Drago Jančar (; born 13 April 1948) is a

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

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 ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

and

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. Jančar is one of the most well-known contemporary Slovene writers. In Slovenia, he is also famous for his political commentaries and civic engagement. Jančar's novels, essays and short stories have been translated into 21 languages and published in Europe,

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and the United States. The most numerous translations are into German, followed by

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and Croatian translations. His dramas have also been staged by a number of foreign theatres, while back home they are frequently considered the highlights of the Slovenian theatrical season. He lives and works in Ljubljana.

Life

He was born in

Maribor Maribor ( , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is the seat of the ...

, an industrial center in what was then the Yugoslav

Socialist Republic of Slovenia The Socialist Republic of Slovenia (, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Slovenija, Социјалистичка Република Словенија), commonly referred to as Socialist Slovenia or simply Slovenia, was one ...

. His father, originally from the

Prekmurje Prekmurje (; Prekmurje Slovene: ''Prèkmürsko'' or ''Prèkmüre''; ) is a geographically, linguistically, culturally, and ethnically defined region of Slovenia, settled by Slovenes and a Hungarians in Slovenia, Hungarian minority, lying betwee ...

region, joined Slovene Partisans during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Jančar studied law in his home town. While a student, he became chief editor of the student journal ''Katedra''; he soon came in conflict with the

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

establishment because he published some articles critical of the ruling regime. He had to leave the journal. He soon found a job as an assistant at the Maribor daily newspaper '' Večer''. In 1974 he was arrested by Yugoslav authorities for bringing to Yugoslavia a booklet entitled ''V Rogu ležimo pobiti'' (''We Lie Killed in the Rog Forest''), which he had bought in nearby Austria and lent to some friends. The booklet was a survivor's account of the Kočevski Rog massacres of the

Slovene Home Guard The Slovene Home Guard (, SD; ) was a Slovenes#World War II and aftermath, Slovene anti-Slovene Partisans, Partisan militia that was founded and supported by the Germans and fought alongside them against the Partisans. It operated during part of ...

war prisoners perpetrated by

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslavia, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 unti ...

's regime in May 1945. He was sentenced to a year's imprisonment for "spreading hostile propaganda" but was released after three months. Immediately after his release he was called up for military service in southern

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, where he was subjected to systematic harassment by his superiors due to his "criminal file". After completing military service, Jančar briefly returned to ''Večer'', but he was allowed to perform only administrative work. He decided to move to

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

, where he came into contact with several influential artists and intellectuals who were also critical of the cultural policies of the Communist establishment, among them Edvard Kocbek, Ivan Urbančič, Alenka Puhar, Marjan Rožanc, and

Rudi Šeligo Rudi Šeligo (; 14 May 1935 – 22 January 2004) was a Slovenian writer, playwright, essayist and politician. Together with Lojze Kovačič and Drago Jančar, he is considered one of the foremost Slovenian modernist writers of the post-World W ...

. Between 1978 and 1980, he worked as a screenwriter in the film studio Viba Film, but he quit because his adaptation of Vitomil Zupan's script for

Živojin Pavlović Živojin "Žika" Pavlović (15 April 1933 – 29 November 1998) was a Yugoslav and Serbian film director, writer, painter and professor. In his films and novels, Pavlović depicted the cruel reality of small, poor and abandoned people living ...

's movie ''

See You in the Next War ''See You in the Next War'' (, transliterated: ''Doviđenja u sledećem ratu'', ) is a 1980 Yugoslav war film directed by Živojin Pavlović. It competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival. The film's screenplay ...

'' was censored. In 1981, he worked as a secretary for the ''

Slovenska matica The Slovene Society (, also ) is the second-oldest publishing house in Slovenia, founded on 4 February 1864 as an institution for the scholarly and cultural progress of Slovenes. History The Slovene Society was founded upon the proposal of sev ...

'' publishing house, where he is now an editor. In 1982, he was among the co-founders of the journal '' Nova revija'', which soon emerged as the major alternative and opposition voice in Socialist Slovenia. He also befriended Boris Pahor, the Slovene writer from

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

who wrote about his experience in the

Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe. The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately af ...

