The Word of the Communist Party in Partisan Epic Chronicles

Abstract

The paper examines the relationship between the post-folklore Partisan epic chronicle and the ideological press (the Borba [The Struggle] and Mladi borac [The Young Fighter] newspapers (1944, 1945), and the proclamations of the CPY Central Committee), as well as other types of ideological doctrinal activity in southern Serbia during World War II. The oral functioned in circumstances in which some of its main elements could not be transferred into the written form. This made the use of written communication part of a broader interplay between the poetic and media discourse, between post-folk epic chronicles and the ideological press. Intertextual connections were facilitated not only by the possibility for authors and audiences to obtain information from printed material, whether through spoken or written means, but also by the fact that many authors from the region were members of the movement founded on Communist Party ideology, some of them in charge of propaganda to boot.
From the perspective of the goals the Communist Party set for itself, of great importance was the factor of interference with the social stratum whose notions of the functioning of the state and society were to be changed by the new ideological narrative, thus making it an active and reliable asset in the struggle for change the Party aspired to.
Therefore, the form of communication with which the rural population was familiar seemed particularly suitable (though the rest of the populace was no stranger to it, due to the importance and power of tradition). The post-folklore chronicle was an adaptable form, with genre features that included narrative sequences aimed at reporting events from the immediate past, based on conflicts with enemies, but also with suitable inclinations towards denarrativization, providing a framework in which an appropriate personality or ideas could be celebrated. The parallels between the poetic and media narrative can be noticed, especially when it comes to outlining the principal actors and the themes, motifs, and ideas.