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Prežihov Voranc (10 August 1893 – 18 February 1950) was the pen name of Lovro Kuhar, a Slovene writer and communist political activist. Voranc's literary reputation was established during the 1930s with a series of Slovene novels and short stories in the
social realist Social realism is work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers, filmmakers and some musicians that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structures ...
style, notable for their depictions of poverty in rural and industrial areas of
Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
. His most important novels are ''Požganica'' (1939) and ''Doberdob'' (1940).Prežihov Voranc, Two short stories, "The Self-Sown" and "Passion above the Precipice," translation and introduction by Irma Marija Ožbalt, Slovene Writers association (1994)


Biography


Formative years

Prežihov Voranc was baptized ''Laurentius Kuhar'' in Podgora near
Kotlje Kotlje () is a village in the hills south of Ravne na Koroškem in the Carinthia region in northern Slovenia. Kotlje is described in some of the works by the writer Prežihov Voranc. Church The parish church in the village is dedicated to Saint ...
, a Slovene-speaking village in
Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...
, then part of
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
. He was the son of tenant farmers who later acquired their own land. His younger brother, Alojzij Kuhar, became a renowned
liberal conservative Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...
politician and historian. His pen name is a typical folk formulation derived from the
oeconym An oeconym, also econym, or oikonym (from , , 'house, dwelling' and , , 'name') is a specific type of toponym that designates a proper name of a house or any other residential building. In a broader sense, the term can also refer to the proper n ...
of the farm the family lived on (the Prežih farm) plus the Carninthian dialect form of the name ''Lovrenc'' (or ''Lovro''); thus, ''Prežihov Voranc'' literally means 'Lovro from the Prežih farm'. The steep mountain slopes of his homeland were hard to farm, and Voranc consistently returned to his childhood of drudgery and fortitude. He received little formal education beyond primary (elementary) school and later a course in co-operative management. He was, however, a man who wished to educate himself and for much of his life he self studied and read voraciously. In 1909, Voranc's first published work appeared in the Slovene magazine ''Domači Prijatelj'', edited by the writer
Zofka Kveder Zofka Kveder (22 April 1878 – 21 November 1926) was a writer, playwright, translator and journalist who wrote in Slovene, German and later in life also in Croatian. She is considered one of the first Slovene women writers and feminists. Kve ...
. It was the first of many short stories for the magazine usually depicting the lives of farm labourers and rural characters from his Carinthian homeland. Between 1911 and 1912, Voranc spent time in
Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...
where he became more political aware writing of the travails of social misfits and unemployed drifters for the
Social-Democrat Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, socia ...
newspaper ''Zarja''.


Service in World War I

At the outbreak of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, he was immediately drafted into the
Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...
. He saw action and was captured in 1916 spending the remainder of the war in POW camps in Italy. As a soldier he continued writing often about the psychology of soldiers in warfare drawing on his surroundings and depicting the lives of the soldiers that he knew and with whom he had fought.


Political activism

Voranc was released in 1919 and returned to a Carinthia that was in political and cultural ferment. He took a job in the offices of a workers' co-operative at the steelworks in Guštajn. He became increasingly radicalized and a supporter of Carinthian political integration into the newly formed Yugoslav state. He continued to write, and in 1925 he published his first short story ''Povesti''. It was not especially well received by the intelligentsia in
Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...
; one review dismissed the work as by "talented proletarian, a self-taught writer." Nevertheless, it contains "elements that were later to develop into his highly acclaimed style."Irma Marija Ana Ožbalt, Slovene Writers Association, Slovene P.E.N., Ljubljana (1994) In 1930 his political activism and Communist sympathies resulted in a threat of arrest and Voranc absented himself from Carinthia and moved to
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
and from there,
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
in 1931 and hence to
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
in 1932. What appears to have been a period of instability in his life was also a period of active collaboration with other socialists in Europe and during the early thirties he also visited Romania,
Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
, Greece, Norway, and France. He edited the magazine ''Delo'' in Vienna from 1932 to 1934 but fell foul of the Austrian authorities, who imprisoned him in 1937. In the years immediately before the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
Voranc was working in Paris as a librarian mixing with other political emigres.