. Jančar has frequently pointed out Pahor's profound influence on him, especially in the essay "The Man Who Said No" (1990), one of the first comprehensive assessments of Pahor's literary and moral role in the post-

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

era in Slovenia. Early in his career, Jančar was not allowed to publish his works, but when Kardelj's and Tito's deaths in the late 1970s led to gradual liberalisation, he was able to work as a screenwriter and playwright. In the mid-1980s, he gained initial success with his novels and short stories, while his plays earned recognition throughout

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. From the late 1980s on, his fame began to grow outside the country, especially in

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

. Since the early 1990s, he has worked as an editor at the ''

'' publishing house in Ljubljana.

Work

Jančar started writing as a teenager. His first short novels were published by the magazine ''

Mladina ''Mladina'' (English: Youth) is a Slovenian weekly political and current affairs magazine. Since the 1920s, when it was first published, it has become a voice of protest against those in power. Today, ''Mladinas weekly issues are distributed ...

''. Jančar's prose is influenced by

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

models. One of the central themes of his works is the conflict between individuals and repressive institutions, such as prisons,

galley A galley is a type of ship optimised for propulsion by oars. Galleys were historically used for naval warfare, warfare, Maritime transport, trade, and piracy mostly in the seas surrounding Europe. It developed in the Mediterranean world during ...

s, psychiatric hospitals and military barracks. He is famous for his

laconic A laconic phrase or laconism is a concise or terse statement, especially a blunt and elliptical rejoinder. It is named after Laconia, the region of Greece including the city of Sparta, whose ancient inhabitants had a reputation for verbal auste ...

and highly

ironic Irony, in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what, on the surface, appears to be the case with what is actually or expected to be the case. Originally a rhetorical device and literary technique, in modernity, modern times irony has a ...

style, which often makes use of tragicomic twists. Most of his novels explore concrete events and circumstances in

an history, which he sees as an exemplification of the

human condition The human condition can be defined as the characteristics and key events of human life, including birth, learning, emotion, aspiration, reason, morality, conflict, and death. This is a very broad topic that has been and continues to be pondered ...

. He also writes

essay 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 ...

s and

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

s on the current political and cultural situation. During the war in Bosnia, he voiced his support for the Bosnian cause and personally visited the besieged Sarajevo to take supplies collected by the Slovene Writers' Association to the civilian population. In his essay "Short Report from a City Long Besieged" (''Kratko poročilo iz dolgo obleganega mesta''), he reflected on the war in Yugoslavia and the more general question of the ambiguous role of

intellectuals An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and Human self-reflection, reflection about the nature of reality, especially the nature of society and proposed solutions for its normative problems. Coming from the wor ...

in ethnic, national and political conflicts. Throughout the 1990s, he engaged in

polemics Polemic ( , ) is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called polemics, which are seen in arguments on controversial to ...

with the Austrian writer

Peter Handke Peter Handke (; born 6 December 1942) is an Austrians, Austrian novelist, playwright, translator, poet, film director, and screenwriter. He was awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Literature "for an influential work that with linguistic ingenuity has ...

regarding the dissolution of Yugoslavia.

The public intellectual

Between 1987 and 1991 Jančar served as president of the Slovene

PEN Center PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internati ...

and through this role also actively supported the emergence of Slovenian democracy. In 1987, he was among the authors of the

Contributions to the Slovenian National Program Contribution may refer to: Music * ''Contribution'' (album), by Mica Paris (1990) ** "Contribution" (song), title song from the album *''Contribution'', a 1976 album by Shawn Phillips * A contribution concert is where a band plays in the son ...

, a manifesto calling for a democratic, pluralistic and sovereign Slovenian state. During the Ljubljana trial in spring and summer 1988, he was one of the organizers of the first opposition political rally in Slovenia since 1945, which was held on the central

Congress Square Congress Square () is one of the central squares in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. In the late 1930s, the square was renovated by the prominent Slovene architect Jože Plečnik. Since August 2021, it has been inscribed as part of Plečnik ...

in Ljubljana. In the run-up to the first democratic elections in April 1990, Jančar actively campaigned for the oppositional presidential candidate

Jože Pučnik Jože Pučnik (9 March 1932 – 11 January 2003) was a Slovenian public intellectual, sociologist and politician. During the communist regime of Josip Broz Tito, he was one of the most outspoken Slovenian critics of dictatorship and lack of civil ...

