne bo razdedinjena od lastne identitete, ki se ne more vech poistovetiti s katero koli obliko programiranja svetlobe in svetosti. LiVeS Journal 169 After all this, can we hesitate more? Is it not too late to try to sober up? Can we offer a new projection of the world and by doing so not to trap ourselves in yet another contradiction, in another blind street where all the other projections up to now have ended? Can we notice the ever-present ray of relentless truth of worthy survival in the existing constellation? In a moment of his illumination, Martin Luther cried: "Let's go to the East, find our origins!" But, you cannot go to the East with a purpose to impose your own liberty, as the East itself is the liberty proper, par lui meme. In the East, the first person of singular is tad (you), not mad (1), juba (you, both of you), not as mad (I, we, both of us). It is quite questionable whether the world can come to terms with this kind of grammar of life philosophy and set out to find its origins. Path leading to the truth is very toilsome, but nevertheless, unique at that. Everything else is meaningless. And the world has reached its crossroad to eternity. In spite of all this, even if we were ready, we must withstand the aggression of stupidity that, on its part, forces skepticism upon us. For, this very aggression keeps smothering the reverse side of our living. The face of truth is on the other side of the reverse. It is invisible to ourselves alone, as we fail to turn towards it to recognize it. It is unrecognizable even for the aggression itself. We have rejected it to embrace the changeable reverse, which, again, we keep changing constantly. But only on this other side can we become our own teachers, be our own judges and our own masters. And withstand the aggression of the meaningless. Very soon, the blood ocean of the second millennium will remain behind our backs. Many civilizations had been drowned in it. Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the past for us. But the question is, will they remain behind? First, it is very important to conquer the petrified institution as such, and liberate the will restricted by existing education systems. It is imperative to face new cultures and comprehend that all of them are alike. As if all words were said, all dimensions encompassed. As if all areas for development of creative spirit were blocked. It is imperative to free ourselves from mechanical functioning of mind. The structure of biological memory was disrupted by contradictory cultures of our civilization. Spiritually and materially asymmetrical, preoccupied for their own yards and mythologies only, threading over corpses, they could not offer anything else but their pseudo-morality. New generations cannot be put to trial anymore. Our civilization has no rights to the forthcoming time, as it did not have rights to its own time, having destroyed it entirely and having left complete chaos behind. New generations have rights to their own education, to the research of their own creative energies, to the use of their own minds. Their educational systems will be bereft of blind obedience and charlatans. It will keep its identity that could not, in any way, be identified with any form of light and sanctity programming. 170 LiVeS Journal Edini korak, ki ga ta civilizacija lahko naredi na pragu tretjega tisochletja, je v osvobajanju iz ujetosti, na katero obsojajo prihodnje narashchaje. Vse priprave na sprejem tretjega tisochletja obsojajo prihodnje narashchaje. Vse priprave na sprejem tretjega tisochletja so bile, kot se je pokazalo, napachno usmerjene. Sicer pa tretje tisochletje niti ne pripada svetu te sedanje civilizacije. Tujega chasa si ni mogoche nasilno prilashchati. Ni jasno, ali je nasha civilizacija zmozhna narediti ta korak. A gotovo je, da smo najprej in predvsem dolocheni za razumevanje nas samih. Da pa bi razumeli sami sebe, je nujno osredotochiti energijo v razumevanje drugih. Tako bi prishli do razumevanja same dushe. Potrebno je torej iti do same dushe. Iti tudi do dush vseh ljudi, do dush zhivali in rastlin, do dushe materije. Iti do dushe vesolja. Edino to nas lahko vrne iz lastnega izgnanstva. Nas, tukaj v Evropi, in nas, tam na drugih celinah. Nas v nashi preteklosti in nas pred zadnjo preizkushnjo. Chloveshke mozhnosti so neomejene, kot je zhe opominjal Shakespeare. Toda chlovek nashe civilizacije mora konchno dojeti, da ne more vech biti superioren nad naravo. SLOVANSTVO IN MI V NJEM Slovanstvo – in mi v njem – je shlo zlasti v zadnjih nekaj letih skozi zelo tezhko fazo svojega razvoja. Teh nekaj let v bistvu pomeni odlochilni trenutek, od katerega je odvisno, kako bo in ali sploh bo obstala slovanska civilizacija. Uresnichevanje mrachnega projekta za unichenje slovanske civilizacije traja zhe dolgo s spremenljivim uspehom, toda zdi se, da je v sedanjem trenutku dosegla svojo najbolj okrutno raven. Razdiranje se je zachelo od znotraj in je zajelo vse strukture, vse institucije, prodirajoch v najglobljo preteklost, ki jo zanikuje in ji vsiljuje obup in brezupnost. Za dosego takega stanja je bilo potrebno pridobiti shtevilne slovanske izrodke. Ti so zavrgli sleherno moralno komponento in sprejeli vlogo uresnichevalcev projektov, ki v koreninah unichujejo identiteto ljudstva, iz katerega so tudi oni sami vzniknili. Zarota anglosaksonske koalicije zoper slovansko civilizacijo ima svoje izvire v globlji preteklosti, toda danes je razgaljena kot she nikoli doslej. Njeni hlapci so na vsakem koshchku nashega okolja prepoznavni po svoji metodologiji degradiranja sleherne vrednosti slovanske civilizacije. Ti privrzhenci ponizhnosti in strahu so zavzeli kljuchne polozhaje v vseh institucijah druzhbenega, kulturnega, prosvetnega in znanstvenega zhivljenja in tako uspeli vsiliti tolikshno duhovno sterilnost in umsko odvisnost, da se jim je tezhko zoperstaviti brez posledic. Zashchiteni s plashchem uradnosti in zvenechih nazivov, ki so jih dosegli kot politichno primerni, she naprej v imenu nekakshne nove demokracije umazano varajo narod ter mu nakazujejo navidezne izhode iz tezhke situacije, v katero so ga pravzaprav ravno oni zapeljali, in to z namenom, da bi ga v tem tudi pustili, saj bi tako izpolnili zaobljubo svojim gospodarjem. LiVeS Journal 171 The only step for this civilization on the threshold of the third millennium is to liberate the future generations of all possible restraints. All preparations to welcome the