Stanislav Vinaver ( sr-Cyrl, Станислав Винавер; 1 March 1891 – 1 August 1955) was a Serbian writer, poet, translator and journalist. Vinaver was born to affluent
Ashkenazi Jewish parents that had immigrated to Serbia from Poland in the late 19th century. He studied at the
University of Paris
, image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of Arms
, latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis
, motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin)
, mottoeng = Here and a ...
, volunteered to fight in the
Balkan Wars and later took part in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
as an officer in the
Royal Serbian Army
The Army of the Kingdom of Serbia ( sr-cyr, Војска Краљевине Србије, Vojska Kraljevine Srbije), known in English as the Royal Serbian Army, was the army of the Kingdom of Serbia that existed between 1882 and 1918, succeed ...
. In 1915, he lost his father to
typhus
Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...
. He travelled to France and the United Kingdom the following year, delivering lectures about Serbia and its people. In 1917, he was assigned to the Serbian consulate in
Petrograd, where he was to witness the
Russian Revolution and its aftermath.
Following World War I, Vinaver briefly worked for the Ministry of Education of the newly created Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
). In the 1930s, he worked for Radio Belgrade and was appointed chief of Yugoslavia's central press bureau. This period was defined by his tumultuous relationship with his ethnic
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 ...
wife, who held
anti-Semitic and
anti-Slavic views, as well as his inclusion in
Rebecca West
Dame Cicily Isabel Fairfield (21 December 1892 – 15 March 1983), known as Rebecca West, or Dame Rebecca West, was a British author, journalist, literary critic and travel writer. An author who wrote in many genres, West reviewed books ...
's acclaimed
travel book ''
Black Lamb and Grey Falcon''. In April 1941, Vinaver was mobilized to fight in the
Royal Yugoslav Army
The Yugoslav Army ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Jugoslovenska vojska, JV, Југословенска војска, ЈВ), commonly the Royal Yugoslav Army, was the land warfare military service branch of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (originally Kingdom of Serbs, ...
, following the
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 ...
-led
Axis
An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to:
Mathematics
* Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis
* Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...
invasion of Yugoslavia. Vinaver survived the invasion, but was captured by the Germans and interned at a
prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war.
There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. ...
near
Osnabrück
Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...
. His status as a former Royal Yugoslav Army officer saved him from probable death, but his elderly mother was not as fortunate, and was murdered in the
gas chamber
A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or other animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide.
History
...
s the following year.
After the war, Vinaver returned to Yugoslavia, but given his service in the interwar government, he did not receive a warm welcome. The Yugoslav monarchy had been replaced with a
communist government under the leadership of
Josip Broz Tito, and Vinaver's works were blacklisted due to his
Serbian nationalist
Serbian nationalism asserts that Serbs are a nation and promotes the cultural and political unity of Serbs. It is an ethnic nationalism, originally arising in the context of the general rise of nationalism in the Balkans under Ottoman rule, und ...
views and
modernist
Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
style. He worked as a translator in the immediate post-war years and served as the editor of a literary journal until his death in 1955, aged 64. He is considered one of the key representatives of the Serbian and Yugoslav literary
avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
.
Life
Stanislav Vinaver was born in
Šabac
Šabac (Serbian Cyrillic: Шабац, ) is a city and the administrative centre of the Mačva District in western Serbia. The traditional centre of the fertile Mačva region, Šabac is located on the right banks of the river Sava. , the city ...
on 1 March 1891. He came from an affluent family. His father Josif was a
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
and his mother Ruža was a
pianist
A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...
and
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
-language translator. Both of his parents were
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
. They had relocated to
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
in the 1880s amid a wave of
anti-Semitic pogrom
A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russia ...
s in the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
. Vinaver completed his
primary education in Šabac. He attended high school in Šabac until 1908, when he transferred to a high school in the Serbian capital,
Belgrade. Upon completing high school, he enrolled at the
University of Paris
, image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of Arms
, latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis
, motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin)
, mottoeng = Here and a ...
, where he studied mathematics and physics. He also attended the lectures of the philosopher
Henri Bergson and the anthropologist
Lucien Lévy-Bruhl
Lucien Lévy-Bruhl (10 April 1857 – 13 March 1939) was a French scholar trained in philosophy who furthered anthropology with his contributions to the budding fields of sociology and ethnology. His primary field interest was ways of thinking.
...
, and studied music under
Wanda Landowska
Wanda Aleksandra Landowska (5 July 1879 – 16 August 1959) was a Polish harpsichordist and pianist whose performances, teaching, writings and especially her many recordings played a large role in reviving the popularity of the harpsichord in ...
