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S l a v is t is c h e B e it r a g e BEGRltNDET VON ALOIS SCHMAUS HERAUSGEGEBEN VON HENRIK BIRNBAUM UND JOHANNES HOLTHUSEN REDAKTION: PETER REHDER Band 63 OLGA GRAHOR FRANCE IN THE WORK AND IDEAS OF ANTUN GUSTAV MATOŠ VERLAG OTTO SAGNER • MUNCHEN 1973 A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF M. PHIL. UNIVERSITY OF LONDON 1972 ISBN 3 87690 072 7 Convright by Verlag Otto- Sagner, Munchen 1973 Abteilung der Firma Kubon und Sagner, Munchen Druck: Alexander GroBmann j 8 Munchen 19, YsenburgstraBe 7 INTRODUCTION 6 Antun Gustav Matoš (1873-191^4-) is the most important figure in Croatian turn-of-the-century literature• His claim to fame is twofold: his life and his personality (he hecame a legend in his own lifetime) and his Creative output which is considerable, both in volume and in quality. He was horn in Tovarnik in Srijem, but grew up in Zagreb. He was not a particularly good pupil at school; in fact he never finished the gymnasium. At his parents1 wish he went to Vienna and enrolled there as a veterinary student. But his heart was not in it; he returned to Zagreb steeped in the readings of Hoffman, Byron, Kant, Stirner and Schopenhauer. When his turn čame to be drafted into the army, he survived the first ten months of basic training; it was only when he was sent to Zagreb for further training as a veterinary officer that he realized fda je niko i ništa, mrtav za svaku slobodnu misao.He discarded his uniform in the flat of a friend, and the two of them secretly left for Serbia. After they had spent ali their money, they became home-sick and decided to cross the Sava back into Austria. It was summer, the weather was beautiful, people in Srijem hospitable; it was Matoš1s chance to get to know his native country. The friends parted company, but agreed to meet in Vukovar at a certain date in order to 1. AG-MSD II, p.290 return together to Zagreb. Matoš was late for the appointment iuddenly, what had begun as a youthful lark became very serious. Matoš was an army deserter, and rather than face the conseguences, he decided to burn his bridges and cross the Sava into Serbia. He was recognized and arrested as he was waiting for the train to take him from Mitrovica to Belgrade. He was taken to Petrovaradin where he spent some time in prison. One fine September morning he decided to run away and succeeđeđ. That was in 189U; Matoš was twenty two years old. This decision was of capital iraportance. It was truly the turning point in Matoš1s life. It is difficult to imagine what his life and work would have been like if he had never taken that step. Perhaps it would have developed on the same pattern, because Matoš was a bohemian at heart. He did not like the monotonous flow of a routine existence, even if it meant material security. Not that he would have objected to a materially secure existencef. In fact he never stopped complaining about the miserable conditions in Croatia which made many of her most talented writers starve. He was simply not prepared to accept material security at the expense of his freedom. In this respect he had a great deal in common with many an artist, and the name of a writer, whom Matoš admired - Charles Baudelaire - springs most readily to mind. 8 Be that as it may, the decision to desert to Serbia left a profound mark on the rest of Matošfs life; he was forced to stay in Belgrade, there was no going hack. As he was without resources, he had to make do as hest as he could. VVith the help of a friend, Stjepan Brozović, who had deserted the previous year, Matoš settled down. He got a job as a cellist in the Belgrade theatre (he was also often invited to play at receptions in private homes), and gradually he began to contribute articles for newspapers and,stories for literary journals. Matoš had already tried his hand at writing - his first story ’Moć savjesti’ appeared in Vijenac in 1892. Among Matošfs friends in Belgrade were Jovan Ilić and his family, Milovan G-lišić, Stevan Sremac, Janko Veselinović, Branislav Nušic, Boza S. Nikolajević, son of Svetorair Nikolajević, a well knovra politician, diplomat and university professor, many famous actors and journalists of the period. This was the Belgrade ’boheme1 whose main meeting place was the cafe Dardaneli near the theatre. This was the Belgrade of the last Obrenovićs, colourful and complex in its mixture of old Serbian patriarchal traditions with their strong oriental flavour, and the new influences of Western civilisation. This synthesis of the two civili- sations had the charm and the fragility of ali transitory periods, and had produced some of the best and the most original writings in Serbian literature. Matoš with his 9 artistic instinct recognized the genuineness and originality of this inspiration and remained faithful to it, to his old Belgrade friends, and to what they stood for. Because this hohemian, who had never in his life had a permanent address, so to speak, was a traditionalist at heart. When later, he became acguainted with the aristocratic opinions about art of a Baudelaire or of a Gautier, or the almost mystic views on the origin of nationalism of a Barres, Matoš did not embrace a fashionably conservative doctrine, but followed the leanings of his innermost being. Thus, Matošfs first stay in Belgrade set the pattern of his future existence; he was to become a professional writer and live exclusively from what he earned with his pen. And this was not ali. In Belgrade Matoš1s literary interests were directed towards Prance. The first hand knowledge of Serbian literature and dialect influenced his own writings, for Matoš was the first Groatian writer to use Serbian words and constructions when it suited his purpose. He even wrote contributions to Serbian papers in ekavian. But above ali, the enforced absence from his beloved Croatia gave a tangible goal towards which the fears, the disatisfactions, the unrest, I ;which he shared with his whole generation ali over.Europe, i vcould be directed. In Belgrade Matoš met, or at least heard of, nany youig Serbs who were sent to Pariš, on government scholarships, to study 10 there. When they returned to their country, they inevitably played an important part in Serbian public life. From their ranks there emerged two of* the most prominent Serhian poets of the time: Jovan Ducic and Milan Rakić. There was no chance of Matoš getting a scholarship from anywhere, but he could earn a living in Pariš as he did in Belgrade. Gradually the idea of going to Pariš became irresistible; he had to see for himself the city on the Seine, which had long since replaced Germany and Austria as a guiding influence in ali matters of culture in independent Serbia. For Matoš, after four years in the Serbian capital, France, or rather Pariš, 'had acguired the same significance; that of the centre of a culture which should serve as a counterweight to the much hated culture of Vienna and, indirectly, of Berlin. Like a magnet, Pariš drew young people with literary and artistic inclinations from ali over the world. It was the centre of ideas, of new movements in literature and the arts, centre of elegance, wit and gracious living compared to which ali other capitals seemed like provincial towns; a city of liberty where people of talent were always stimulated and sometimes rewarded. Had not Heine left the stuffy atmosphere of his country to breathe the free air of Pariš? And Oscar Wilde? Was he not compelled to leave England and her insulting curiosity, after having served his term at Reading prison to seek anonymity in Pariš? Had not the Greek Papadiaman-