Daša Drndić
Daša Drndić: A Yugoslav Writer of Uncompromising Vision
Full Name and Common Aliases
Daša Drndić was born as Dragica Željko on May 12, 1949, in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. She is commonly known by her pen name, Daša Drndić.
Birth and Death Dates
Dragica Željko (Daša Drndić) was born on May 12, 1949. Tragically, she passed away on June 14, 2018.
Nationality and Profession(s)
Drndić was a Yugoslav writer of Serbian nationality, primarily working in the genre of literary fiction. Her work often blended elements of narrative nonfiction, historical inquiry, and philosophical introspection.
Early Life and Background
Daša Drndić's early life was marked by the tumultuous backdrop of Yugoslavia during the 1960s and 1970s. She grew up in a family that valued education, literature, and intellectual pursuits. This environment fostered her interest in writing from an early age.
Drndić attended Belgrade University where she studied sociology. Her academic background and research interests would later influence her writing style, which often incorporated sociological analysis alongside literary expression.
Major Accomplishments
Throughout her career, Drndić published numerous novels, essays, and short stories that garnered critical acclaim both within Yugoslavia and internationally. Some of her most notable works include:
Trieste: A novel that explores the author's personal connections to the city of Trieste and its complex history.
Erg : A novel that delves into themes of identity, language, and cultural heritage.
Notable Works or Actions
Drndić's writing often pushed boundaries between genres, styles, and narratives. Her work frequently explored themes of:
Identity: Drndić's writing frequently grappled with issues of personal identity, nationality, and the complexities of belonging.
History: She was known for incorporating historical events and cultural context into her narrative works.
Impact and Legacy
Daša Drndić's writing has had a lasting impact on contemporary literature. Her innovative approach to storytelling and exploration of complex themes have inspired many writers and scholars worldwide.
Drndić's legacy extends beyond her literary contributions as well. Her work often reflected the cultural, social, and political complexities of Yugoslavia during its dissolution, providing valuable insights for readers interested in this period of history.
Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered
Daša Drndić is widely quoted and remembered for several reasons:
Innovative style: Her unique blend of narrative nonfiction, historical inquiry, and philosophical introspection has influenced a generation of writers.
Thematic relevance: Drndić's exploration of identity, history, and cultural heritage continues to resonate with readers seeking nuanced perspectives on the human condition.
* Authentic voice: Her writing often captured the complexities and nuances of her native Yugoslavia during its tumultuous final years.
Daša Drndić's life and work serve as a testament to the power of literature in reflecting, shaping, and understanding our shared human experience.
Quotes by Daša Drndić
Daša Drndić's insights on:
She has always been somehow weightless, free of the heavy burden of mother tongues, national histories, native soils, homelands, fatherlands, myths, that many of the people around her tote on their backs like a sack of red-hot stones.
We react squeamishly to shit, don’t we? But if we look into the matter you’ll see that it’s the most valuable substance on earth, all life comes from shit and returns to shit.
...it is precisely about things which it is impossible to speak of that one must speak…
The philosophy of the province is a philosophy of a closed circle that does not allow an apostasy, without which there is no creativity. The philosophy of the province is a normative and normalizing, suprapersonal and impersonal philosophy, it shuts out all aspects of life, education, sport, nutrition, nature, love, work, language, religion and death (which is far from being the death of an individual) replacing life with rigid forms of the normative which apply to all.
Every novel is about salvation, says Bela Hamvas, there is no novel without confession.
…he sees a play by Arthur Kopit, he doesn’t remember the title, something about the way a lie becomes the truth and the truth a lie.
...the intellectual is a person who nurtures, preserves and propagates independent judgment, a person loyal exclusively to truth, a courageous and wrathful individual for whom no force of this world is too great or too frightening not to be subjected to scrutiny and called to account. ... A true intellectual, a genuine one, is always an outsider, …he is a person who lives in self-imposed exile on the margins of society.
...when I see the other, I understand myself. To understand myself, to respect myself, I have to respect the other, because I am the other. And responsibility for the other is a fundamental human value. Without it, we become monsters.
Andreas Ban would like to put several swifts on his chest to rest, to breathe with him like sleeping children.Little black birds like cheerful death. Painless.Little black birds with big eyes and a small beak, which peck noiselessly at his insides, see what is there and are silent. Andreas Ban stretches his arms toward the sky, imagining that he is flying, imagining himself in a flock of swifts and lets out a stifled cry. Small birds, they die when they are alone.He, Andreas Ban, is alone.
Sometimes it is as if Andreas Ban sees Lethe rise from its bed and splash the porous ramparts of memory. Flooding fields, cities and people. And when it decides to withdraw, it drags after it carpets of the past and the shaky present and buries them in its dense silt. And he hears Hypnos and Thanatos shading the world with the fluttering of their wings. Then he ought perhaps to reach for poets.