TIME IN THE NOVELS OF MILOS CRNJANSKI - Nottingham eTheses

CHAPTER SIX
trend in the epic in which the fami1~
and the nation are
intertwinedt
The wor1d of the epic is the nationa1
heroic past: it is a wor1d of
"beeinnines" and "peak times" in the
nationa1 histor~.
a wor1d of fathers and
of founders of fami1ies, a wor1d of
"firsts" and "bests" (13).
Pav1e is not Vuk's son b~
b100d. a1thoueh his foster
father promised him that there was a e10rious future for
him, for their fami1~, and for the nation in Russia. As
with Vuk himse1f. the promise of the father is
unfu1fi11ed and in the end empt~.
It is interestine to note that Crnjanski
himse1f and his wife Vida had no chi1dren. a1thoueh
there is no evidence to indicate how the coup1e fe1t
about this. Crnjanski's own father died whi1e he was
sti11 ~oune.
which he reca11s in a poienant
matter-of-fact tone in itaka i komentari, "Umro je
idu6ee dana.
Nije dozv01io da me pozovu iz Temilvara.
sa Ik01a" ("He died the next d~.
He did not 1et them
ca11 me from Temilvar. from scho01" 14).
He died in
i1and!a, whi1e Crnjanski was at scho01 in Temilvar
Vuk's father is an important fieure in his 1ife.
He wou1d a1w~s mention his name "pri svakoj va!nijoj
izreci" ("at ever~ more important statement" 15). Vuk's
memories of his father provide a base on which he has
bui1t his view of himse1f in re1ation to the times in
which he 1ives, and the future.
The present is a
strueC1e to defeat the Turks. the reward for which is
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