OSVRT NA DVA LIKA SUVREMENOSTI HRVATSKOG PJESNIŠTVA 1990. – 2022.

Abstract

The author begins by presenting the standpoint that it is important to differentiate between two fundamental sets of facts in contemporary Croatian poetry (1990 – 2022).The first set arose due to the pressure of external factors. The author mentions five such factors. These are: the revival of "public knowledge" about Croatian poetry due to lifting the ban on certain author names; an increase in the number of female authors; a surge of works in the chakavian and kajkavian "varieties"; a change in public attitudes towards religious poetry; the founding of a specific publishing infrastructure where the work of both public and private publishing houses is combined. The second set of facts emerged due to the internal dynamics of contemporary Croatian poetry itself. Within this set, the author distinguishes between two levels. A special technical pragmatism has been established at the first level, thus allowing authors to freely employ different layers of modern literary heritage. This technical pragmatism is supported by the strive towards authorial singularity and a specific resistance towards the act of reducing poetic autonomy to the existing social context. At the second level, the author describes the presence of four distinct lyrical subject in the practices of contemporary Croatian poetry. These are: the chronicler of existence; the cartographer of enigmatic everyday life; the creator of linguistic boundaries; the advocate of spirituality. Dynamic relationships between these two levels create a "pluripoetic" field where different technical approaches intersect with certain traces of these mentioned lyrical subjects. The author points towards an intricate "conclusive" image of contemporary Croatian poetry. However, it is suggested that the reliance on the outlined analytical foundations may lead to the appropriate critical and research approaches which could deal with this complexity. Their point of emergence is literary criticism, that also started as a literary text.