Sodobnost

In 1933, a new left-wing literary review was founded in
Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
, called ''
Sodobnost ''Sodobnost'' () is a Slovenian literary and cultural magazine, established in 1933. It is considered the oldest of currently existing literary magazines in Slovenia. Although ''Sodobnost'' has traditionally been a magazine focused on cultural an ...
'', propagating socialist views. Voranc' themes of social realism quickly found favor with the new review's editors,
Josip Vidmar Josip Vidmar (; October 14, 1895 – April 11, 1992) was a notable Slovenian literary critic, essayist, and politician. From 1944 to 1946 he was speaker of the Slovenian People's Liberation Council (Slovenian Parliament). From 1952 to 1976 was ...
,
Fran Albreht Fran Albreht (17 November 1889 – 11 February 1963) was a Slovenian poet, editor, politician and partisan. He also published under the pseudonym Rusmir. He was born as Franc Albrecht in the Upper Carniolan town of Kamnik in what was then the Aus ...
and
Ferdo Kozak Ferdo Kozak (28 October 1894 – 8 December 1957) was a Slovenian author, playwright, editor and politician. Biography He was baptized Ferdinand Kozak in an upper middle class family in Ljubljana, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His o ...
. The changing socio-economic conditions of the 1930s necessitated writers who could convey social realism, who could argue and inform and represent the lives of working-class people . Voranc' contributions to Sodobnost established his literary reputation when he was already in his forties. His first story ''Boj na požiralniku'', (in 1982 made into a film of the same title) , Review by Eleanor Mannikka exhibits Voranc's unique style: realistic events of Slovenian life are described within the context of an impressionistic landscape. The characters are as large as the landscape in which they live and their language in vernacular and realistic. The story focuses on a downtrodden family who are in part despised by their better off neighbors, one of whom describes then as ‘polecats’. The family exists on the margins of Slovenian society, toiling the land in an endless fight for survival which some of them fail to achieve. Voranc depicts death and children fighting to survive into adulthood. ''Boj na požiralniku'' caused a literary sensation and five more stories followed in the years 1935 to 39 which were later collected together as ''Samorastniki''. All deal with peasants lives in the Carinthian mountains, a region that had rarely featured in Slovene literature. The characters speak in the vernacular of the region, they are possessed of a resilient fortitude against the strife of their lives and whilst they are often overly superstitious, egotistical and obdurate Voranc also records them as: faithful, brave, honest and possessing of a religious faith that is true and sincere. In 1939, ''Sodobnost'' published a collection of Prežihov Voranc's works under the title ''Samorastniki''. It included ''Ljubezen na odoru'' (Passion Above the Precipice) and ''Vodnjak'' (The Self-Sown), available in English translations. Voranc left Paris and returned swiftly to Slovenia upon the outbreak of war living in Ljubljana and then in
Mokronog Mokronog (; ''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, pp. 82–83.) is a settlement in the Municipality of Mokronog-Trebelno in southeastern Slove ...
. Upon his return he worked on an unfinished novel ''Požganica'' that had been started whilst he was in prison in Vienna.The novel set against the background of the end of the Great War is one of his most politically dogmatic and according to one critic 'marred by some overly naturalistic scenes, by over simplification of some characters and by political preaching' .


Later novels

His novel ''Doberdob'', which was published in 1941, had already had a checkered past, with the first two manuscripts seized or stolen.The title of the book referred to ''Doberdob, slovenskih fantov grob'' ("Doberdò, the grave of Slovene lads"), a lament to the Slovene dead of the Battle of Doberdò near the village of
Doberdò del Lago Doberdò del Lago (; Venetian language#Regional variants, Bisiacco: ; ) is a (municipality) in the Province of Gorizia, Regional decentralization entity of Gorizia in the Italy, Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of ...
during the First World War, In fact Voranc subtitles the novel as "The War Novel of the Slovenian People".
The third version is mostly a string of anecdotes and meditations on the lives of the Slovenes. It is a fiercely nationalistic novel surrounding the Battle of Doberdò. Doberdò has become the central symbolic place of the Slovene victims of World War I in part because of Voranc's novel. His third novel, ''Jamnica'', is set in a rural Carinthian village between the two wars at a period when the values of rural society are being challenged by increasing industrialization. It remained unpublished until 1946.


