TIME IN THE NOVELS OF MILOS CRNJANSKI - Nottingham eTheses

CHAPTER FOUR
chancinc their names. The~ no loncer
know even their own 1ancuace. Th~ are
becominc Frenchmen, Americans,.
Enclishmen, Germans, Italians,
hale-breeds. The~ are sellinc
themselves, as slaves used to be sold.
The~ have become manure'eor the
eertilisation oe barren lands. Well what
is the truth then: ~ or John~ Was
it happiness, or unhappiness~
The two voices which he hears represent two diererent
w~s eor the prince to view his liee. One is optimistic
and the other is pessimistic.
On the one hand, his
nation has contributed a creat deal to the histor~
oe
civilisation. On the other hand, there appears to be no
euture eor them.
Their children are turninc their backs
on the· national her.i tace. The di1emna eor Rjepn~n is to
come to terms with his present position in this
historical process oe which he is, b~ dint oe ~amil~ and
nationalit~, a part. Like Pavle in Druca knjica
seoba, Rjepnin verba1ises the problem as a search eor
"sre6a" ("happiness").
Bar10v con~ronts
the prince with the same issue,
speakinc in Russian:
euoje, me~utim, kako mu se, u se6anju,
njecov pokojni druc, Barlov, emeje, u
clavi: Kakava nyeobyknovyennava
me.tamoreoaa, knyaz' t Kakaya
nyeobyknovyennava metamoreoza! 'V~
st&~nist, knyaz'~ Vy stalinist~ (51).
He_heard, however, in his memor~. hie
late rriend Barlov in his head lauchinc
at him, .ttm§\t an .ynusual. metamorpnosi, ,
prince! What an unusual metamorphosis!
Are yoy a Stalinist, prinoe~ Are you a
Stalinist~
The transrormations to which Barlov is relerrinc are
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