Stagnant Utopia

Abstract

Using the methodology of linguistic anthropology and the anthropology of literature, this thesis draws links between the works of prolific Serbian authors’ works, the social unrest and unease present in late stage Yugoslavia, and the Balkan Wars of the nineties. By applying the theories of Russian philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin, works by Danilo Kiš, Milorad Pavić and Borislav Pekić are analyzed by style and content, which despite not being directly linked, unite the works of the authors, and lend credence to the question posed by the thesis: what do the authors express about their time, and how do they present alternatives to it? Fernando Poyatos, in ‘Literary Anthropology’ already laid out the feasibility of treating fiction novels as anthropological artefacts, but it is by analyzing the works using Bakhtin’s concept of the chronotope, dialogism and Hanks’ textuality that we can make sense and grasp at a link between the works under analysis. It is through Bakhtin that this dissertation is able to analyze and theorize on the temporal dimension of the novels being analysed. The conclusion of the thesis is that the attempt to draw attention to a stagnated society and in their way, theorize about the social order to follow. This is done though indirect critique of the ruling order and the presentation of alternatives.