Dubravka Ugrešić

[Stewart]

Dubravka Ugre?ić (born 27 March 1949, Kutina) is a noted Yugoslavian/Croatian writer who lives in the Netherlands.

Ugre?ić was born in 1949 in former Yugoslavia, now Croatia. She studied Comparative Literature and Russian Language and Literature at the University of Zagreb, pursuing parallel careers as a scholar of the humanities and as a writer.

Her best-known novel in former Yugoslavia was ?tefica Cvek u raljama ?ivota (Steffie in the Jaws of Life), an ironic postmodernist novel freely playing with clich?s and stereotypes of trivial literature and culture. The novel was an immediate success and made into a 1984 movie U raljama ?ivota directed by Rajko Grlić.

After the outbreak of the war in 1991 in former Yugoslavia Ugre?ić took a firm anti-war and anti-nationalistic stand. She wrote critically about nationalism (both Croatian and Serbian), the stupidity and criminality of war (see her book The Culture of Lies), and soon became a target of nationalistically charged media. She was proclaimed a ?traitor?, a ?public enemy? and a ?witch?.

She left Croatia in 1993 and now lives in Amsterdam as a freelance writer. She occasionally teaches at American and European Universities and writes for some European newspapers and literary journals.

BIBLIOGRAPHY (English only)

• Fording the Stream of Consciousness (1991)
• In the Jaws of Life (1992)
• Have A Nice Day: From the Balkan War to the American Dream (1994)
• The Culture of Lies (1998)
• The Museum of Unconditional Surrender (1998)
• Thank You For Not Reading (2003)
• Lend Me Your Character (2004)
• The Ministry of Pain (2005)
• Nobody?s Home (2007)

RELATED THREADS

• Nobody's Home

RELATED LINKS

• Dubravka Ugre?ić on Wikipedia
• Official Home Page
• Dubravka Ugre?ić at Complete Review

[rabbitfast]

I just finished reading The Ministry of Pain and I have to say, I gobbled it up. It's accessible, even though some of the humour and references may go over one's head if s/he is not familiar with the culture/mentality of "Yugos" or ex-Yugos...or whatever It's a haunting account of the often absurd existence of those who are forced to live in exile, particularly when they have no fixed identity and when their whole world was, like the proverbial rug, pulled out from under them. "Shit. I don't have any biography," one character laments, and the narrator find herself questioning her own biography (and by extension, her identity as well): "Even the most basic questions gave me pause. Where was I born? In Yugoslavia? In the former Yugoslavia? In Croatia?"

Anyway, I'm now moving on to Fording the Stream of Consciousness and I'll follow that up with Lend Me Your Character.

[rabbitfast]

I return to this thread much later than I intended but here I am. After reading Fording the Stream of Consciousness, let me just say that feathers and balloons will never be the same...It's a very interesting read though!
...though I'd have to say 3.5


As for Lend Me Your Character, ummm...I'll always check what's in my hot dog...you know, err on the side of caution. And, there's a very fascinating background to that in the Afterward (I think...It's been a while!)
This also contains one of the funniest suicide scenes (not that suicide is funny)...I literally screamed with laughter as I was reading it though...All in all, lots of metafictional elements, intertextuality, interesting allusions etc.

[Daniel del Real]

She looks as a very interesting author, beside she is standing a very critical point of view regarding nationality and more important, identity, in the Ex-Yugoslavia territories.
The other day I checked on a library a book by her, but it was non fiction. I still have to find out if she was already translated into Spanish and see if I can get one of his books.

[rabbitfast]

I like her a lot and I hope to read her other works soon. I find her writing clever and I love her somewhat twisted sense of humour...

[peter_d]

The first time I heard about her was when she one of the nominees for the Man Booker International Prize (that was awarded to Alice Munro). Planned to read something by her ever since, but so far it hasn't happened yet. The revival of this thread is good reminder. Thanks.

[pesahson]

The first book I’ve attempted to read was The Culture of Lies, but I gave it up. I think I was too young and I didn’t find it interesting. But I knew Ugrešić as a non-fiction writer first and foremost. Her essays were regularly published in Wyborcza (a daily newspaper) and then published as books together with articles she wrote for some foreign newspapers. I’ve read them and I really enjoyed her style, sense of humour, wit and common sense. Only after that introduction to her writing, I got to reading her novels. Now I’ve read The Ministry of Pain and I’ve just finished Fording the Stream of Consciousness . It was a really enjoyable read. It’s set in Zagrzeb in the ’80s, over the course of a four day writers’ and translators’ convention. It gives a little insight into the absurdities of life in a communist country, but most of all, it was fun to read as Ugrešić has a great sense of humour. There were interesting conversations about which author had a peculiar death or whose manuscript got destroyed and how. Also, the dynamic between two young authors, one coming from Zagreb, the other from the States was one of my favorite parts of the novel. I’ll definately won't shy from her fiction any more.

[pesahson]

Today I've finished In the Jaws of Life. It's the weakest one I've read so far but still very enjoyable. Likeable characters and many hilarious moments are worth giving this 100 page novel a try. Still, I wouldn't recommend it as an introduction to Ugrešić's fiction.

[Worldeater]

This also contains one of the funniest suicide scenes (not that suicide is funny)...I literally screamed with laughter as I was reading it though.

There's a movie,its absolute yugoslavian classic

[pesahson]

Thanks for the info, Worldeater! I would have never known about its existence. I might never find it, but who knows, maybe by some twist of fate I will get my hands on it.

[nightwood]

Just because I am here already... does anyone know if she still writes her books in Croatian language or has she switched in the meantime to Dutch? What I have seen on her website there are alot of titles named in Croatian only so my guess is she still writes in her mother tongue but I can´t say if she really does... just curious

@Worldeater, are you Croatian by any chance and know about this?

[Worldeater]

Thanks for the info, Worldeater! I would have never known about its existence. I might never find it, but who knows, maybe by some twist of fate I will get my hands on it.

You can easily download that movie but im not sure if you can find english subtitles

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088312/


@ nightwood

Im pretty sure that she writes still in Croatian but i could be wrong,im from Serbia actually

[rabbitfast]

Some time ago I read Baba Yaga Laid an Egg and, as with her other books, I thoroughly enjoyed it.