Axis annexation and the "cultural silence"

In April 1941, following the
invasion of Yugoslavia The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, was a Nazi Germany, German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was put fo ...
, Nazi Germany annexed northern Slovenia, while Ljubljana and Mokronog were annexed by the Italian troops (and then occupied in 1943 by the Germans). Voranc feared for his life and left Slovenia once again for the Croatian capital
Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
and then to the Bosnian countryside. However, he seems to have had a change of heart and decided to return to Ljubljana for the duration of the war. He did not join the resistance movement, but on 11 September he met clandestinely with other writers to proclaim the self-imposed "cultural silence," which prohibited publication, exhibitions, and performances by Slovene artists for the duration of the war. As a suspected communist sympathizer, Voranc was arrested in January 1943 and transported to the Sachsenhausen and
Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp Mauthausen was a German Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen, Upper Austria, Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with List of subcamps of Mauthausen, nearly 100 f ...
s. He returned to Ljubljana at the end of the war sick and depressed and unable to communicate with his family and comrades. He returned to his native village in Carinthia, where he ceased political activity and removed himself from the political actualities of the newly formed communist Yugoslavia. He worked on ''Solzice'', a historical novel that remained unfinished at the time of his death in Maribor in 1950.


Themes in Voranc's writings

As a child and youth, Voranc experienced first hand the back-breaking drudgery of farming steep mountain slopes, and the theme of the farmer fighting the unyielding soil is recurrent in much of his writing. The mountains of Carinthia and the working-class people within them remained at the heart of Voranc's philosophical work. The beauty of the scenery is conveyed against the backdrop of shared toil and camaraderie. Voranc was drawn to the unfortunate and unjustly treated people he witnessed. His experiences during World War I undeniably left a deep impression on his psyche. The reality of war on the mind is especially explored in his novel ''Doberdob''. Voranc wished to convey to his reader the realism of the situation in which his characters lived and there is little that is sentimental about his depictions. Voranc preferred to write about the impoverished peasant and industrial working class against the impressionistic backdrop of a land that sometimes colludes against the peasant. His socialist leanings are key to understanding his later work. During the 1930s, while living away from his homeland, he became more aware of international socialism, although he adapted realism in his work to suit Slovene sensibilities.


Selected bibliography (Slovene)

* ''Boj na požiralniku'' (1935), * '' Požganica'' (1939) * ''Jamnica'' (1945) * ''Doberdob'' (1940) * ''Samorastniki'' (1940) consisting of a series of short stories that included: * ''Jirs in Bavh, Vodnjak'' * ''Ljubezen na odoru'' * ''Pot na klop'' * ''Prvi spopad, Odpustki in Samorastniki'' * ''Vodnjak''


Selected bibliography (English / German)

*Prežihov Voranc. 1983. ''The Self-Sown, Bilingual edition of a Slovene classic.'' New Orleans: Prometej. (English) *Prežihov Voranc. 1994. ''Two short stories, "The Self-Sown" and "Passion above the Precipice."'' Translation and introduction by Irma Marija Ana Ožbalt. Ljubljana: Slovene Writers Association. (English) *Prežihov Voranc. 2012. ''Winter in Klagenfurt. Drei Geschichten.'' Translated by Jozej Strutz. Klagenfurt: Kitab, . (German) * Vienna, Paris, Saualm. Stories and reports, from the Slovenian by Jozej Strutz, Drava-Verlag, Klagenfurt 2016, . (German)


References


Notes


External links


'Boj Na Poziralniku, review by Eleanor Mannikka
{{DEFAULTSORT:Voranc, Prezihov 1893 births 1950 deaths People from the Municipality of Ravne na Koroškem Slovenian male short story writers Slovenian short story writers Slovenian socialists Yugoslav communists People of Carinthian Slovene descent Sachsenhausen concentration camp survivors Levstik Award laureates 20th-century Slovenian novelists 20th-century short story writers