third millennium, as it came out, were erroneously directed. Anyway, the third millennium does not belong to the world of this civilization. Somebody else's time cannot he usurped. It is disputable whether our civilization is able to make this unique step. First and above all, it is evident and even imperative, to comprehend us alone. To be able to do this it is necessary to direct our energy towards comprehension of others. In this way, we could achieve comprehension of the very soul. It is necessary to reach the soul itself, to comprehend the soul of the whole world, of the animals and the plants, of the matter proper, to understand the soul of the universe. This is the only way to free us from our own exile. Both us here in Europe and us there on the other continents; us in our past and us at the threshold of our last temptation. Shakespeare stressed that human possibilities were unlimited. The man of our civilization, however, must finally grasp that he cannot any longer be superior of nature. SLAVDOM AND WE IN IT Slavdom, and we in it, has been undergoing a very difficult phase in the course of our development, particularly during these last years. These several years represent the crucial moment on which the survival of the Slav civilization depends. The implementation of the monstrous project to destroy the Slav civilization has been lasting very long with varied success, but this time, it seems, it has reached its most brutal point. The destruction has begun from within, embracing all structures and all institutions, reaching to the deepest past, denying it and forcing upon us despair and hopelessness. In order to achieve this aim it was necessary to win over a great number of Slav turncoats. Stripped from any moral component, they accepted to head these projects, uprooting the identity of the peoples they themselves belonged to. The plot of the Anglo-Saxon coalition against the Slav civilization draws its roots from a much deeper past, but today, it has been stripped naked as never hitherto. Their lackeys are recognizable on every corner of our surroundings by their methodology of degradation of all the Slav civilization values. Having taken all the key positions in all the institutions of social, cultural, educational and scientific fields, the spineless addicts to humiliation and fear, succeeded to impose on others the kind of spiritual sterility and conditioning of mind nearly impossible to oppose without grave consequences. Protected by a mask of officiality and imposing titles acquired as politically suitable, they continued abominably to cheat the nation in the name of some kind of new democracy, pointing out to the socalled exits out of the difficult situation, in fact, having been dragged into it by them, with the one and only aim to leave them stuck where they were, as having had promised to their masters. 172 LiVeS Journal Slovanska historiografija 19. stoletja je poskushala razsvetliti mnoge strani zgodovine slovanske civilizacije. Toda historiografija 20. stoletja je odlochno zavrgla te raziskave kot nezanesljive. Pravzaprav je historiografija 20. stoletja sprejela tako imenovano nordijsko zgodovinsko sholo, ki je skonstruirala preteklost evropske civilizacije, nakazujoch vsestransko prednost nordijskih plemen in narodov. V tej skonstruirani zgodovini Slovani niso imeli niti sekundarne vloge v razvoju evropske civilizacije. Tako falsificirana zgodovina pa je bila vsiljena tudi Slovanom kot njihova edina zgodovina in usoda. S to falsificirano zgodovino she danes manipulirajo protagonisti imaginarne nove svetovne ureditve. Po drugi strani pa suzhenjska ubogljivost njihovih tukajshnjih sluzhabnikov ne odneha v svojem mrachnem pohodu zoper resnico, in to je privedlo do najnovejshega trpljenja slovanskih narodov, she posebej nas med njimi. In medtem ko imamo na eni strani falsifikatorje in protagoniste teh falsifikatov, imamo na drugi strani mnozhico strokovnih jalovcev, ki prav tako s svojo osupljivo nevednostjo skushajo vnashati zmedo, da bi se z negiranjem vsega vkljuchili v tokove znanosti. S pomochjo politichnih zvijach mnogi nosilci znanstvenih kompetenc pri nas she naprej blokirajo vsako novo znanstveno misel, vsak nov korak, ki bi nas priblizhal resnici na poti k identiteti. Naredili so neznosno ustvarjalno ozrachje, ki je iz nashe dezhele odgnalo mnogo nadarjenih ljudi. Take nosilce kulture in znanosti, ki so kot politichno primerni zavzeli vodilna mesta v kljuchnih institucijah znanosti in kulture, bi bilo treba naravnost pregnati iz teh institucij, che res zhelimo, da se nashi izgnani misleci vrnejo k svojim ognjishchem. Che res zhelimo, da bi imeli znanost in kulturo. Tudi danes so znane mnoge osebnosti iz tega sveta znanosti in kulture, ki svojo nevednost in svojo nenadarjenost branijo prek medijskih institucij z izsiljevanjem, grozhnjami, s peticijami, kakor nekoch v chasu cirkularnih pisem ideoloshkih komisij; tako zlorabijo institucije, ki so jih svojchas uzurpirali s svojo politichno vdanostjo rezhimu. Shkodo, ki jo nashi znanosti in kulturi povzrochajo te garniture mogochnikov, je nemogoche oceniti. Ti mogochniki so taka sramota za nasho znanost in kulturo v ocheh sveta, da jo bo tezhko izbrisati v doglednem chasu. Mladim generacijam je nujno podariti vse zaupanje in jim priporochiti, naj ne sledijo zgledom svojih uchiteljev. To je tragichno, toda to je usoda nashih mladih narashchajev na podrochju znanosti in kulture ter na vseh podrochjih zhivljenja. Le mladi narashchaji, ki bodo izolirani od svojih konservativnih uchiteljev, lahko prinesejo novo ustvarjalno ozrachje. To so tudi zhe potrdili s svojim delom po svetu. LiVeS Journal 173 The Slav historiography of the XIX century tried to enlighten many pages of the Slav civilization history. The historiography of the XX century, however, categorically rejected those researches as unreliable. In fact, the historiography of the XX century accepted the so-called Nordic historical school, which construed the past of the European civilization, giving advantage to the Nordic tribes and peoples in everything. In such a construed history, the Slavs have not been given even the secondary place in the development of the European civilization. The history, falsified in this manner, has consequently been imposed on the Slavs themselves as their own, one and only, history and fate. The protagonists of the imaginary new world order, even today, manipulate with this false