TIME IN THE NOVELS OF MILOS CRNJANSKI - Nottingham eTheses

CHAPTER SIX
tuture becomes present. the happiness tor which Vuk is
searchin~ wi11 become present. The ori~in of his sense
ot history. which binds Vuk to the community ot tami1y
and nation. is to be found in the promise of his father.
In this way. VUk's sense ot self in history is
characterised by what Tobin terms the "~enealo~ica1
imperative" in her book Time'and the Novel (19).
Tobin uses the term to describe· those novels which
achieve a narrative unity by f011owin~
the events
surroundin~ the life of a family or its pro~ress over
the ~enerations.
In the case of Seobe. the term can
be used in a narrower sense.
Vuk's sense of'se1f in
time and history wi11 be comp1eted when he fu1fils the
promise of the father. and thus assumes for himse1f the
authority ot the tather.
When the promise is broken. so are the bonds which
bind Vuk to tami1v and nation. His fi~htin~ for the
will of others increases his sense of separation from
his wife and chidren. and he questions "aar ni.;Je
pripadao dru~ome.
a ne toj teni. ni toj deci Ato su aa
n.;Jim p1aka1a" ("did he not rea11.,- be1on~
to another. and
not to that wife. nor those chi1dren who wept after him"
20). The people 1eftbehind in his vi11a~e are cut otf
trom the events and experiences of Vuk and his soldiers:
- se
Pre. kada s~klali sa Turcima. vide1i au
zapa1.;Jena se1a. turske laCe. pune rob1.;Ja.
na vodi. kako pro1aae. ~uli su da ~ore
manastiri. da silu.;Ju lene i bacaju uvis
decu. pa ih do~ekuju na noteve, a sad od
aveaa toaa ne beAe ni alasa (21).
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