Dubravka Ugresic's Literary Works Confront Yugoslav War Trauma and Exile
The works of Dubravka Ugresic, including The Culture of Lies (1991-1998) and The Museum of Unconditional Surrender (1991-1996), tackle the Yugoslav wars, despite facing earlier backlash for her 1988 novel's perceived escapism. In 1996, she received the Charles Veillon European Essay Prize for The Culture of Lies, which achieved bestseller status in Germany. A translator's note highlights the term Croatian-Bosnian-Serbian (CBS), illustrating the politicization of language by the Hague Tribunal. Ugresic's criticism of Croatian media during President Franjo Tudjman's rule resulted in her exile. The Museum of Unconditional Surrender features a fragmented narrative style that delves into themes of exile, referencing the Berlin Museum and works like Susan Sontag's On Photography, with recurring angel motifs linked to Wim Wenders's Wings of Desire.
Key facts
- Dubravka Ugresic wrote The Culture of Lies (essays 1991-1998) and The Museum of Unconditional Surrender (1991-1996).
- She won the Charles Veillon European Essay Prize in 1996 for The Culture of Lies.
- The Museum of Unconditional Surrender was a bestseller in Germany.
- A translator's note in The Culture of Lies uses the term Croatian-Bosnian-Serbian (CBS), following the Hague Tribunal.
- Ugresic analyzed a 1957 Yugoslav primer and a 1990 Croatian primer to show how language shapes national identity.
- She criticized Croatian nationalist mythology under President Franjo Tudjman, leading to her exile to Holland and Germany.
- The Museum of Unconditional Surrender uses a fragmented structure, including the contents of Roland the Walrus's stomach from the Berlin zoo in 1961.
- The book references the Museum of Unconditional Surrender in Berlin, site of the German capitulation on May 8-9, 1945.
Entities
Artists
- Dubravka Ugresic
- Martha Kuhlman
- Roland Barthes
- Lacan
- Althusser
- Franjo Tudjman
- Ratko Mladic
- Susan Sontag
- Walter Benjamin
- Wim Wenders
- Zoran
Institutions
- Hague Tribunal
- Yugoslav State Railways
- Berlin zoo
- Museum of Unconditional Surrender
- Soviet Union
- ARTMargins Online
Locations
- Denmark
- Yugoslavia
- Croatia
- Serbia
- Bosnia
- Holland
- Germany
- Rhode Island
- Zagreb
- Belgrade
- Berlin
- Sarajevo
- Pakistan
- Paradise
Sources
- ARTMargins —
- ARTMargins —