. During the

Slovenian War of Independence Slovene or Slovenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Slovenia, a country in Central Europe * Slovene language, a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia * Slovenes, an ethno-linguistic group mainly living in Slovenia * Sl ...

, he and several other writers helped rally international support for Slovenia's independence. Since 1995, he has been a member of the

Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( (SAZU)) is the national academy of Slovenia, which encompasses science and the arts and brings together the top Slovene researchers and artists as members of the academy. Cultural significance Establis ...

. In 2000, Slovenia's most widely read daily newspaper, ''

Delo ''Delo'' () is a business oriented online media in Ukraine, belonging to ekonomika+ media holding. ''Delo'' was the first daily in Ukraine, publishing its real print circulation (13.000 - 15.000) and trying to introduce Western editorial and b ...

'', published his controversial essay "Xenos and Xenophobia", which accused the Slovenian liberal media of inciting

xenophobia Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...

and

Anti-Catholicism Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics and opposition to the Catholic Church, its clergy, and its adherents. Scholars have identified four categories of anti-Catholicism: constitutional-national, theological, popular and socio-cul ...

(Jančar himself is an

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to ...

). He had been accusing the liberal media of similar attitudes since 1994, when his essay "The Fleshpots of Egypt" blamed the media for having helped the rise of the

chauvinist Chauvinism ( ) is the unreasonable belief in the superiority or dominance of one's own group or people, who are seen as strong and virtuous, while others are considered weak, unworthy, or inferior. The ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' describes it ...

Slovenian National Party The Slovenian National Party (, SNS) is a nationalist political party in Slovenia led by Zmago Jelinčič Plemeniti. The party is known for its Euroscepticism and opposes Slovenia's membership in NATO.Krupnick, Charles (2003)''Almost NATO: Par ...

. Although Jančar has never actively participated in politics, he publicly supported the

Slovenian Democratic Party The Slovenian Democratic Party (, SDS), formerly the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia (, SDSS), is a conservative parliamentary party; it is also one of the largest parties in Slovenia, with approximately 30,000 reported members in 2013. It ...

during the

general elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. In 2004, he was among the co-founders of the

liberal conservative Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...

civic platform

Rally for the Republic The Rally for the Republic ( ; RPR ) was a Gaullist and conservative political party in France. Originating from the Union of Democrats for the Republic (UDR), it was founded by Jacques Chirac in 1976 and presented itself as the heir of Gaul ...

().

Awards and honors

* 1993:

Prešeren Award The Prešeren Award (), also called the Grand Prešeren Award (), is the highest decoration in the field of artistic and in the past also scientific creation in Slovenia. It is awarded each year by the Prešeren Fund () to two eminent Slovene art ...

(1993) for his narratives, plays and essays * 1994: European Short Story Award (

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

) * 1999:

Kresnik Award Kresnik is a literary award in Slovenia awarded each year for the best novel in Slovene language, Slovene of the previous year. It has been bestowed since 1991 at summer solstice by the national newspaper house Delo (newspaper), Delo. The awards c ...

for best novel of the year (for "Ringing In The Head", ''Zvenenje v glavi'') * 2001: Kresnik Award for best novel of the year (for "Catherine, The Peacock And The Jesuit", ''Katarina, pav in jezuit'') * 2003:

Herder Prize The Herder Prize (), named after the German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803), was a prestigious international prize awarded every year from 1964 to 2006 to scholars and artists from Central and Southeast Europe whose life and wor ...

for literature * 2007: Jean Améry Prize for European essay-writing * 2009: Premio Hemingway prize * 2009: Premio Mediterraneo prize * 2011: Kresnik Award for best novel of the year (for "I Saw Her That Night," ''To noč sem jo videl'') * 2011:

European Prize for Literature European Prize for Literature (Prix Européen de Littérature) is a European-wide literary award sponsored by the city of Strasbourg with support from the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (France).Honorary Doctor An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

of the

University of Maribor The University of Maribor () is Slovenia's second-largest university, established in 1975 in Maribor, Slovenia. It currently has 17 faculties. History The university's roots reach back to 1859 when a theological seminary was established wi ...

