Antun Šoljan (1 December 1932 – 12 July 1993) was a

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n writer in a period of

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

who appeared as a part of the literary magazine ''Krugovi'' (Circles, from 1952 onwards). Šoljan was active as a

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

, short story

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

essayist An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...

and

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

. He wrote four novels: ''Izdajice'' (1961, Traitors), ''Kratki izlet'' (1965, A Brief Excursion), ''Luka'' (1976, The Harbour) and ''Drugi ljudi na mjesecu'' (1978, Other People on the Moon), as well as short stories, theatre and radio plays and poems. He began under the influence of

existentialism Existentialism is a family of philosophical views and inquiry that explore the human individual's struggle to lead an authentic life despite the apparent absurdity or incomprehensibility of existence. In examining meaning, purpose, and valu ...

, in the vein of

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, journalist, world federalist, and political activist. He was the recipient of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the s ...

, about the alienation of modern man, embracing postmodernist concepts later in his career. He is one of the most prominent Croatian authors of what was dubbed the "jeans prose" (), an off-beat prose genre modeled on

J. D. Salinger Jerome David Salinger ( ; January 1, 1919 – January 27, 2010) was an American author best known for his 1951 novel '' The Catcher in the Rye''. Salinger published several short stories in '' Story'' magazine in 1940, before serving in World Wa ...

's ''

The Catcher in the Rye ''The Catcher in the Rye'' is the only novel by American author J. D. Salinger. It was partially published in serial form in 1945–46 before being novelized in 1951. Originally intended for adults, it is often read by adolescents for its theme ...

''., cited in __NOTOC__

Works

Poetry collections

* ''Na rubu svijeta'' (1956) * ''Izvan fokusa'' (1957) * ''Gartlic za čas kratiti'' (1965) * ''Gazela i druge pjesme'' (1970) * ''Bacač kamena'' (1985)

Novels

* ''Izdajice'' (1961) * ''Kratki izlet'' (1965) * ''Luka'' (1976) * ''Drugi ljudi na mjesecu'' (1978)

Short story collections

* ''Deset kratkih priča za moju generaciju'' (1966) * ''Obiteljska večera i druge priče'' (1975)

Essay collections

* ''Prošlo nesvršeno vrijeme'' (1992)

References

Bibliography

* * * Helena Peričić, 'Isprepletanje igre/svečanosti u Šoljanovoj ''Romanci o tri ljubavi'' ', ''Dani hvarskog kazališta (Igra i svečanost u hrvatskoj književnosti i kazalištu)'', ed. by N. Batušić et al., Zagreb-Split, HAZU-Književni krug, 31, 2005., 406–415. * Helena Peričić, 'Između stvaralačkog egzila i poticaja domaće književne tradicije (Slamnig, Šoljan, Paljetak)', in: ''Dani hvarskog kazališta (Prostor i granice hrvatske književnosti i kazališta)'', ed.by N. Batušić et al., Zagreb-Split, HAZU-Književni krug, 32, 2006, 346–359. * Helena Peričić, 'Multiculturalism and the Return to Tradition. Elements of the Literatures in English in the Works of Some Postmodern Croatian Playwrights: Slamnig - Šoljan - Paljetak', ''Identities in Transition in the English-Speaking World'', ed. by Nicoletta V′′asta et al., Udine, Forum, 2011, 251–260.
Obituary: Antun Soljan

Umro Antun Šoljan
* ''Vodič kroz lektire za srednju školu'', Školska knjiga, Zagreb, 1997. {{DEFAULTSORT:Soljan, Antun 1932 births 1993 deaths Military personnel from Belgrade Croatian male novelists Vladimir Nazor Award winners Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery 20th-century Croatian novelists Croatian short story writers Croatian male short story writers 20th-century Croatian poets Croatian dramatists and playwrights Croatian essayists Croatian literary critics Croatian male poets 20th-century Croatian male writers 20th-century Croatian translators 20th-century essayists