Discomfort in Literature: The Novel Fetish Nullo

Abstract

Tomislav Longinović is Professor Emeritus at the Department of Slavic Studies and Comparative Literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In his rich career as a professor and writer, he shifted his focus of interest several times. He started his higher education at the Department of Clinical Psychology in Belgrade, and then received an MFA at the most prestigious institution for the study of creative writing in the world (University of Iowa Writer's Workshop, USA), where in addition to writing, he specialized in performance and video art. Longinović has published over fifty scientific papers and a dozen books, translated into many languages, including French, Spanish, Turkish, Czech, and Polish. In addition to research and writing, he continues to work as a psychologist as well, through the creation of a unique RADA method of body-oriented personal change. When it comes to his research, Longinović has, among others, published studies: Vampire Nation: Violence as Cultural Imaginary (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2011) and Borderline Culture: The Politics of Identity in Four Twentieth Century Slavic Novels (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1993/Belgrade: Službeni Glasnik, 2013). Tomislav Longinović's latest novel Fetish Nullo (Belgrade: Dereta, 2020) has already won two awards, immediately after its publication: the "Rastko Petrović" award given by the Association of Emigrants and Serbs in the region, and the "Jovan Skerlić" award for best novel. In addition to the novel Fetish Nullo, Tomislav Longinović has published two other novels: A Moment of Silence/Minut ćutanja (San Francisco: Burning Books, 1990/Belgrade: Radio B92, 1997) and Sama Amerika (Belgrade: Radio B92, 1994).