Meša Selimović
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Mehmed "Meša" Selimović (; ; 26 April 1910 – 11 July 1982) was a Yugoslav writer, whose novel '' Death and the Dervish'' is one of the most important literary works in post-
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
. Some of the main themes in his works are the relations between individuality and authority, life and death, and other existential problems.


Biography

Selimović was born to a prominent
Bosnian Muslim The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, cu ...
family on 26 April 1910 in
Tuzla Tuzla (, ) is the third-largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 110,979 inhabitants. Tuzla is the economic, cultural, ed ...
, Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he graduated from elementary school and high school. In 1930, he enrolled to study the
Serbo-Croatian language Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and ...
and literature at the
University of Belgrade Faculty of Philology The Faculty of Philology is one of the constituent schools of the University of Belgrade. The school's purpose is to train and educate its students in the academic study or practice in linguistics and philology. History The study of philology wa ...
and graduated in 1934. His lecturers included
Bogdan Popović Bogdan Popović (Serbian Cyrillic: Богдан Поповић; 20 December 1863 – 7 November 1944) was one of the most important literary critics and university professors in Serbia and later Yugoslavia and an academic. He was the brother of ...
,
Pavle Popović Pavle Popović ( sr-cyr, Павле Поповић; 16 April 1868 – 4 June 1939) was a Serbian literary critic and historian, a professor and rector at the University of Belgrade. He is the brother of Bogdan Popović, also a well-known and equa ...
,
Vladimir Ćorović Vladimir Ćorović ( sr-cyrl, Владимир Ћоровић; 27 October 1885 – 12 April 1941) was a Serbian historian, university professor, author, and academic. His bibliography consists of more than 1000 works. Several of his books on the ...
,
Veselin Čajkanović Veselin Čajkanović ( sr-cyr, Веселин Чајкановић; 1881 in Belgrade – 1946) was a Serbs, Serbian classical scholar, philologist, philosopher, ethnologist, Oriental studies, orientalist, History of religion, religious histo ...
,
Aleksandar Belić Aleksandar Belić (Serbian Cyrillic: Александар Белић, ; 15 August 1876 – 26 February 1960) was a Serbian linguist and academic. Biography Belić was born in Belgrade. After studying Slavic languages in Belgrade, Odessa, and M ...
and Stjepan Kuljbakin. In 1936, he returned to Tuzla to teach in the gymnasium that today bears his name. At that time he participated in the Soko athletic organisation. He spent the first two years of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
in Tuzla, until he was arrested for participation in the Partisan anti-fascist resistance movement in 1943. After his release, he moved to liberated territory, became a member of
Communist Party of Yugoslavia The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, mk, Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na komunistite na Jugoslavija known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, sl, Komunistična partija Jugoslavije mk ...
and the political commissar of the Tuzla Detachment of the Partisans. During the war, Selimović's brother, also a communist, was executed by partisans' firing squad for alleged theft, without trial; Selimović's letter in defense of the brother was to no avail. That episode apparently affected Meša's later contemplative introduction to '' Death and the Dervish'', where the main protagonist Ahmed Nurudin fails to rescue his imprisoned brother. After the war, he briefly resided in
Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
, and in 1947 he moved to
Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...
, where he was the professor of High School of Pedagogy and Faculty of Philology, art director of Bosna Film, chief of the drama section of the National Theater, and
chief editor An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...
of the publishing house ''Svjetlost''. Exasperated by a latent conflict with several local politicians and intellectuals, in 1971 he moved to Belgrade, where he lived until his death in 1982.


