TIME IN THE NOVELS OF MILOS CRNJANSKI - Nottingham eTheses

CHAPTER ONE
Habsbur~ armv. Thev led disturbances amon~st the
Serbian soldiers on hearin~
of the Empire's decision to
disband their re~iments. The cousins re~ard the move as
a further si~n ot Habsbur~ pressure on them to forsake
their national identitv.
The cousins see their onlv
solution in emi~ration to Russia. Like Vuk, the cousins
have an idealistic vision ot Russia, seein~
it as a
utopia where they will be able to live their lives as
Serbs.
The issue becomes more than a question of
national identitv: it is vital for them to live in
accordance with their conceptions ot what and who thev
are.
Atter their arrival in Russia they are quicklV
disillusioned as pressure mounts trom the Russian
authorities to conform and accept Russian identity.
The
novel continues the sa~a of the Serbs be~un in Seobe,
but they are verv different novels in their structure.
In the second novel there are many more characters, and
there is more action, addin~
an epic flavour which the
first novel lacks.
There is a ~ap
of some thirty vears separatin~the.
pUblication ot this novel trom the tirst. The interval
lends credence to Risti6's attack that Crnjanski WaS
a~tistiQallv
sterile. There is another factor which
explains the lona caP between the two novels. arisinc
trom Crnjanski's tirst intentions tor his project.
Seobe was Published .in serial torm in Srpski
kn~llevnl ~lasnlk betore 1929, and was probablV