Ideological Perspectives of the Poetry Collections Karantin by Raša Livada and Nevrijeme i drugo by Danijel Dragojević

Abstract

This paper offers a comparative interpretation of the ideological perspectives present in Karantin by Raša Livada and Nevrijeme i drugo by Danijel Dragojević. The understanding of ideology is grounded in the theoretical frameworks of Althusser and Mannheim, as well as anthropological-philosophical conceptions of ideology as a “worldview”. Upon identifying a postmodern mode of expression at the beginning of Livada’s collection, attention is drawn to the fact that the closing lines of many poems feature maxims introduced by the phrase “and Livada says”. The analysis demonstrates that the frequent repetition of this line generates a specific ironic interplay between the empirical level and the discursive realization of the lyrical subject. More precisely, the position of the empirical author/poet is treated as a locus of wisdom, evoking premodern worldviews, while the treatment of those ancient/premodern perspectives oscillates ironically between postmodern transcendence and a subtle preservation of their relevance. The perspective of the enunciative instance in Karantin emerges as a product of “liberal imagination” (Trilling), which in this case allows postmodern demystification of “grand narratives” to remain multidimensional rather than reductive.

In Dragojević’s collection, the enunciative instance frequently challenges the teleological directives of the Christian community, arising from a “collision” with the experience of modernity. This “collision”, contextualized in the final essay, is framed as a call for engaged literature — a form of “alliance” among the empirical author, the enunciative instance, and the empirical reader. This “alliance” implies the interpellation of all three by a Christian worldview and, consequently, an empathetic response to human suffering as the highest form of literary engagement. The interpretation of the Nevrijeme texts reveals that the de-essentialization of the world and the birth of a modern worldview (Heidegger) lead to the destabilization of Christian ideological frameworks. As the poems evoke existential anxiety and unease permeating the Christian community, their meaning closely aligns with the aforementioned idea of engaged literature. In other words, the poems suggest that thematizing the crisis of the Christian worldview entails both a declaration of the dominance of the modern spirit and a belief in the interpellative power of Christian ideology — within a modern existential framework.

Ultimately, both collections reveal a certain reactivation of premodern ideological perspectives, though in Dragojević’s case this is more explicitly affirmative. The ideological perspective in Nevrijeme is marked by a distinct Christian habitus, which manifests in its duality—both threatened and paradoxically vital. Similarly to the Karantin poems—where the empirical level is “invoked” through the frequent use of a signifier referring to the empirical author (Livada), and through the subtle ironic transcendence of a text-centric, postmodern stance — Nevrijeme evokes an extratextual dimension through the vision of engaged literature. In both cases, the recipient may be interpellated by a premodern worldview. In Karantin, this occurs through a liberally imagined and partially ironic construction. In Nevrijeme, it takes the form of an interpellative call arising from a specific Christian vision of literary engagement.