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Đorđe Jovanović (writer)

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Đorđe Jovanović
Ђорђе Јовановић
A photo of Đorđe Jovanović.
Born(1909-10-27)27 October 1909
Belgrade, Kingdom of Serbia
Died23 July 1943(1943-07-23) (aged 33)
Slatina, German occupied Serbia
OccupationWriter
Period20th century
GenreEssay, novel, poetry
Literary movementSurrealism

Đorđe Jovanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Ђорђе Јовановић; 27 October 1909 – 23 July 1943) was a Serbian literary critic and Surrealist poet and writer during the interwar period.[1] Along with his two high school classmates, Oskar Davičo and Đorđe Kostić, Jovanović represented the younger generation of the Yugoslav Surrealist movement.[2]

Jovanović was often referred to by his nickname Jarac (billy goat).[3]

Early life

Đorđe Jovanović was born on 27 October 1909 in Belgrade.[4] He was the son of Kalča and Danka Jovanović.[5][6] Đorđe's father was a military officer.[7]

Đorđe Jovanović became friends with his classmate and future co-author Đorđe Kostić around 1920, when they discussed the expulsion of a mutual classmate for spreading communist literature during Filip Filipović's mayoral campaign.[8] The two initially bonded over their shared admiration for Miroslav Krleža and August Cesarec.[9] Along with another classmate, Oskar Davičo, Kostić and Jovanović would go on to represent the younger generation of the Yugoslav Surrealist movement.[2] Before joining the core of the local movement in 1930, the group would publish several literary magazines during their high school years.[10]

The group's first foray into publishing was the single-issue magazine Okna (Panes), published in 1925 and edited by Jovanović.[11] Okna featured the first published prose of Oskar Davičo. In 1926, Jovanović and Kostić, alongside Filip Vasić and Božidar Z. Marković, published the magazine Stišavanja (Becalmings). The magazine was inspired by the writings of Robert Desnos, and included a translation of his poetry. It also featured Jovanović's critical essays on Ljubomir Micić, Stanislav Vinaver, Aleksandar Vučo, Rade Drainac and others, as well as an innovative short story by Jovanović titled "A Castle neither in the Sky nor on Earth (Composed According to the Words of the Vagabond Njegovan)". Filip Vasić provided the illustrations for Stišavanja.[10][2]

Around this time, Jovanović was expelled from the First Belgrade Gymnasium for refusing to obey the dress code. He transferred to the Fourth Belgrade Gymnasium where he would meet Dušan Matić, one of his teachers at the time.[12] According to Đorđe Kostić, it was during this time that Jovanović struggled with alcoholism, started abusing ether and developed a personal ethic of being "lifelike", eschewing nonconformism and adopting a hedonistic attitude. Because of all this, the two drifted apart for a short while.[13] They reconnected in the autumn of 1927, when Jovanović introduced his former classmate to Matić. Soon after, Jovanović enrolled at the University of Belgrade to study philosophy.[14] In 1928, Jovanović introduced Matić to Oskar Davičo, who took an instant liking to him after discussing their shared disdain for mainstream poets like Jovan Dučić and Milan Rakić, as well as the literary critic Bogdan Popović.[15]

Between 1928 and 1929, Jovanović and Kostić, together with Davičo, published three issues of the literary magazine Tragovi (Traces). The magazine was intentionally limited to an exceptionally small circulation, namely only eight copies of each issue were printed. The readers were mostly known in advance and belonged to the Surrealist group, to whom Tragovi would serve as a short anthology presenting the styles of the three collaborators.[2] During his work on Tragovi, Jovanović was enamored by the Bonnot Gang and frequently discussed the idea that each excess could represent an affirmation of freedom.[16]

During 1928, Jovanović was briefly married to a girl in Skopje, in accordance with the wishes of his father. The couple had a baby girl, and agreed to a divorce almost instantly.[17]