history. Their lackeys over here, on the other hand, obediently oppose the truth causing the most recent sufferings of the Slav peoples and particularly those of ours. While, on one hand, we have forgers and protagonists of the forgers, on the other, we have a large number of barren professionals trying to create confusion with their abominable ignorance and, by negation of everything, incorporate themselves into the streams of science. Resorting to the political trickeries, many advocates of science at home quench every new scientific thought, every new step to approach the truth, which draws us nearer to our identity. They have created unbearable creative climate, which banished many talented people out of the country. If we really want these talented people to come back to their homeland, all we have to do is to expel from the leading posts in the key cultural and scientific institutions, all the advocates of such a culture and science, who grabbed these posts for only quality they had, their political suitability. This has to be done if we really want to have science and culture. Even today, many prominent personalities belonging to that scientific and cultural world defend their ignorance and lack of talents through the media institutions by extortions, menaces and petitions, as it was the case at the time of circular letters of ideological commissions, abusing these institutions, which they had usurped at the time on the basis of their loyalty to the regime. Damages made to our science and culture by these powerful groups was immeasurable. They brought about an enormous shame to our science and culture and it would take long to make it right again. It is necessary to grant every confidence to young generation, recommending to them not to follow in the footsteps of their teachers. This is tragic, but such is the fate of our young generation in the fields of science and culture, practically in all the fields of life. Only the young generation, isolated from their conservative teachers will be able to bring about new creative climate. They have confirmed it by their work abroad. 174 LiVeS Journal Nova zgodovinska shola pri nas je nastala ravno kot nujna potreba za nash obstoj. Dogmatichna shola v znanosti, zlasti v zgodovinopisju, je v zadnjih petdesetih letih privedla do katastrofalnih posledic za znanost. Obremenjena le s trenutnimi ideoloshkimi in politichnimi zahtevami, je ta shola prevzemala vlogo superiornega razsodnika pri razlagah zgodovinskih resnic, pri tem pa je sluzhila izkljuchno le vladajochi ideologiji, ne pa znanosti. Nova zgodovinska shola popolnoma in dokonchno zavracha tako znanost ter se posvecha svobodnemu raziskovanju in interpretiranju novih zgodovinskih virov, pri tem pa svojo orientacijo osmishlja transhistorichno in jo utemeljuje v strogo znanstveni zakonitosti. Rezultati te nove zgodovinske shole so bili predstavljeni na nekaj znanstvenih srechanjih pri nas kot tudi z osebnim delovanjem posameznih privrzhencev te shole. Ti rezultati so vzbudili veliko zanimanje v shirshih krogih pri nas, pa tudi v znanstvenih krogih po svetu. To potrjujejo ravno vabila k sodelovanju z mnogih univerz po svetu. Iz vsega tega pa je vzniknilo konstituiranje Slovanskega inshtituta v Novem Sadu. Ta inshtitut ravnokar uresnichuje veliki projekt zgodovine slovanske civilizacije skozi pet tisochletij pred Kristusom do danes. Vrata Slovanskega inshtituta so odprta za vse zainteresirane strokovnjake, ki se ukvarjajo z raziskovanjem slovanske civilizacije. V zadnjem chasu je to zanimanje naraslo tako pri nas kot v svetu. Delo Inshtituta je naletelo na zelo resen sprejem pri mnogih znanstvenikih. Sicer pa Inshtitut zheli izkazati zaupanje mladim znanstvenim narashchajem in v tem smislu deluje z vso pozornostjo. (iz knjige: Obtozhujem molk, Beograd, 2003) Prevod iz srbshchine Ivo Antich LiVeS Journal 175 The new historical school at home has been established as the basic need of our survival. During the last fifty years, the dogmatic school in science, particularly in historiography, had catastrophic consequences upon the science. Burdened only by the ideological and political demands of the moment, that school took over the part of the superior arbiter in interpretation of historical truth, serving exclusively to the ruling ideology, not the science itself. The new historical school has completely and definitively rejected such a science and dedicated itself to a free research and interpretation of new historical sources, giving its orientation a transhistorical meaning based on strict scientific laws. The results of this new historical school were presented at several scientific meetings in our country as well as through the individual work of some followers of this school. These results evoked great interest within the wider circles at home as well as within the scientific circles abroad. This has been confirmed by invitations for cooperation by many universities in the world. The constitution of the Slavonic Institute in Novi Sad was a result of all afore mentioned. This Institute is at hand engaged on the implementation of a great project of the history of the Slav civilization from 5000 years B.C. to the present day. The Slavonic Institute is open to all professionals engaged in research of the Slav civilization. Lately, this interest has augmented both at home and abroad. The Slavonic Institute already cooperates with over eighty universities and institutes in the world. Many scientists think very highly of the work of the Institute. The Institute wants to engage young scientists and is doing its best to get its aim. (from the book: I accuse the silence, Beograd, 2001) Translated from Serbian by Olivera Popovich LiVeS Journal 176 Ivo Antich KDAJ SO SLOVENCI PRISHLI V SVOJO SEDANJO DOMOVINO? V nemshko-slovenskem zborniku razprav o (pretezhno) koroshki zgodovini Karantanien-Ostarrichi: 1001 Mythos (Mohorjeva; Celovec-Dunaj-Ljubljana, 1997) je Peter Shtih v svojem pregledu z naslovom Avtohtonistichne in podobne teorije pri Slovencih in na Slovenskem (kot tretji zgodovinar po Francu Kosu in Bogu Grafenauerju, prvi zhe 1896, drugi 1982) kritichno obrachunal z Davorinom Trstenjakom kot vodilnim med starejshimi slovenskimi zagovorniki t. i. avtohtonistichne teorije; v tem smislu je ilustrativna naslednja navedba iz omenjene Shtihove razprave: »Med vsemi temi pa je po obsegu svojega dela, vztrajnosti in odmevnosti izstopal Davorin Trstenjak (1817-1890) … (…) Njegov popolni znanstveni dilentatizem se je kazal v nemogochem etimologiziranju in tudi mitologiziranju … (…) Toda kljub gorechnosti s katero je branil avtohtonistichno teorijo je Trstenjak v starejshih letih zmogel toliko poguma in poshtenja, da se ji je vsaj posredno odpovedal, ko je v razgovoru z Matijom Murkom, slavistom, literarnim zgodovinarjem in klasikom slovenske etnologije, dejal: Vi imate Mikloshicheve in druge jezikoslovne knjige, kaj pa smo imeli mi, ko smo zacheli?