Description
Book SynopsisThe Slovenian dramatist, poet, literary critic and essayist Ivan Cankar (1876-1918) was one of the greatest Slovenian writers and stylists, as well as the pioneer of modern Slovenian literature. This book, a follow-up to the author’s study
Mirror of Reality and Dreams: Stories and Confessions of Ivan Cankar, is the second English-language monograph on Cankar’s literary œuvre. Whereas the first study focused on Cankar’s social and moral criticism, this monograph sheds light on the mother and woman as portrayed in his works. Through the figure of the mother, Cankar reveals his delicate and subtle relation to weaker individuals in general; the figure of woman in his works illustrates his complicated, often two-fold, internally contradictory relation to love and sexuality.
Trade Review«The author leads the reader into the essential characteristics of Cankar’s literary presentation of love and intimacy and acquaints the world literary public with a Slovenian contribution to European culture that up to now has been too little known and respected.» (Zinka Zorko, University of Maribor)
«In his descriptions of his intimate experiences of his relationships with woman Cankar is perhaps most subtle in showing the limitless horizons of the word in expressing the inexpressible. The author of the monograph represents an analytic and synthetic examination of Cankar’s literary texts from a literary, psychological and ethical perspective in terms of subtle artistic sensitivity and academic excellence.» (Jože Krašovec, University of Ljubljana)
Table of ContentsContents: The Austro-Hungarian empire and the broader European context – Ancient and modern views of love – Maternal representations in Cankar’s works – The figure of the deceased or absent mother – Intimate confessions of love for his mother and a woman in Cankar’s literature and correspondence – Cankar’s relation to his father.
