The Tradition of Freedom in Croatian Literature: Essays by Ante KadićReview by: E. C. HawkesworthThe Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 63, No. 1 (Jan., 1985), pp. 114-115Published by: the Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School ofSlavonic and East European StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4209041 .

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II4 THE SLAVONIC REVIEW

des J. A. Comenius. Einige Stilanalysen', first published in I 957), Renate Lachmann ('Die "problematische Ahnlichkeit". Sarbiewskis Traktat De acuto et arguto im Kontext concettischer Theorien des I7.Jahrhunderts'), Bernd Uhlenbruch of Bielefeld ('Emblematik und Ideologie. Zu einem emblematischen Text Simeon Polockijs'), Heinrich Steinkuihler of Bochum ('Die Theorie der Rede in Russland zu Beginn des I 7.Jahrhunderts. Die Makarij-Rhetorik im europaiischen Kontext'), and Zoran Kravar of Zagreb ('Varianten der kroatischen Barockliteratur').

Semiotics has led to a renewed interest in and examination of that ancient metalanguage, the rhetoric, especially in its function in the Baroque age as both model and illustration of the literary text. Much work is being done in Germany in this area (e.g. the series of Slavonic rhetorics currently being published under the editorship of Dr Lachmann), and herein also resides the centre of gravity of the present volume. The most important contribu- tion seems to me to be Dr Lachmann's examination of Sarbiewski's treatise De acuto et arguto, and indeed one might take the Polish Jesuit's double oxymoron discors concordia, concors discordia as the leitmotif of Slav Baroque literature as perceived by many of the contributors to this collection, whether it is the 'apparent disparity' in Polotsky's emblematic poems (B. Uhlenbruch, p. II8), or 'the removal of contrasts, i.e. the idea of "revealing the similar in the dissimilar"' in the comic text (I. Smirnov, P. I44; incidentally, this article appeared in Russian in vol. 6 (I980) of Wiener slawistischer Almanach, although there is no footnote mentioning the fact), or 'the connecting and separating of dissimilar and similar elements' in Buslayev's Umozritel'stvo dushevnoye (V. Toporov, p. 83).

The inclusion by the editor of H. Steinkiihler's contribution is an admirable example of scholarly broadmindedness, for the article is a refutation by Dr Lachmann's pupil of her own theory about the genesis of Makary's Rhetoric expounded only three years earlier, demonstrating that it does not go back to a Polish model, but is a verbatim translation of Lossius's i 6 i 8 edition of Melanchthon's Elementorum Rhetorices Libri Duo. St Andrews A. R. HIPPISLEY

Kadic, Ante. The Tradition of Freedom in Croatian Literature: Essays. The Croatian Alliance, Bloomington, I983. 390 pp. Index. $25.00.

OVER the years, Professor Ante Kadic has made a substantial contribution to South Slav studies in the form of original research and informative articles in English. The present work consists of twenty-two essays, all written since the publication in I969 of his From Croatian Renaissance to Yugoslav Socialism. The collection considers various South Slav literatures, with the main focus on aspects of Croatian literature and cultural history from the twelfth century to the present day. Half of the essays are published here for the first time, while the others have been reprinted from various journals. Their scope bears witness to Professor Kadic's wide-ranging interests and broad knowledge of the field. The essays examine such themes as 'The Slavic Idea among the Croatian Baroque Writers', 'The Distinctive

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REVIEWS 115

Features of the South Slavic Romantics', 'Strossmayer and the Bulgarians', "'Yugoslav" Writers on Romania', 'The Stalin-Tito Conflict as Reflected in Literature', as well as more narrowly focused critical essays on individual Croatian writers: Marulic and Drzic, Kranjcevic, Vojnovic, Matos, A. B. Simic, Ivan Supek, and Vlado Gotovac. The tone of the essays is strikingly open: Professor Kadic is as ready to discuss Slovene and Bulgarian literature as he is Croatian and Serbian, and incidental references demonstrate a lively knowledge of other European literatures. It is nevertheless understandable that his most sympathetic and pertinent comments are those referring to Croatian writers. The essays are of varied quality. Some, such as the brief account of 'Contemporary Croatian Humor', are quite superficial, while others offer a detailed and thorough analysis of the topic, such as the discussion of Kranjcevic's religious symbolism or the balanced, objective account of the achievement of A. G. Matos.

For the most part the essays are informative rather than analytical and as such they perform a useful function particularly in introducing the non- specialist reader to various important facets of South Slav cultural and literary history in a clear and lively style, tinged here and there with a personal note. This is not to say that there are not many intriguing details and pieces of information to be gleaned also by the more specialized reader from Professor Kadic's many years of energetic research. The collection demonstrates a scholarly and responsible approach to his material, some of which is very close to him, and Professor Kadic's readiness to pursue any subject which might be relevant to his studies and to consider the field from new and fresh angles. Perhaps the most striking feature of the volume as a whole is the fact that the individual writers and works discussed are never seen in isolation, but always in their social and historical context. Kadic considers the influence of historical events on the writers he discusses and also examines the way in which these events are reflected in literature.

As all Professor Kadic's works, the present collection will be of great value to students of South Slav literature and cultural history. London E. C. HAWKESWORTH

Pushkin, Alexander. The Tales of Belkin with The History of the Village of Goryukhino. Translated by Gillon Aitken and David Budgen. Introduc- tion and Notes by David Budgen. Angel Classics. Angel Books, London, I983. 135 pp. ?3.95.

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. The Village of Stepanchikovo and Its Inhabitants. Trans- lated by Ignat Avsey. Angel Classics. Angel Books, London, I983. 255 pp. ?4.95.

THE recent growth in translations of contemporary Russian literature, inspired, no doubt, in part by the increase in interesting samizdat, tamizdat and third-wave emigre writing, has also produced some new English versions of neglected or badly represented classical works. Angel Classics, having already made a valuable contribution to this process with editions of

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