Identity

Selimović researched the roots of his family and found out that he originated from the
Drobnjaci Drobnjaci (, ) are historical tribe and region, Drobnjak, in Old Herzegovina in Montenegro (municipalities from Nikšić to Šavnik, Žabljak and Pljevlja). Its unofficial centre is in Šavnik. The Serb Orthodox families have St. George ('' ...
tribe. Most members of the tribe consider themselves to be
Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
, while some are
Montenegrins Montenegrins ( cnr, Црногорци, Crnogorci, or ; lit. "Black Mountain People") are a South Slavic ethnic group that share a common Montenegrin culture, history, and language, identified with the country of Montenegro. Genetics Accordin ...
. It is claimed that a part of the family converted to Islam in order to protect their Christian brethren. In his 1976 letter to the Serbian Academy of Science and Arts, Selimović stated for the historical record that he regarded himself as a Serb and belonging to the corpus of Serbian literature. Večernje Novosti:
Pronašao mir u Beogradu
', Dragan BOGUTOVIĆ, 9 July 2010
Selimović was a full member of the
Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...
, and a member of
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Serbica, sr-Cyr, Српска академија наука и уметности, САНУ, Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti, SANU) is a national academy and the ...
. In his
autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...
narration, ''Sjećanja'' (), which Selimović complements with a memoir features thus transforming them into memoir prose, Selimović describes environment and milieu of his Bosnian Muslim origin. He is using discursive self-perception, and confronts and auto-reflect his identity as a complex and composite. Since perception of national belonging is distinctly subjective and simplistic, auto-perceptions are considered discursive creations,
representamen In semiotics, a sign is anything that communicates a meaning that is not the sign itself to the interpreter of the sign. The meaning can be intentional, as when a word is uttered with a specific meaning, or unintentional, as when a symptom is t ...
, where memoirs overlap with socio-historical context. In doing so, and through lens of
imagology Imagology is a branch of comparative literature. More specifically, it is concerned with "the study of cross-national perceptions and images as expressed in literary discourse“. While it adopts a constructivist perspective on national stereotyp ...
, his autobiographical discourse becomes textual construct, or an imaginary discourse. Selimović's imaginarium turns his cultural self-reflection of his Bosnian Muslim identity into oddity, but he also describes it as a complex. His memories author then transpose on entire group, with a series of images. Through the rhetoric of the image, Selimović confirms the cultural differences of Bosnian Muslims, and in that sense, his autobiographical narrative representamen confirms and strengthens the cultural and collective ethnic identity of Muslims. Selimović clearly define himself by stating, "I am a Muslim", and, "I am attached to my Bosnian and Muslim origins". On the other hand, when Selimović brought forward the information about his Christian origin, some Bosnian Muslim critics attacked him, claiming that "they also knew about their origin", and asking him what is to be achieved with publicly expressing such information. Critics consider this to be a rationalization of his choice to seek recognition as writer belonging to Serbian literary circle,Meša SELIMOVIĆ
. Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
by claiming that his paternal heritage was that of
Orthodox Christian Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Churche ...
identity, alleging a conversion to Islam back in the 17th century for pragmatic reasons. The chapter ''Parents'' in his ''Sjećanje'' provoked reaction and criticism in his native country, and will be deemed a "constructed phantasm", or imaginary discourse. Critics contemplated about the reasons for this, as they called, "falsification of one's own family heritage", explaining it as a "vengeful act of defiance", and stating that Selimović's main conflicts trace back to his Muslim roots and his expression of disappointment in Bosnian environment and Bosnian Muslim milieu. He was a communist and atheist. According to his grandson Nikola, Selimović considered himself to be a Serbian writer of Muslim origin. He claimed that his mother received threats from Sarajevo-based organizations because "he (his grandson) did not have a Muslim name", which was the kind of situations which led Selimović to leave Sarajevo and settle in Belgrade in the first place.


