\u2018Social literature swindlers\u2019: the r/evolutionary controversy in interwar Yugoslav literature

Abstract

Political and literary controversies on the Yugoslav literary left, known as Sukob na ljevici (Conflict on the left), remain famous for their culmination points, such as Miroslav Krleža’s book of essays Moj obračun s njima (My reckoning with them, 1932), his “Predgovor Podravskim motivima Krste Hegedušića” (The foreword to the Podravina motives by Krsto Hegedušić, 1933), Bogomir Hermann’s (alias A.B.C.) subsequent invective “Quo vadis, Krleža?” (1933), Krleža’s later “Dijalektički antibarbarus” (Dialectical antibarbarous, 1939), and the one-issue journal Književne sveske (Literary volumes, 1940). As the historiographic memory of these controversies is mainly concentrated on the authoritative personality of Krleža himself, the arguments of his opponents are mostly remembered as arguments of ‘the others’ and are granted only marginal validity. This article gives an account of the debates of the Conflict’s first stage (1928–1934), which were manifold and profound, and which foreshadowed the literary and ideological positions of the Conflict’s later, culminating stages. By taking into account the dynamic and complex international context that serves as a backdrop to the Conflict, this paper explores the developments in the Yugoslav ‘counterpublic’ literary sphere, especially with a view to discussions, debates, and polemics over the emerging social literature. Particular attention goes to the group of authors gathered around Socijalna Misao, Zagreb’s sociological and cultural journal edited by Božidar Adžija. As this journal’s most productive authors were derogated as ‘social literature swindlers,’ which affected their marginal position in the cultural historiography of this period, the aim of this article is to offer a proper analysis of their particular position on the literary and political left.