The Visoko Chronicle Tavcar, Ivan; Pogacar, Timothy
2021, 20211116, 2021-11-16
eBook
This historical novel- Visoška kronika in the Slovene
original-is about two generations of the owners of the Visoko
estate in the Duchy of Carniola, a predominantly Slovene province
of the Habsburg ...Empire, in the seventeenth century. The events of
the estate and the fate of its owners are affected by witchcraft
persecutions, the mistreatment of Protestants, and the Thirty
Years' War. These themes are key to the construction of a Slovene
national identity, which was going through a decisive phase as
Tavčar was writing. By the time the novel was released in 1919, his
nation had left the Habsburg Crown for the new Kingdom of Serbs,
Croats, and Slovenes.
The work is both romantic and realistic. The deeply romantic
motive of crime, repentance, and punishment intertwines the lives
of father and son. The very acquisition of the estate is connected
to a murder, which casts a long shadow over the next generation.
Tavčar insists on the principle of man's full responsibility for
his acts, which can be repaired with action and determination. The
author's bleak realistic description of the farm life at Visoko
reflects his polemical view of the Slovene farmer of his time.