Surrealist movement

On 30 November 1929, in the apartment of Aleksandar Vučo, the Belgrade Surrealist group was officially formed. Jovanović attended the meeting organized by Vučo and Marko Ristić, where he got into a scuffle with Velibor Gligorić.[18] In May, the first surrealist almanac the group authored was published under the name Nemoguće (The Impossible), with an introduction written by Ristić and Matić.[19]

In October 1930, the Surrealist group got into several physical confrontations with Rade Drainac after the publishing of his openly disdainful and derogatory article on the group in the magazine Pravda. According to Drainac, he was beaten by the entire group.[19] However, according to Đorđe Kostić, Drainac got into a short scuffle with Jovanović and himself, during which Jovanović grabbed Drainac by the coat and Kostić blocked his arm when he swung at them with a walking stick. Kostić claimed that Radojica Živanović Noe beat Drainac only later that night in a one-on-one fight near Hotel Moskva.[20] Several members of the group signed an announcement outlining a similar story in late October.[19]

In January 1931, the group published the declaration Pozicija nadrealizma (The Position of Surrealism) where they stated their support for a socialist revolution. The declaration was later banned. In June 1931, the group published the review Nadrealizam danas i ovde (Surrealism Here and Now). The review signed 11 editors, with Jovanović signed as editor in chief. The review would continue until June 1932.[21]

Jovanović was arrested on 1 December 1932 along with Koča Popović, and was indicted for reproducing and distributing communist leaflets at the University of Belgrade. After a five-day trial, on 17 June 1933 he was sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment by the National Court for the Protection of the State, set up during the 6 January Dictatorship. Đorđe served his sentence at the Sremska Mitrovica Prison. His arrest was preceded by the sentencing of Oskar Davičo to five years of prison several days before.[22][4]

Final years and death

In 1941, Jovanović joined the Yugoslav Partisans and was a fighter of the Kosmaj Partisan Detachment.

He was killed during the Second World War in Slatina near Kosmaj on 23 July 1943.

Legacy

He wrote several critical studies on Serbian writers, including Mateja Nenadović, Radoje Domanović, Svetolik Ranković and Branislav Nušić. He authored "Studies and Criticisms", "Against Deception", "Realism as Artistic Truth", the novel "Pay, Then Carry".

The "Djordje Jovanović Award", which is awarded in Belgrade for the best critical-essay work in the previous year, was named after him. The award is traditionally presented in one of the libraries of the city of Belgrade. It was named after the writer, literary critic and revolutionary Đorđe Jovanović. The name of the award is not connected with the sculptor and academician Đorđe Jovanović in any way.

References

  1. ^ Bédé, Jean Albert; Edgerton, William Benbow (1980). Columbia Dictionary of Modern European Literature. ISBN 9780231037174.
  2. ^ a b c d Andonovska 2019, pp. 126–128.
  3. ^ Puzić, Predrag (31 October 2001). "Zašto Srbija danas ćuti: Marko Ristić šalje u smrt". Glas javnosti (in Serbian). Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  4. ^ a b Enciklopedija Jugoslavije, pp. 536–537.
  5. ^ Kostić 1972, p. 114.
  6. ^ Kostić 1972, p. 36.
  7. ^ "Đorđe Jovanović". nadrealizam.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  8. ^ Kostić 1972, p. 7.
  9. ^ Kostić 1972, p. 19.
  10. ^ a b Andonovska 2013, pp. 7–8.
  11. ^ Popović 2009, p. 30.
  12. ^ Kostić 1972, p. 53.
  13. ^ Kostić 1972, pp. 94–106.
  14. ^ Kostić 1972, pp. 113–115.
  15. ^ Popović 2009, p. 42.
  16. ^ Kostić 1972, p. 227.
  17. ^ Kostić 1972, p. 197.
  18. ^ Popović 2009, pp. 55–56.
  19. ^ a b c Popović 2009, pp. 62–66.
  20. ^ Kostić 1972, pp. 22–23.
  21. ^ Popović 2009, pp. 67–70.
  22. ^ Popović 2009, pp. 87–88.

Sources

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