ONOMASTIČKI DETERMINIZAM U DRAMI JESENJI CVAT DERVIŠA SUŠIĆA
ONOMASTIC DETERMINISM IN THE DRAMA JESENJI CVAT BY DERVIŠ SUŠIĆ

Summary/Abstract: This paper analyzes Derviš Sušić’s drama Jesenji cvat (1966) through the prism of the interrelation between onomastic units and the development of dramatic action. The primary aim of the study is to determine, through an interdisciplinary approach, the extent to which character names cease to function as mere tools of identification and instead become active participants in the construction of dramatic tension. The theoretical framework of the paper is grounded in literary onomastics, which examines the function of names within literary texts as devices of characterization and stylistic expression, as well as cognitive onomastics, through which the paper analyzes how names operate in the recipient’s mind as mental constructs. The analysis focuses on the process by which character names, in the consciousness of the recipient, cease to be simple referential labels and become cognitive concepts imbued with historical, cultural, social-class, and ethical layers of meaning. Particular attention is devoted to examining how the onomastic system of the drama shapes semantic and ideological tensions within the dramatic world, and how the tension between the semantic potential of names and the socially constructed identities of the characters contributes to the dramatic conflict. While the protagonists (Hatidža and Halil) strive to achieve a symbolic “autumnal bloom,” an emotional renaissance in later life, their names, intertwined with the voices of their social environment (Šefik, Almasa, Ibrahim, Enes), continuously return them to socially imposed, fixed roles. Special analytical focus is placed on the character Mehan, whose name, as a de-hierarchized derivative of Mehmed (‘praised, glorified’), functions as an onomastic mediator and an informed narrator. He disrupts the illusions of other characters by demonstrating that the name is the only form of legacy that survives the relentless passage of time. Through a synthesis of etymological interpretation and dramaturgical analysis, the paper argues that the impossibility of catharsis and the consciously chosen open ending of the drama are a direct consequence of the irreconcilability between the onomastic identities of the characters and their intimate desires. In this way, Sušić’s onomastics evolves into a form of poetics of fate, where names not only designate characters but also anticipate their life trajectories.

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