Selected bibliography

Novels * ''Petintrideset stopinj'' (1974). ''Thirty-Five Degrees'' * ''Galjot'' (1978). ''The Galley Slave'', trans. Michael Biggins (2011). * ''Severni sij'' (1984). ''Northern Lights'', trans. Michael Biggins (2001). * ''Pogled angela'' (1992). ''Angel's Gaze'' * ''Posmehljivo poželenje'' (1993). ''Mocking Desire'', trans. Michael Biggins (1998). * ''Zvenenje v glavi'' (1998). ''Ringing in the Head'' * ''Katarina, pav in jezuit'' (2000). ''Katarina, the Peacock and the Jesuit'' * ''Graditelj'' (2006). ''The Builder'' * ''Drevo brez imena'' (2008). ''The Tree with No Name'', trans. Michael Biggins (2014). * ''To noč sem jo videl'' (2010). ''I Saw Her That Night'', trans. Michael Biggins (2016). *'' In ljubezen tudi'' (2017). ''And Love Itself'' *''Ob nastanku sveta'' (2022). ''At the Creation of the World'' Short story collections * ''Romanje gospoda Houžvičke'' (1971). ''The Pilgrimage of Houžvičke'' * ''O bledem hudodelcu'' (1978). ''About a Pale Criminal'' * ''Smrt pri Mariji Snežni'' (1985). ''Death at Mary of the Snows'' * ''Pogled angela'' (1992). ''The Look of an Angel'' * ''Augsburg in druge resnične pripovedi'' (1994). ''Augsburg and Other True Stories'' * ''Ultima kreatura'' (1995) * ''Prikazen iz Rovenske'' (1998). ''The Specter from Rovenska'' * ''Človek, ki je pogledal v tolmun'' (2004). ''The Man Who Looked into a Tarn'' * ''Joyce's Pupil'' (2006). Trans. Alasdair MacKinnon, Lili Potpara and Andrew Baruch Wachtel. Selections from ''Smrt pri Mariji Snežni'', ''Pogled angela'', ''Augsburg'', ''Ultima kreatura'', and others. * ''The Prophecy and Other Stories'' (2009). Trans. Andrew Baruch Wachtel. Selections from ''Smrt pri Mariji Snežni'', ''Prikazen iz Rovenske'', and ''Človek'', ''ki je pogledal v tolmun''. Plays * ''Disident Arnož in njegovi'' (1982). ''Dissident Arnož and His Band'' * ''Veliki briljantni valček'' (1985). ''The Great Brilliant Waltz'' * ''Vsi tirani mameluki so hud konec vzeli ...'' (1986). ''All Mameluk Tyrants Had a Bad End...'' * ''Daedalus'' (1988) * ''Klementov padec'' (1988). ''Klement's Fall'' * ''Zalezujoč Godota'' (1988). ''Stakeout at Godot's'', trans. Anne Čeh (1997). * ''Halštat'' (1994) * ''Severni sij'' (2005). ''Northern Lights'' * ''Niha ura tiha'' (2007). ''The Silently Oscillating Clock'' Essays * ''Razbiti vrč'' (1992). ''The Broken Jug'' * ''Egiptovski lonci mesa'' (1994). ''The Fleshpots of Egypt'' * ''Brioni'' (2002) * ''Duša Evrope'' (2006). ''Europe's Soul''

References

External links

Jean Améry-Prize to Drago Jančar

"Drago Jančar: Critical Observer of Society" (Article in Slovenia News)

Short Biography in the Journal Transcript (with picture)
*
dB, or a Brief History of Noise, essai by Drago Jančar
January 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Jancar, Drago Writers from Maribor Slovenian dramatists and playwrights Slovenian novelists Slovenian male short story writers Slovenian short story writers Slovenian essayists Members of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts 1948 births Living people Prešeren Award laureates Kresnik Award laureates University of Maribor alumni Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts Herder Prize recipients 20th-century Slovenian writers 21st-century Slovenian writers 20th-century male writers