« (cit. n. d. str. 30, natanko po predlogi, brez slovnichnopravopisnih popravkov). V Murkovem chlanku z naslovom Rodoljubna knjiga brez rodoljubja (Veda, 1911), ki je sicer ironichno unichujocha recenzija knjige drugega »zloglasnega« avtohtonista Martina Zhunkovicha (Die Slaven, ein Urvolk Europas, Wien, 1911), mimogrede pa je omenjen tudi Trstenjak, poleg navedene, chisto anekdotichne aluzije ni nobenega sledu o tem, da bi se Trstenjak »odpovedal« svojemu delu, kateremu je posvetil zhivljenje. Lucijan Vuga v svoji knjigi Veneti v Troji (2006), ki je poglobljena, korektna in izchrpna predstavitev poglavitnih avtohtonistichnih (hipo)tez, navaja dolocheno pozitivno mnenje Franceta Bezlaja, znanega kot najvechjega slovenskega etimologa, o Trstenjaku, ter opozarja na nekatere markantne sodobne tuje »avtohtoniste« (Alinei, Peshich, Renfrew, Semerano itd.), katerih pogledov spricho tudi formalno neoporechnih strokovnih referenc nikakor ne bi bilo mogoche oznachiti kot »popolni znanstveni diletantizem«. Vsekakor je res, da so se zhe v chasu Trstenjakovega zhivljenja poleg uposhtevanja (celo navdushenja – zlasti iz patriotichnih slovanofilskih razlogov) pojavljali tudi kritichni odmevi na njegovo znanstveno raziskovalno-razlagalno delo. V zvezi s tem je slikovit naslednji »pesnishki primer«: LiVeS Journal 177 Ivo Antich WHEN DID SLOVENIANS COME TO THEIR PRESENT HOMELAND? In the German-Slovenian anthology of treatises dealing (mainly) with Carinthian history: Karantanien-Ostarrichi: 1001 Mythos (Mohorjeva; Celovec-Dunaj-Ljubljana, 1997), Peter Shtih in his essay entitled Autochtonistic and similar theories concerning Slovenia and the Slovenians (as the third historian after Franc Kos and Bogo Grafenauer, the former in 1896, the latter in 1982) deals critically with Davorin Trstenjak, the most prominent of the early Slovenian supporters of the so-called autochtonistic theory. Below is an excerpt from Shtih’s treatise: »Davorin Trstenjak stood out from the others due to the extent of his work, his perseverance and his renown (1817-1890) … (…) His complete academic dilettantism was evident from his poor etymology and also his mythologizing … (…) But despite the zeal with which Trstenjak defended the autochtonistic theory, in his later years he mustered enough courage and honesty to at least indirectly abandon it. In a discussion with Matija Murko, scholar of Slavonics, literary historian and classic of Slovenian ethnology, he said: You have language books by Mikloshich and others but what did we have when we started out?« (cit. n. d. pg. 30). In Murko’s article entitled A Patriotic Book without Patriotism (Veda, 1911), which is an ironically destructive review of a book by the other »notorious« autochtonist Martin Zhunkovich (Die Slaven, ein Urvolk Europas, Wien, 1911), in which Trstenjak is also briefly mentioned, there is no mention of Trstenjak other than the already cited, purely anecdotic hint that Trstenjak »abandoned« the work to which he devoted his life. Lucijan Vuga in his book Veneti v Troji [Veneti in Troy] (2006), which is an in-depth, professional and exhaustive presentation of the main autochtonistic (hypo)theses, mentions the positive opinion France Bezlaj (known as the greatest Slovenian etymologist) had about Trstenjak and mentions some prominent contemporary foreign »autochthonists« (Alinei, Peshich, Renfrew, Semerano etc.), whose views could by no means be designated as »complete academic dilettantism« in the light of their faultless academic references. It is true that already in Trstenjak’s lifetime he was respected (and even received with enthusiasm – especially for patriotic Slavophile reasons) but also criticised for his research work. The following example is particularly picturesque: LiVeS Journal 178 Trstenjaka omenja Fran Levstik v svoji satirichni pesnitvi Slovenska literatura (1859), ki je v celoti dokaj kruto humoren, zgoshchen pregled slovenske literarne zgodovine v verzih. Na Trstenjaka se nanashajo naslednji verzi (Levstik pishe: Turstenjak – po razlagi urednika A. Slodnjaka naj bi ga tako preimenoval »zaradi njegovih etimoloshkih saltomortalov, izvajajoch njegovo ime od besede tur – prabik«; cit. F. Levstik, ZD 2, 1952, opombe, str. 415; Slodnjak pri tem ne razlozhi nenavadne Levstikove besede »sheststogubca«, ki jo sicer citira: »shestogubca«; gre za t. i. devetogub, del zhelodca prezhvekovalcev; prim. Pletershnik, Slovensko-nemshki slovar: shestogȗbəc, -bca, m. der Blättermagen der Wiederkäuer, der Psalter): (…) pa Turstenjak slavni mehove pritiska / (…) Iz sheststogubca turjega kuha Slovanom zgodbo kuhar Turstenják; mi padamo pred njim na kolena, al praska se v grobu Kollár Slovak. Naj Mikloshich se na Dunaju smeja, naj Dezhman v Ljubljani gleda v stran, nash Turstenjak svojo pot dokazuje, da nekdaj she v Afriki bil je Slovan. (…) (cit. ZD, 2, str. 206-207) V pesnitvi so zoper Trstenjaka naravnana pomembna imena, a njih relevantnost je tej v zvezi specifichno pogojena. Zakaj naj bi se Kollár tako rekoch obrachal v grobu zaradi Trstenjakovega »kuhanja« slovanske zgodbe (zgodovine) iz govejega zhelodca, ni jasno, saj je bil ta Slovak, pesnik in profesor arheologije, kot znamenit zagovornik t. i. vseslovanstva (mdr. avtor knjige Staroitalia slavjanska, 1853) eden od Trstenjakovih (hrestomatichnih) vodnikov. Sicer naj bi se Trstenjak z idejo avtohtonosti Slovencev najprej seznanil neposredno pri prijatelju Antonu Kremplu, ki je imel v svoji knjizhnici tudi Kollárjeva dela; pozneje pa je Trstenjak prevzel neobjavljeni opus preminulega Matevzha Ravnikarja Pozhénchana, raziskovalca podobne usmeritve. LiVeS Journal 179 Trstenjak is mentioned by Fran Levstik in his satirical poem Slovenska literatura (1859), which on the whole is a fairly cruelly humorous, condensed overview of Slovenian literary history in verse. The following verses refer to Trstenjak (Levstik writes: Turstenjak – editor A. Slodnjak explains that he was thus renamed »because of his etymological somersaults, deriving his name from the word tur – aurochs«; cit. F. Levstik, ZD 2, 1952, notes, pg. 415; however, Slodnjak does not explain Levstik’s unusual word »sheststogubca«, which he nonetheless quotes; this is the so-called devetogub, part of the stomach of ruminants; i.e. Pletershnik, Slovenskonemshki slovar: shestogȗbəc, -bca, m. der Blättermagen der Wiederkäuer, der Psalter): (…) and famous Turstenjak presses the bellows / (…) From the rumen of an aurochs Turstenják is cooking a story for Slavs; we are falling before him on our knees, but Kollár the Slovak is itching in his grave. Let Mikloshich in Vienna laugh, and Dezhman in Ljubljana look away, our Turstenjak proves in his own way, that once even Africa had its Slavs. (…) (cit. ZD, 2, pp. 206-207) In the poem, some important names are shown to be opposed to Trstenjak. It is not clear why Kollár should be turning in his grave if Trstenjak is »cooking« a Slav story (history) from an aurochs’ stomach for this Slovak (a poet and professor of archaeology) was a famous supporter of so-called pan-Slavism (author of: Staroitalia slavjanska, 1853) and one of Trstenjak’s (chrestomathy) guides. Trstenjak probably first got the idea that Slovenians are autochthonous from his friend Anton Krempl, who had Kollár’s works in his library; later Trstenjak took over the unpublished opus of the late Matevzh Ravnikar Pozhénchan who was a researcher in a similar domain. 180 LiVeS Journal Mikloshich, velikan slavistike, je v strokovno-poklicno-kariernem smislu tako rekoch »stvaritev« Jerneja Kopitarja, ki velja za utemeljitelja slovenistike (s slovnico, ki svoj predmet obravnava kot eno od slovanskih narechij, in to v izrazito okrnjeni obliki – brez besedotvorja in sintakse; v uvodu je, sledech Dobrovskemu, chetrto skupino narechij slovanskega jezika oznachil: »Hrvashchina s slovenshchino na Kranjskem, Shtajerskem in Koroshkem«; izv.: »Die Kroatische, mit dem Windischen in Krain, Steyermark und Kärnten.«); oba sta bila po shtudiju pravnika, radikalno formalno vzeto torej »ljubiteljska filologa«. Iz odvetnishtva v filologijo je Mikloshicha pritegnil Kopitar, ki je sicer gojil neko skupno slovansko perspektivo, najprej na osnovi skupnega latinichnega pravopisa, toda pravoslavja in Rusije ni maral (v konchnem povzetku so Kopitarjeve zamisli o avstroslavizmu in Dunaju kot – vsaj znanstvenem – sredishchu vsega slovanstva videti kot svojevrstne »fantazije«, katerih problematichnost je, kot kazhe, deloma chutil tudi sam; prim. spis: Domoljubne fantazije nekega Slovana – Patriotische Phantasien eines Slaven, 1810). Ne Mikloshich ne Kopitar v sijajni dunajski sluzhbi in praktichno nemshka (v nemshchini pishocha) znanstvenika nista mogla podpirati izrazitejshega protiavstrijskega vseslovanstva, ki je zhe tako imelo za Nemce zloveshch, celo alarmanten prizvok (poudarjati dejstvo, da so Slovani najvechja etnichna enota v habsburshki monarhiji, ni bilo priporochljivo; prim. jezikovno razmerje leta 1910: nemshchina ok. 12 mil., madzharshchina ok. 10 mil., slovanski jeziki ok. 20 mil.). Jedro Mikloshicheve in Kopitarjeve filologije je panonska teorija (o stari cerkveni slovanshchini), ki jo je temeljito razveljavil Vatroslav Oblak, lingvist po shtudiju (slavistika in primerjalno jezikoslovje, z doktoratom) s svojo makedonsko teorijo. Mikloshich je v Slavische Bibliotek II (1858) kritichno zavrnil Trstenjakove poglede na slovensko prazgodovino, doktor prava Karel Dezhman pa jih je odklanjal v kritikah in v nastopih v ljubljanskem Zgodovinskem drushtvu (Dezhman kot nachelni odpadnik od slovenstva in glasnik nemshkutarstva bi seveda she toliko tezhe soglashal s Trstenjakom). Tudi Levstikova formalna izobrazba (gimnazijec brez mature) je po svoje »iz druge zgodbe« ter vsaj v nekaterih potezah prav tako vsebuje nekaj tistega, kar kritiki obichajno ochitajo tako Trstenjaku kot sploh avtohtonistom in »venetologom«: amaterizem, diletantizem, fantaziranje. Sicer pa Levstikova satirichna pesnitev tako ali tako ostaja zunaj lingvistichne stroke, v polju literature, se pravi, da niti ni recheno, da se vse v njej povsem pokriva z avtorjevimi »pravimi pogledi«. V zvezi s Trstenjakom se potem afrishka asociacija utrne tudi zgodovinarju Francu Kosu v razpravi: Kdaj so Slovenci prishli v svojo sedanjo domovino? (Izvestja muzejskega drushtva za Slovenijo, 1896; tudi: Franc Kos, Izbrano delo, 1982). Tam pravi: »Z enako pravico bi lahko kdo trdil, da so bili afrikanski Zuavi nekdaj tudi Slavi ali Slovani.« – Znachilnost te opombe je seveda v tem, da navaja en sam primer, medtem ko Trstenjak niza kupe podatkov za svoje (hipo)teze. Kosova ad hoc domislica je povsem neprimerljivo in brezpredmetno »duhovichenje«. LiVeS Journal 181 It could be said that Mikloshich, the giant of Slavonics, was professionally and academically a »product« of Jernej Kopitar who is considered to be the founder of Slovenistics (with a grammar which considers its subject to be one of the Slav dialects, albeit in a very truncated form – without word formation and syntax; in the introduction he copied Dobrovski and labelled the fourth group of dialects of the Slav language as follows: »Croatian with Slovenian in Carniola, Styria and Carinthia« [»Die Kroatische, mit dem Windischen in Krain, Steyermark und Kärnten«]; both were jurists by profession and therefore strictly speaking »amateur philologists«. Mikloshich was drawn from his legal profession to philology by Kopitar who fostered a kind of common Slav perspective, firstly on the basis of the common Latin orthography but he did not like Orthodoxy and Russia (in the final summary, Kopitar’s ideas about Austroslavism and Vienna as an – at least academic – centre of the Slav world appear like »fantasies,« the doubtfulness of which it seems he already felt himself; see: Patriotic fantasies of a Slav – Patriotische Phantasien eines Slaven, 1810). Neither Mikloshich nor Kopitar in their grand Viennese workplaces, using German as their working language, could support a more overt anti-Austrian pan-Slavism, which already had sinister if not alarming connotations for the Germans (it was not recommended to emphasise the fact that Slavs were the largest ethnic group in the Habsburg monarchy; the language situation in 1910: German around 12 mil., Hungarian around 10 mil., Slavonic languages around 20 mil.). The core of Mikloshich’s and Kopitar’s philology is the Pannonian theory (based on Old