Daša Drndić (1946–2018)

18 Nov Daša Drndić (1946–2018)

Daša Drndić was a distinguished writer, translator, and university professor. She earned her degree in English language and literature from the University of Belgrade, and later completed graduate studies in dramaturgy at Southern Illinois University in the United States. In the 1990s, she left Belgrade and settled in Rijeka, Croatia, where she obtained her Ph.D. in philosophy and became a professor in the English Department, teaching courses on modern British literature, Anglo-American modern drama, and creative writing.

Between 1995 and 1997, Drndić lived in Canada before returning to Croatia, where she published Marija Częstohowska još uvijek roni suze ili Umiranje u Torontu (Maria Częstohowska Still Shedding Tears or Dying in Toronto, 1997) and Canzone di Guerra (1998). Both novels explore themes of migration, displacement, and the fragile nature of identity, as well as the tension between old and new worlds.

Her internationally acclaimed novel Belladonna (2012) centers on Andreas Ban, a retired psychologist and writer living alone on the Croatian coast. Aging and ailing, Ban sifts through fragments of his life—his memories, medical files, books, and the ruins of history—reflecting on the Second World War, the dissolution of Yugoslavia, and the erosion of personal and collective memory. Drndić’s writing blends historical reflection with unflinching irony and moral clarity. “The past is riddled with holes,” she writes. “Souvenirs can’t help here.”

en translated into English, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Hungarian, Polish, Slovenian, Finnish, Albanian, and Macedonian, Drndić examined how history—especially its silences—shapes human lives. Her recurring motifs include the repetition of historical trauma, the persistence of memory, and the way private and collective histories intertwine.

“Memories die as soon as they are plucked from their surroundings; they burst, lose color, lose suppleness, stiffen like corpses. The past is riddled with holes. Souvenirs can’t help here. Everything must be thrown away. Everything. And perhaps everyone as well.”
— Belladonna

Daša Drndić (1946–2018) bila je književnica, prevodilac i univerzitetska profesorka. Diplomirala je na katedri za engleski jezik i književnost u Beogradu, a zatim nastavila master studije dramaturgije na Južnom Illinoisu. Tokom devedesetih godina, napustila je Beograd i preselila se u Rijeku. Tamo je doktorirala iz oblasti filozofije, a kasnije je postala profesorka na odseku za engleski jezik, držeći predavanja o savremenoj britanskoj književnosti, anglo-američkom modernom dramskom stvaralaštvu, kreativnom pisanju i drugim temama.

Godine 1995. se na dve godine preselila u Kanadu, a zatim se vratila u Hrvatsku, gde je objavila roman Marija Częstohowska još uvek roni suze ili Umiranje u Torontu i Canzone di Guerra godinu dana kasnije. Oba romana tematizuju emigraciju i njen uticaj na identitet čoveka, kao i tenziju između starog i novog sveta.

Njen svetski proslavljen roman “Beladona” prati junaka Andreasa Bana, penzionisanog psihologa i pisca koji živi sam na hrvatskoj obali. Dok stari Ban prečešljava po fragmentima sopstvenog života – svojim sećanjima, medicinskoj dokumentaciji, knjigama i ostacima istorije – razmišljajući o Drugom svetskom ratu, raspadu Jugoslavije, i eroziji ličnog i kolektivnog sećanja. Dela Daše Drndić sjedinjuje promišljanja o istoriji sa moralnom čistoćom i nepokolebljivom ironijom.

„Bio je fašizam, bio je komunizam, pa bauk komunizma. Sad toga više, kao, nema, a prljavština tog vremena zatrpana je pod tepih. Tu je, sve je tu, skriveno, preoblikovano u demokratiju koja to nije.“

Daša je napisala 13 romana, od kojih su neki međunarodno nagrađivani i prevedeni na engleski, francuski, nemački, poljski, holandski, mađarski, slovenački, italijanski, finski, albanski i makedonski, a neki fragmenti pretočeni su i u još više jezika.