KOSTIĆ’S CRITICISMOF JOVAN JOVANOVIĆ ZMAJ’S TRI HAJDUKA IN THE CONTEXT OF SPOMEN NA RUVARCA

Abstract

In this paper, we have analyzed the similarities between the poems Tri hajduka /
The Three Giaours by Jovan Jovanović Zmaj and Spomen na Ruvarca / In Memory of
Ruvarac by Laza Kostić, which share a certain number of common motifs. At the center of
our interpretation were the statements of Laza Kostić from the part Knjiga o Zmaju in which
he analyzes Tri hajduka. Kostić breaks down Zmaj’s poem into structural elements and
examines each from the point of view of logic and common sense, but also established literary
tradition. Speaking about Zmaj’s treatment of the representatives of the world of the dead,
Kostić makes the following poetics claims: 1) the mediator should speak clearly and
succinctly; 2) the mediator should have the form he had during his lifetime; 3) the atmosphere
must not be humorous but scary. These demands, together with Kostić’s remark about how
Feruz pasha resembles a doll, have allowed us to offer innovative readings of these two
poems, where the automated Feruz pasha is positioned as the opposite of the diabolical figure
in Kostić’s poem. This contrast represents a shift in the anthropological development
continuum which led to the birth of a modern understanding of death, which leads us to the
conclusion that Kostić’s objections primarily stem from a significantly different philosophy
of death, and not from the objective shortcomings of Zmaj’s poetry.