Church Slavonic), which was completely invalidated by Vatroslav Oblak, a linguist (he studied Slavonic languages and comparative linguistics and had a doctorate), with his Macedonian theory. In Slavische Bibliotek II (1858), Mikloshich rejected Trstenjak’s views on Slovenian prehistory while the jurist Karel Dezhman rejected them in his written critiques and appearances at the Historical Society in Ljubljana (Dezhman being a Slovenian renegade and pro-German would have found it so much harder to agree with Trstenjak). Levstik’s level of formal education (he did not even pass his final grammar school exams) at least in some respects resembles what critics usually accuse Trstenjak and especially autochthonists and »venetologists« of: amateurism, dilettantism, fantasising. But in any case, Levstik’s satirical poetry remains outside the field of linguistics and within the field of literature, i.e. its content does not necessarily all conform to the author’s »real opinion«. In connection with Trstenjak, the historian Franc Kos also mentions Africa in the treatise entitled: When did Slovenians arrive in their present-day homeland? (Izvestja muzejskega drushtva za Slovenijo, 1896; also: Franc Kos, Izbrano delo, 1982). He writes: »Anyone would have as much right to claim that the African Zuavi were once Slavs.« – However, this comment only mentions one example while Trstenjak writes whole lists of information for his (hypo)theses. Kos’ ad hoc idea is just a completely incomparable and superfluous »witticism«. 182 LiVeS Journal Teoriji priselitve se logichno zastavlja vprashanje, koga so »izpodrinili« Slovani v 6. stoletju? Morda »Vlahe«, kot so nekoch rekli romaniziranim predhodnikom? Morda »Ilire«, katerih pravi potomci naj bi bili (po albanski razlagi) Albanci? Za Kopitarja so bili Srbi in Hrvati ilirski vrinek med prvotnimi strnjeno naseljenimi Slovani, ki naj bi bili avtohtoni na svojem ozemlju od izvira Drave, ob Donavi do Chrnega morja (v tem je sledil bizantinskemu Porfirogenetu in ruskemu Nestorju). So Slovani (Slovenci) prishli v prazen prostor ali so izvedli edinstveno temeljit genocid nad prvotnimi prebivalci, le deloma romaniziranimi pod rimsko upravo? O prihodu Slovencev Franc Kos pravi: »Kamor so prishli, tam so ropali, pozhigali in morili.« (v zhe omenjeni razpravi Kdaj so Slovenci prishli v svojo sedanjo domovino?; ID, str. 101). In she: »Kmalu potem je zadela juzhni Norik huda nesrecha. Slovenci so pridrli v to pokrajino ter se polastili zemlje ob Dravi in Muri. Razrushili so Tiburnijo, unichili ondotno shkofijo, prebivalce pa pomorili ali pa odvedli v suzhnost.« (ibid. str. 79). K temu pripominja: »Po pravici lahko trdimo, da so Slovenci, ko so prishli v Panonijo in Norik, postopali mnogo krvolochnejshe in okrutnejshe, kakor Langobardi, Goti in drugi germanski narodi.« (ibid. str. 79, opomba 28). Ta podoba Slovencev-Slovanov kot priseljencev v 6. stoletju se ochitno razlikuje od pravljichne podobe slovanskih dobrichin, ki so igrali na citre, prepevali in pili medico … (Kos tudi o Madzharih: »Kamor so Madzhari prishli, tam so vse pozhgali; pobili so vse, kar se jim je moglo ustavljati.« … ID, str. 251). Vprashanje o »prihodu« ali »ne-prihodu« Slovencev-Slovanov tako, po vsem sodech, vendarle ostaja odprto – vsaj kot nenehen historiografski izziv. LiVeS Journal 183 In connection with settlement theories one may very well ask oneself who the Slavs »ejected« in the 6th century? Perhaps the »Vlachs«, as they used to call the Romanised predecessors? Perhaps the »Illyrians« whose true descendants were supposed to be (according to the Albanian theory) Albanians? For Kopitar, the Serbs and Croats were an Illyrian insert amongst the originally densely settled Slavs who were supposed to be autochthonous on their territory from the source of the River Drava, along the Danube and as far as the Black Sea (in this he followed the Byzantine Porphyrogennetos and the Russian Nestor). Did Slavs (Slovenians) come to an empty territory or did they carry out a uniquely thorough genocide of the original inhabitants who were only partly Romanised by Roman rule? Franc Kos writes about the arrival of the Slovenians as follows: »Wherever they came they robbed, burned and murdered.« (From the already mentioned treatise When did Slovenians arrive in their present-day homeland?; ID, pg. 101). Further on he writes: »Soon after, southern Noricum was hit by a terrible disaster. Slovenians invaded this territory and seized the land by the rivers Drava and Mura. They destroyed Tiburnia and its diocese, and either murdered or took into slavery the inhabitants.« (ibid. pg. 79) He adds: »We can rightfully say that the Slovenians, when they arrived in Pannonia and Noricum, acted much more murderously and brutally than the Langobards, the Goths and other Germanic tribes.« (ibid. pg. 79, note 28). This portrayal of the Slovenians-Slavs as immigrants in the 6th century is obviously different from the fairytale image of good old Slavs who played zithers, sang and drank mead … (Kos also wrote about the Hungarians: »Wherever the Hungarians came they burned everything; they killed everything that crossed their path.« … ID, pg. 251). Therefore, the question of the »arrival« or »non-arrival« of Slovenians-Slavs appears to remain an open matter – at least as a never-ending historiographical challenge. Translated from Slovenian by Marko Petrovich LiVeS Journal 184 Rajko Shushtarshich ZAMAH (MANIPULACIJE) »Prispevek je mnenje avtorja in ne izrazha nujno stalishcha urednishtva.