ОД ИСТОЧНИХ КЊИЖЕВНОСТИ ДО СРПСКОГ ПЕСНИШТВА – СИМБОЛИКА МЕЏНУНА И ЛЕЈЛЕ
FROM ORIENTAL LITERATURE TO SERBIAN POETRY: THE SYMBOLISM OF MAJNUN AND LAYLA

Summary/Abstract: The piece seeks to comparatively perceive the story of Majnun and Layla in the subtext of some international and Serbian authors. Majnun and Layla are the most famous love couple in Oriental literature, which have been mentioned in hundreds of literary works from all around the world. Originally, in the works of Eastern mystical poets, Majnun and Layla are the symbols of the search for religious love towards the divine absolute. The piece follows the development of this symbol, its change, and transformation in the works of Middle Eastern poets from the 12th century and onwards, but also in the works of contemporary world-famous authors, such as the widely read Khaled Hosseini and Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk, and especially in the works of the poets fascinated by Orient such as Goethe (1749‒1832), Heine (1797‒1856) and Lorca (1898‒1936), who further influenced Serbian and South Slavic poets such as Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj (1833‒1904), Jovan Ilic (1824‒1901), Jovan Ducic (1874‒1943) and Risto Ratkovic (1903‒1954). Despite various transformations and attribution of different levels of meaning, it is evident that the story of Majnun and Leyla, who are considered to be the Romeo and Juliet of the East, has had a significant influence on many international and South Slavic authors and is still an inexhaustible inspiration.

• Details
• Contents