. It was during this time that he became interested in contemporary literature and art. Bergson's philosophical teachings left a strong impression on the young Vinaver.
In 1912, Vinaver returned to Serbia to enlist in the
Royal Serbian Army
The Army of the Kingdom of Serbia ( sr-cyr, Војска Краљевине Србије, Vojska Kraljevine Srbije), known in English as the Royal Serbian Army, was the army of the Kingdom of Serbia that existed between 1882 and 1918, succeed ...
( sr-Latn, Vojska kraljevine Srbije; VKS) and fight in the
Balkan Wars. During the
First Balkan War
The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...
, he served as a
lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...
in the Students' Battalion. By 1914, he had published three books. Following the outbreak of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, he reenlisted and again fought with the Students' Battalion, which played an important role in defending Serbia from
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
in the early months of the conflict. Vinaver distinguished himself in action and was deemed a
war hero
A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''hero' ...
by his contemporaries. His father, an officer in the medical corps, died of
typhus
Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...
in 1915. That November, Serbia was overwhelmed by a combined Austro-Hungarian,
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 ...
and
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
n invasion, forcing the VKS to
retreat across Albania to the Greek island of
Corfu. Vinaver took part in the retreat, and in 1916, he was appointed the editor-in-chief of ''Srpske Novine'' (The Serbian Newspaper). Later that year, Vinaver was dispatched to France and the United Kingdom by
Slobodan Jovanović
Slobodan Jovanović ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Јовановић; 3 December 1869 – 12 December 1958) was a Serbian and Yugoslav writer, historian, lawyer, philosopher, literary critic, diplomat, politician and one of the most prominent int ...
, the head of the Serbian military press bureau, to deliver lectures about Serbia and the Serbian people. He was accompanied by the philosopher
Branislav Petronijević and the bishop
Nikolaj Velimirović
Nikolaj Velimirović (Serbian Cyrillic: Николај Велимировић; – ) was bishop of the eparchies of Ohrid and Žiča (1920–1956) in the Serbian Orthodox Church. An influential theological writer and a highly gifted orat ...
. In 1917, Vinaver joined the Serbian diplomatic mission in Petrograd (modern-day
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
), working as a translator. He arrived in Petrograd about a month before the outbreak of the
Russian Revolution, and witnessed the political and social upheaval that it caused. His time in the Russian capital was spent gathering volunteers for the
Macedonian front.
At the war's end, Vinaver held the rank of
lieutenant colonel. In 1919, he joined the Ministry of Education of the newly created Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, working alongside fellow writers
Branislav Nušić
Branislav Nušić ( sr-cyr, Бранислав Нушић, ; – 19 January 1938) was a Serbian playwright, satirist, essayist, novelist and founder of modern rhetoric in Serbia. He also worked as a journalist and a civil servant.
Life
Br ...
and
Borisav Stanković at the ministry's artistic department. He nearly lost his job following a dispute with the country's
Minister of Foreign Affairs
A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...
,
Ante Trumbić
Ante Trumbić (17 May 1864 – 17 November 1938) was a Yugoslav and Croatian lawyer and politician in the early 20th century.
Biography
Trumbić was born in Split in the Austrian crownland of Dalmatia and studied law at Zagreb, Vienna and ...
. In 1920, the artistic department was shut down following a government reshuffling, and Trumbić's antagonism precluded Vinaver from taking up further government positions. Vinaver took up journalism full-time and became one of interwar Yugoslavia's most prolific columnists. In the 1930s, he began working at Radio Belgrade and was appointed chief of Yugoslavia's central press bureau.
Vinaver was a convert to
Serbian Orthodoxy
The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous ( ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches.
The majority of the population in ...
and identified as a
Serb
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 ...
, despite his Jewish heritage. He was married to an ethnic
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 ...
woman named Elsa. As a result of Elsa's anti-Semitic and
anti-Slavic views, the marriage was a tumultuous one. The couple had two children. Vinaver features prominently in
Rebecca West
Dame Cicily Isabel Fairfield (21 December 1892 – 15 March 1983), known as Rebecca West, or Dame Rebecca West, was a British author, journalist, literary critic and travel writer. An author who wrote in many genres, West reviewed books ...
's acclaimed 1941
travel guide
A guide book or travel guide is "a book of information about a place designed for the use of visitors or tourists". It will usually include information about sights, accommodation, restaurants, transportation, and activities. Maps of varying det ...