« (?)1 Resnichno, resnichno ti pravim: Ko si bil mlajshi, si se opasoval sam, in hodil, kamor si hotel; ko se pa postarash, raztegnesh roke svoje, in drugi te opashe in te povleche, kamor ti nochesh. (Jn 21.18)2 Nerad polemiziram z mnenji avtorjev ali urednishtev, posebej ako so izrazhena v medijih mochi, vchasih pa si le ne morem kaj, ko je zbodljaj zame prehud ali pa mi zadeva nikakor ne gre in ne gre iz glave. Pa si pomagam po svoje, kakor vem in znam. Da ne bo nejasnosti: to pot polemiziram zgolj z eno samcato opombo urednishtva v Delu, ki je citirana v podnaslovu tega prispevka, in she s predstavitvijo Revije SRP in Lives Journala v reviji Mentor (rubrika Revija v gosteh) izpod peresa Andreja Lutmana. Chlanek Andreja Lenarchicha Niso bili Habsburgi tudi malo »nashi«? je v prvotni razlichici objavljen tudi v SRPu 105/106, »Namesto in meoriam« – z lahkoto ga boste nashli in po zhelji primerjali z razlichico v Delu. Pa mi ne gre za podrobno primerjavo vsebine niti ne stila obeh razlichic, marvech le za bistveno razliko v intenci obeh objav (tudi to bo vsakdo z lahkoto sam ugotovil). Pri SRPu je samo po sebi umevno, da ima vsak avtor svoje mnenje, da skupnega (usmerjenega) mnenja urednishtva ni – ne more biti. Pri Delu pa so skupna ali skupinska mnenja oz. stalishcha ideal ali vsaj norma. Kaj pa sploh pomeni: »ne izrazha nujno«? To je she najbolj enigmatichna sestavina chudnega sporochila Dela svojim bralcem. Napeljuje namrech na pomisel, da so bila dosedanja mnenja – stalishcha nujno skupna oz. pravilna, ali pa jih v Delu sploh ni bilo mogoche izraziti – objaviti. Po partiji in kasneje po vsakokratni aktualni mochi usmerjana mnenja v urednishtvih so bila seveda nujno enotna! Seveda so tudi v Delu nekateri novinarji in uredniki vchasih imeli tudi svoja mnenja, a se z njimi niso strinjali! Za vsak primer: bistvena razlika v intenci obeh objav je – manipulacija bralcev ali javnega mnenja pri mochnem mediju (mediju mochi) ter svoboda misli in izrazhanja pri neodvisnem mediju. LiVeS Journal 185 Rajko Shushtarshich COMPLETE MISS (MANIPULATION) »The article expresses the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of the editorship.« (?)1 In all truth I tell you: When you were young, you put on your own belt, and walked where you liked; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and somebody else will put a belt round you and take you where you would rather not go. (Jn 21.18)2 I do not like to dispute the opinions of journalists or editorships, especially if they are expressed in powerful media, but sometimes I cannot help it when it stings too much or if I simply cannot get the matter out of my head. And I help myself as best I can. To make myself clear: this time I am disputing only one comment made by the editorship of Delo which is cited in the subtitle of this article, as well as the presentation of Revija SRP and the Lives Journal in the magazine Mentor (the »Guest journal« column) by Andrej Lutman. The article by Andrej Lenarchich Were not the Habsburgs a little »ours« too? in its original version is featured also in SRP 105/106, »Instead of memoriam« [Namesto in memoriam] – you will easily find it and be able to compare it with the version featured in Delo. But I do not here wish to compare the content nor the style of both versions, but only the essential difference in the intentions of both articles (everyone will be able to make this out with ease). In the case of SRP it is obvious that each author has his own opinion, that there is no common (focussed) opinion of the editorship – and there cannot be one. However, in the case of Delo, common or group opinions or standpoints are an ideal or at least the norm. What does »not necessarily« even mean? This is actually the most enigmatic part of the strange message Delo gives its readers. It leads one to think that the opinions hitherto expressed were all collective or correct, otherwise they could not even be expressed/published in Delo. The opinions of the editorship were dictated by the communist party and each later regime and were therefore necessarily unified! Of course in Delo too, some journalists and editors sometimes had their own ideas but they would not agree with them! Anyhow: the essential difference in the intention of both articles is – the manipulation of readers or public opinion by the powerful media (the media of power) and freedom of thought and expression by the independent media. 186 LiVeS Journal Svoboda, resnica, pogum ali Prechrkanje ali tudi Spomin na zamah SRP 3 pa je »nesrechni« (ponesrecheni) naslov Lutmanove predstavitve Revije SRP v reviji Mentor. Zopet si ne morem privoshchiti, da bi polemiziral z vsebino take predstavitve kot prizadeti sodelavec in urednik »predstavljene« revije, saj sem zadnji, ki bi avtorju branil, da pishe, kar hoche in kot se mu zazdi. Vendar, ako bi me vprashal, ali zhelim, da objavi ta svoj umotvor, bi se mu seveda kar se da vljudno zahvalil. Predstavljanje (upodabljanje) Revije SRP je nam in tistim, ki jih revija zanima, nepotrebno, saj je v celoti na internetu (to pomeni: vse revije in elektronske knjige v njeni ediciji so vsakomur dostopne od prvega do zadnjega znaka), in tudi knjizhnice, ki so jo zhelele, jo dobivajo brezplachno, ker Revija SRP ni blago, kot so to druge revije in knjige – tudi to je namrech njena posebnost. Prav tako, Revija SRP ne potrebuje kritishke ali ideoloshke ocene, saj ne kandidira za drzhavne subvencije. Andrej Lutman je nekdanji sodelavec SRPa, ki je zhe leta 2000 pisno »nepreklicno« izstopil iz urednishtva; kot odpadnik ni ravno najbolj primerna oseba za ocenjevanje ali predstavljanje te revije. Komu so torej potrebne kritishke ocene in tako favorizirani pisci kritishkih zapisov, da jih na minikultu posebej negujejo in favorizirajo kot deficitarno dejavnost v primeri s tistimi, ki so samo pesniki ali samo pisatelji oz. z drugimi »pisuni« v njihovi terminologiji? Domnevam, da to dobro veste. Zamah mimo pach! V Ljubljani, julija 2011 _______________ Opomba pod chlankom Andreja Lenarchicha Niso bili Habsburgi tudi malo »nashi«? – Delo, Gostujoche pero, 15. julija 2011: »Prispevek je mnenje avtorja in ne izrazha nujno stalishcha urednishtva.« 2 She v priredbi R. Sh., Janezovo razodetje, 21.18: »Resnichno, resnichno ti pravim: / Ko si bil she otrok, / si bil svoboden; / sam si se opasoval, / hodil si, kamor je hotelo tvoje srce; / bil si resnichno svoboden, / in hodil si, kamor si sam hotel; / ko pa postarash se, / raztegnesh svoje roke, / shirok je tvoj sezhaj, / dolg rok doseg; / in nekdo drug te opashe, / in povleche te tja, kamor ti nochesh.