ĆOPIĆ’S COMMISSIONERS Cover Image

ĆOPIĆEVI KOMESARI
ĆOPIĆ’S COMMISSIONERS

Author(s): Dijana Hadžizukić
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Bosnian Literature, WW II and following years (1940 - 1949)
Published by: Bosansko filološko društvo
Keywords: Branko Ćopić; “The Burst“ [Prolom]; “A Silent Gunpowder” [Gluvi barut]; ideology; history; war

Summary/Abstract: This paper will examine two novels by Branko Ćopić—The Burst (Prolom) and A Silent Gunpowder (Gluvi barut)—and the ways the author criticizes some of the ideological postulates of the victorious army at the end of the People’s Liberation Movement (NOB). Ćopić expresses his attitude about actions and mistakes of the Communist Party during the war by presenting the two different commissioners in his novels. One commissioner appears in both novels. He is close with the peasants, understands their philosophy and way of life, and applies the idea of revolutionary gradation (Uroš). The other commissioner is presented at the outbreak of the war, and only in the second novel. He is a city schoolboy, distant and strange to the peasants, proud of exterminations, and a self proclaimed ’’bloody commissioner” (Vlado). A detailed narratological analysis will point to the procedures Ćopić uses to express his negative opinion about ideologues such as Vlado. It shapes his literary expression supporting Yugoslav socialism, which is milder than the Russian revolutionary variant. Thus, if we consider his criticism of the strict ideology, its mistakes and brutal murders, we can conclude that Branko Ćopić cannot be considered a dissident. His novels confirm his anti-fascist commitment, his love of the oppressed masses, adherence to the official politics of Yugoslav socialism after 1948, and the break with Stalinism.

  • Issue Year: 3/2016
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 235-243
  • Page Count: 9
  • Language: Bosnian