Works

Selimović began writing fairly late in his life. His first short story (Pjesma u oluji / A song in the storm) was published in 1948, when he was thirty-six. His first book, a collection of short stories ''Prva četa'' (''The First Company'') was published in 1950 when he was forty. His subsequent work, ''Tišine'' (Silences) was published eleven years later in 1961. The following books ''Tuđa zemlja'' (''Foreign land'', 1962) and ''Magla i mjesečina'' (''Mist and Moonlight'', 1965) did not receive widespread recognition either. However, his novel '' Death and the Dervish'' (''Derviš i smrt'', 1966) was widely received as a masterpiece. The plot of the novel takes place in 18th-century Sarajevo under Ottoman rule, and reflects Selimović's own torment of the execution of his brother; the story speaks of the futility of one man's resistance against a repressive system, and the change that takes place within that man after he becomes a part of that very system. Some critics have likened this novel to
Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It typ ...
's ''
The Trial ''The Trial'' (german: Der Process, link=no, previously , and ) is a novel written by Franz Kafka in 1914 and 1915 and published posthumously on 26 April 1925. One of his best known works, it tells the story of Josef K., a man arrested and pr ...
''. It has been translated into many languages, including
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
,
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
,
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
, French,
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
, Turkish and
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
. Each chapter of the novel opens with a
Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
citation, the first being: " In the name of God, the most compassionate, the most merciful." The next novel, ''Tvrđava'' (The Fortress, 1970), placed still further in the past, is slightly more optimistic, and fulfilled with faith in love, unlike the lonely contemplations and fear in ''Death and the Dervish''. ''The Fortress'' and ''Death and the Dervish'' are the only novels of Selimović that have thus far been translated into English. Subsequent novels ''Ostrvo'' (The Island, 1974), featuring an elderly couple facing aging and eventual death on a Dalmatian island, and posthumously published ''Krug'' (The Circle, 1983), have not been translated into English. He also wrote a book about
Vuk Karadžić Vuk Stefanović Karadžić ( sr-Cyrl, Вук Стефановић Караџић, ; 6 November 1787 (26 October OS)7 February 1864) was a Serbian philologist, anthropologist and linguist. He was one of the most important reformers of the moder ...
's orthographic reforms ''Za i protiv Vuka'' (For and Against Vuk), as well as his autobiography, ''Sjećanja''.


Family

His brother’s granddaughter is an award-winning Serbian actress . Also, his cousin is a famous Bosnian actor.


Bibliography

*''Uvrijeđeni čovjek'' (''An Insulted Man'') (1947) *''Prva četa'' (''The First Company'') (1950) *''Tuđa zemlja'' (''Foreign Lands'') (1957) *''Sjećanja'' (''Memories'') (1957) *''Noći i jutra'' (''Nights and Days'') (film scenario) (1958) *''Tišine'' (''Silence'') (1961) *''Magla i mjesečina'' (''Mist and Moonlight'') (1965) *''Eseji i ogledi'' (''Essays and Reflections'') (1966) *'' Derviš i smrt'' (''Death and the Dervish'') (1966) *''Za i protiv Vuka'' (''Pro et Contra Vuk'') (1967) *''Tvrđava'' (''The Fortress'') (1970) *''Ostrvo'' (''The Island'') (1974) *''Krug'' (''The Circle'') (1983)


Translations into English

*'' Death and the Dervish'', 1996, Northwestern University Press, *''The Fortress'', 1999, Northwestern University Press,


References

;Citations ;Sources * * * * * * * *


External links


Death and the Dervish by Mesa Selimovic (fragments), translated by Lazar Pascanovic
Vuk, study by Meša Selimović, 1967; courtesy of
Project Rastko Project Rastko — Internet Library of Serb Culture ( sr, Пројекат Растко — Електронска библиотека српске културе, Projekat Rastko — Elektronska biblioteka srpske kulture) is a non-profit and no ...
– Banja Luka
Meša Selimović's 'Oriental Novels'Meša Selimović's parts of biographyMeša Selimović – Facebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Selimovic, Mesa 1910 births 1982 deaths Writers from Tuzla 20th-century Serbian novelists Serbian writers Yugoslav writers Yugoslav Partisans members University of Belgrade Faculty of Philology alumni Members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery Bosnia and Herzegovina novelists Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina