Dubravka Ugrešić (1949-2023)

18 Nov Dubravka Ugrešić (1949-2023)

Dubravka Ugrešić was an acclaimed novelist, essayist, and playwright, known for her sharp intellect, irony, and fearless critique of nationalism and cultural conformity. She graduated in Comparative and Russian Literature from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb, where she later worked for two decades at the Institute for Literary Theory and History.

Her breakthrough novel Štefica Cvek u raljama života (Steffie Speck in the Jaws of Life, 1981) playfully deconstructed romantic clichés and became one of the defining works of Yugoslav postmodern literature. It was adapted into a popular film in 1984.

In the early 1990s, Ugrešić publicly opposed nationalism, war, and ethnic hatred. Her essays from that period, collected in Kultura laži (The Culture of Lies, 1999), sharply criticized the cultural and moral collapse of the former Yugoslavia. For her stance, she was vilified by the Croatian media and labeled a “traitor” and “witch.” In 1993, she left Croatia and lived abroad, primarily in the Netherlands, where she continued to write, teach at universities in Europe and the United States, and publish essays in major international journals.

“We are all footnotes, many of us will never have the chance to be read, all of us in unrelenting and desperate struggle for our lives — for the life of a footnote — to remain on the surface before, in spite of our efforts, we are submerged.”
— Lisica (The Fox)

Ugrešić’s work questions the nature of literature and authorship, explores identity in exile, and juxtaposes popular culture with high art. She was the first woman to receive the prestigious NIN Award in 1988.

Her other notable works include Američki fikcionar (American Fictionary, 1993), Muzej bezuvjetne predaje (The Museum of Unconditional Surrender, 1998), Thank You for Not Reading (2001), Ministarstvo boli (The Ministry of Pain, 2004), and Baba Jaga je snijela jaje (Baba Yaga Laid an Egg, 2010). Her books have been translated into more than twenty languages and remain widely read across the world.

Dubravka Ugrešić bila je priznata književnica, esejistkinja i dramaturškinja, poznata po svom oštrom intelektu, ironiji i hrabroj kritici nacionalizma i društvenog konformizma. Diplomirala je na Filozofskom fakultetu u Zagrebu, na odseku za Komparativnu i rusku književnost, gde je kasnije dvadeset godina radila u Institutu za književnu teoriju i istoriju.

Njen najpoznatiji roman Štefica Cvek u raljama života (1981) duhovito je dekontekstualizovao romantične klišee i postao jedno od najvažnijih dela jugoslovenske postmoderne književnosti. Ovaj roman kasnije je adaptiran u popularni film 1984. godine.

U ranim devedesetim, Ugrešić je javno protestovala protiv nacionalizma, ratova i etničke mržnje. Njeni eseji iz tog perioda, okupljeni u zbirci Kultura laži (1999), oštrim kritikama osvetljavaju kulturni i moralni pad bivše Jugoslavije. Zbog svog stava, često je bila stigmatizovana od strane hrvatskih medija i proglašavana „izdajnicom“ i „vešticom.“ Godine 1993. napustila je Hrvatsku i živela u inostranstvu, prvenstveno u Holandiji, gde je nastavila da piše, predaje na univerzitetima u Evropi i SAD, i objavljuje eseje u međunarodnim časopisima.

,,Svi smo fusnote, mnoge od nas nikada neće imati priliku da budu pročitane, svi smo u stalnoj i žestokoj borbi za svoj život, za život fusnote, za to da ostanemo na površini prije nego što ćemo, bez obzira na sve svoje napore, potonuti.” – Lisica

Dubravka se bavi pitanjem prirode književnosti i autora, istražuje identitet u inostranstvu i sukobljava popularnu kulturu s visokom umetnošću. Bila je prva žena dobitnica prestižne NIN-ove nagrade 1988. godine. Njena ostala značajna dela uključuju Američki fikcionar (1993), Muzej bezuvjetne predaje (1998), Hvala što niste pročitali (2001), Ministarstvo boli (2004) i  “Baba Jaga je snijela jaje” (2010). Njene knjige prevedene su na više od dvadeset jezika i široko su čitana širom sveta.