''
Black Lamb and Grey Falcon'', appearing under the
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
Constantine. His wife appears under the pseudonym Gerda. In April 1941, Vinaver was mobilized to fight in the
Royal Yugoslav Army
The Yugoslav Army ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Jugoslovenska vojska, JV, Југословенска војска, ЈВ), commonly the Royal Yugoslav Army, was the land warfare military service branch of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (originally Kingdom of Serbs, ...
, following the
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 ...
-led
Axis
An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to:
Mathematics
* Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis
* Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...
invasion of Yugoslavia. He survived the invasion, but was captured by the
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...
and interned at a
prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war.
There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. ...
near
Osnabrück
Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...
. Vinaver's status as a former Royal Yugoslav Army officer saved him from probable death. His elderly mother was not as fortunate and was killed in the
gas chamber
A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or other animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide.
History
...
s in 1942 as part of the
Final Solution
The Final Solution (german: die Endlösung, ) or the Final Solution to the Jewish Question (german: Endlösung der Judenfrage, ) was a Nazi plan for the genocide of individuals they defined as Jews during World War II. The "Final Solution to th ...
.
Following the war, Vinaver returned to Yugoslavia, but given his service in the interwar government, he was not warmly received. The Yugoslav monarchy had been replaced with a
communist government under the leadership of
Josip Broz Tito, and the publication of Vinaver's works was discouraged, alongside those of writers such as
Jovan Dučić
Jovan Dučić ( sr-cyr, Јован Дучић, ; 17 February 1871 – 7 April 1943) was a Herzegovinian Serb poet-diplomat and academic.
He is one of the most influential Serbian lyricists and modernist poets. Dučić published his first collec ...
and
Miloš Crnjanski
Miloš Crnjanski ( sr-cyr, Милош Црњански, ; 26 October 1893 – 30 November 1977) was a Serbian writer and poet of the expressionist wing of Serbian modernism, author, and a diplomat.
Biography
Crnjanski was born in Csongrád (mode ...
. Vinaver was a
Serbian nationalist
Serbian nationalism asserts that Serbs are a nation and promotes the cultural and political unity of Serbs. It is an ethnic nationalism, originally arising in the context of the general rise of nationalism in the Balkans under Ottoman rule, und ...
. In addition, his overtly
modernist
Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
style conflicted with that of
socialist realism
Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is c ...
, which was officially sanctioned by the government. Vinaver worked as a translator in the immediate post-war years. While he did establish a literary journal called ''Republika'', which was viewed with suspicion by the communist authorities, he did not make any effort to reclaim his former esteemed position within the Yugoslav literary milieu. Vinaver wrote for ''Republika'' from 1950 until his death. He died in
Niška Banja
Niška Banja ( sr-cyr, Нишка Бања) is a town and one of five city municipalities which constitute the city of Niš. It is also one of the spa resorts in Serbia. It is located east of Niš.
According to the 2011 census, the population ...
on 1 August 1955.
Style and themes
Vinaver was an
avant-gardiste. He authored the first avant-garde programmatic text in
Serbian literature
Serbian literature ( sr-Cyrl, Српска књижевност), refers to literature written in Serbian and/or in Serbia and all other lands where Serbs reside.
The history of Serbian literature begins with the independent works from the Nema ...
, ''Manifest ekspresionističke škole'' (Manifesto of the Expressionist School; 1920). He often resorted to
burlesque and used
parody
A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...
as a means of mocking both friends and enemies, the weak and the powerful, as well as the avant-garde, and even himself. This is best exemplified in his 1920 anthology ''Pantologija novije srpske pelengirike'' (The Pantology of New Serbian Peasant Trousers), which takes aim at the conservative writer
Bogdan Popović's influential 1911 compendium ''Antologija novije srpske lirike'' (Anthology of New Serbian Poetry). "The parodies were not just a game of virtuosity," the literary scholar Svetlana Slapšak writes. "They challenged the accepted literary chronologies, genre schemes and value systems." Vinaver continued writing parodies even after the war, despite his
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
experience, this time targeting Yugoslavia's new communist authorities.
Slapšak describes Vinaver as a "unique and versatile" writer. In his journalistic endeavours, the biographer Branko Šašić writes, Vinaver wrote in a manner that was "concise, brief and clear". Most prolific as an essayist and a poet, Vinaver made his literary debut in 1911, with a collection of poetry titled ''Mjeća''. His poetry was written in
free verse
Free verse is an open form of poetry, which in its modern form arose through the French '' vers libre'' form. It does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any musical pattern. It thus tends to follow the rhythm of natural speech.