« 3 Svoboda, resnica, pogum ali Prechrkanje ali tudi Spomin na zamah SRP; Mentor 1-2, 2010 1 LiVeS Journal 187 Freedom, truth, courage or Transcription or even Memory of a flourish SRP 3 is the unfortunate title of Lutman’s presentation of Revija SRP in the magazine Mentor. Again I cannot really dispute the content of such a presentation, being a collaborator and editor of the »presented« journal, and I am the last person who would wish to prevent the author from writing what he wants and feels. But if he asked me if I wanted him to publish his »work of art«, I would of course very politely say no thank you. Presenting Revija SRP to us and those who are interested in the journal is unnecessary as it exists in its entirety on the internet (i.e.: all journals and electronic books are accessible to everyone in their entirety), and also libraries that want it receive it free of charge because Revija SRP is not merchandise like other journals and books – this too is its particularity. Also, Revija SRP does not need any critical or ideological appraisal as it does not apply for state subsidies. Andrej Lutman is a former collaborator of SRP who in 2000 gave his written and »irrevocable« resignation from the editorship; as someone who has dropped out he is not the most suitable person to evaluate or present this journal. So who needs critical evaluations and writers of critical articles who are favoured to such an extent that they are taken special care of by the Ministry for Culture and favoured as a deficient activity in comparison with plain poets and writers? I presume you know the answer very well. Simply a complete miss! Ljubljana, July 2011 Translated from Slovenian by Marko Petrovich _______________ Comment under the article by Andrej Lenarchich Were not the Habsburgs a little »ours« too?– Delo, Guest writer, 15 July 2011: »The article expresses the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of the editorship.« 2 Also in the version by R. Sh., John’s revelation, 21.18: »Truly, truly I tell you: / When you were still a child, / you were free; / you put on your own belt, / you walked where your heart desired; / you were truly free, / and you walked where you wanted; / but when you grow old, / you stretch out your hands, / they reach very far, / your hands reach far; / and somebody else puts a belt round you, / and takes you where you do not wish to go.« 3 Freedom, truth, courage or Transcription or even Memory of a flourish SRP; Mentor 1-2, 2010 1 188 LiVeS Journal Svojskost LiVeS Journala – Revije SRP Vodilo LiVeS Journala – Revije SRP so tri vrednotne orientacije individua, tega ne nepomembnega drobca v sistemu institucij. Te vrednote so: Svoboda, Resnica, Pogum. Pomembne so, vsaka od njih posebej, pomembno je prezhemanje teh vrednot. Tak namen ima tudi urednishtvo Revije SRP, ki izhaja v posodobljenem prvotnem slovenskem chrkopisu bohorichici, katere utemeljitev predstavlja Zbornik 2001 Bohorichica. LiVeS Journal 189 Individuality of the LiVeS Journal Guidelines of the LiVeS Journal are the three values of the orientation of the individuum, that irrelevant shred in the system of institutions. These values are: Liberty (freedom), Verity (truth), and Spirit (courage) Each of them is important in its separate way, the infusion of these values is important. This is also the intention of the LiVeS Journal editorial board, which is published in an updated version of Bohorichica – the primary Slovenian alphabet, the argumentation behind which is presented in Zbornik 2001 Bohorichica. 190 Sama ustvarjalnost in avtonomija, njuna utemeljenost v raziskovanju, nachelno in sploshno nista vprashljivi, nihche, skoraj nihche ne bo nasprotoval takim usmeritvam. Problem se pojavlja shele na konkretnem nivoju, kot tak je nerazviden in skrit ali zhe prikrit in s tem tezhko reshljiv. Problem ukinjanja ustvarjalnosti (in avtonomije) se kazhe v shtevilnih, a na videz nepomembnih malenkostih. Lahko jih ne vidimo ali pa se moramo spustiti na nivo konkretnosti, to je na nivo ukvarjanja z malenkostmi in postati malenkostni. Institucija brez spomina je kakor podjetje brez knjigovodstva, mochni in mogochni v njej pochno, kar jih je volja, ker vse, kar pochno, utone v pozabljivi zavesti chasa. ... a ne gre za chas, ampak za dejstva zavesti, kjer chasa ni, je samo trajanje, obche vrednote so neposredna dejstva zavesti, vsakomur dojemljive, preverljive, nihche jih chloveku ne more ne dati ne vzeti, ne sistem ne institucija ne propaganda, tudi kulturna ne, samo che to sam hoche, jih bo nashel le v sebi, sebstvu svojem. LiVeS Journal LiVeS Journal Creativity and autonomy themselves, their justification in research, are in principle and generally not questionable, no one, or next to no one will oppose such an orientation. It is not until concrete action is undertaken that the problem will occur, and it is therefore unevident and hidden or even already concealed and thus difficult to solve. The problem of abolishing creativity (and autonomy) presents itself in numerous, but seemingly irrelevant details. We can either leave them undetected or drop down to the tangible level, in other words – become preoccupied with trifles – and grow petty. An institution with no memory is like a company without accounting, its strong and its mighty do what they please, because all they do is doomed to drown in the forgetful awareness of time. ... but it is not a matter of time, but a matter of the facts of awareness, where time does not exist, there is only length, general values are direct facts of awareness, understandable to all, verifiable, no one can bestow them or take them away, neither system, nor institutions nor propaganda – not even a cultural one, only if one so desires, will one find them only within oneself, in one’s own self. 191 192 LiVeS Journal OPOMBA UREDNISHTVA LiVeS Journal (in Revija SRP): http://www.livesjournal.eu (http://www.revijasrp.si) Internetna uporaba Revije SRP je brez omejitev; enako velja za LiVeS Journal, ki mu je z vzporedno dvojezichnostjo namenjena shirsha dostopnost, tudi za izseljenske korenine. Predvideno je, da bodo med novimi sodelavci tudi prevajalci, ki bodo postopoma dodajali prevode iz Revije SRP v »globalnem jeziku« (za globalni zgodovinski spomin), danes v angleshkem (britanskem ali amerishkem). Izvirnik vsakega teksta je avtorski unikat, prevodov pa je lahko vech, zato bo v internetni izdaji LJ kak prevod lahko tudi dodan k predhodnemu ali pa ga bo nadomestil. EDITORIAL NOTE LiVeS Journal (and Revija SRP): http://www.livesjournal.eu (http://www.revijasrp.si) Internet use of Revija SRP is without limits; the same is valid for LiVeS Journal, for which the wider accessibility is intended by the means of two parallel languages, even to the roots of diasporas. It is expected that the new translators among the contributors gradually will add new translations of the texts from Revija SRP in the "global language" (for the global historical memory), today in English (British or American). Every original text is unique as a fact of authorship, but translations may be several, so in the Internet edition of LJ new translations also could be added to the preliminary ones, or those could be replaced.
