TIME IN THE NOVELS OF MILOS CRNJANSKI - Nottingham eTheses

CHAPTER SIX
J!t>re.&M w
by that const-.nt .. ' hich he' already
knew well, which' always followed him to
the first battles.
VUk's sense of who he is in relation to the community,
who he was, and his hopes for the future have to be
re-established in the licht of the broken promise which
his father made to him.
A part of him has to die in
order to retrieve his sense of purpose in the social
world, and he cannot return the' same as he left. In
Roman 0
Londonu, Rjepnin returns throuch death to the
memory of his self. In Seobe, Vuk searches for
salvation to compensate for the loss of his father's
promise, and to return to his self the authority of the
father.
No matter how discouraced he feels, there is a
voice within which encouraces him:
Prazno je dakle bilo, pred njim, zanavek.
i uzaludno, za njim, sve Ito bele prollo.
Nilta nije posticao. ni u ovom ratu, kao
ni ostali, i sveto njecovo hodanje i
seljakanje samo se jednako nastavljao.
Do dna me4utim.. u sebi, ose6ao je da je
nemocu6e da sve to tako pr04e. i kako ca
vu6e clas neki, u njemu, obe6avaju6i mu
nelto vanredno, pri svrletku (34).
So it was empty before him. forever. and
in vain behind him every thine which had
passed. He had accomplished nothinc. not
in this war just as the others had not.
And all his march inc and movinc just kept
on contihuinc. Bowever. at bottom he felt
in himself that it was impossible for
every thine to pass like this. and how
80me inner voice dracs him alone.
promisinc him somethinc wonderful at the
end.
The voice which promises is a remnant of his past and
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