Defi ...
, with exclusive emphasis placed on sound rather than
semantics
Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy, linguistics and comp ...
. "He excelled in metrics and prosody and was capable of writing a
pastiche of any poetic form," Slapšak writes, "though he went beyond the pastiche by deliberately slipping into the carnivalesque or even into nonsense." Slapšak believes that Vinaver used nonsense as a means of magnifying
non sequiturs and
logical fallacies In philosophy, a formal fallacy, deductive fallacy, logical fallacy or non sequitur (; Latin for " tdoes not follow") is a pattern of reasoning rendered invalid by a flaw in its logical structure that can neatly be expressed in a standard logic syst ...
, thereby exposing academic discourse and even the avant-garde itself to mockery and ridicule.
Vinaver sporadically resorted to Greco-Roman mythology as a
literary device
A narrative technique (known for literary fictional narratives as a literary technique, literary device, or fictional device) is any of several specific methods the creator of a narrative uses to convey what they want
—in other words, a stra ...
, referring to the
Classics ironically, naming texts after well known myths, or referencing them to reinforce an argument. This is best exemplified by his 1937 lecture ''Ikarov let: Sudbina današnje književnosti'' (The Flight of Icarus: The Fate of Contemporary Literature), in which Vinaver used the myth of
Icarus and
Daedalus
In Greek mythology, Daedalus (, ; Greek: Δαίδαλος; Latin: ''Daedalus''; Etruscan: ''Taitale'') was a skillful architect and craftsman, seen as a symbol of wisdom, knowledge and power. He is the father of Icarus, the uncle of Perdix, a ...
as a metaphor for the state of modern poetry. He argued that contemporary poets were "flying between the sun of
metaphysics
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...
and the water of social conformity," and that if they were not careful, they were "doomed to perish without a trace." "Vinaver," the historian
Milan Ristović writes, "was in favour of a complete break with the traditional understanding of literature and of a radically avant-garde, new literature, a new poetics and a new understanding of language."
Legacy
Vinaver is considered one of the key representatives of the Serbian and Yugoslav literary avant-garde. Literary critics consider his ''Pantologija'' to be the best avant-garde parody in all of Serbian literature. In September 2011, the
Government of Serbia unveiled a commemorative plaque dedicated to Vinaver on the façade of the Belgrade building in which his apartment was located.
The Stanislav Vinaver Award is presented for artistic excellence in the writing of short stories. Notable recipients include the Serbian-Jewish writer
David Albahari.
Works
* ''Mjeća'', 1911.
* ''Priče koje su izgubile ravnotežu'', 1913.
* ''Varoš zlih volšebnika'', 1920.
* ''Pantologija novije srpske pelengirike'', 1920.
* ''Varoš zlih volšebnika'', 1920.
* ''Gromobran svemira'', 1921.
* ''Jezičke mogućnosti'', 1922.
* ''Nova pantologija pelengirike'', 1922.
* ''Čuvari sveta'', 1926.
* ''Goč gori, jedna jugoslovenska simfonija'', 1927.
* ''Šabac i njegove tradicije'', 1935.
* ''Ikarov let'', 1937.
* ''Čardak ni na nebu ni na zemlji'', 1938.
* ''Momčilo Nastasijević'', 1938.
* ''Najnovija pantologija srpske i jugoslovenske pelengirike'', 1938.
* ''Živi okviri'', 1938.
* ''Ratni drugovi'', 1939.
* ''Pokušaji ritmičkog proučavanja muškog deseterca'', 1940.
* ''Godine poniženja i borbe, život u nemačkim „oflazima“'', 1945.
* ''Evropska noć'', 1952.
* ''Jezik naš nasušni'', 1952.
* ''Nadgramatika'', 1963.
* ''Zanosi i prkosi Laze Kostića'', 1963 .
* ''
One Thousand and One Nights'', translation.
Footnotes
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vinaver, Stanislav
1891 births
1955 deaths
20th-century Serbian people
Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery
Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy from Judaism
Royal Yugoslav Army personnel of World War II
Royal Serbian Army soldiers
Serbian Ashkenazi Jews
Serbian literary critics
Serbian military personnel of the Balkan Wars
Serbian military personnel of World War I
Serbian people of Polish-Jewish descent
Serbian science fiction writers
University of Paris alumni
World War II prisoners of war held by Germany
Writers from Šabac
Yugoslav prisoners of war
Yugoslav science fiction writers