Dane Zajc, one of the most prominent Slovenian poets of the twentieth century, repeatedly thematized man's solitude, desperation, and other states of mind. This paper analyzes three selected poems by ...Zajc. In "The Giant Black Bull" he combined two types of speech, which could be ascribed to one or two different speakers. The main character, the bull, is characterized with a single act that invites different interpretations. In the fourth poem from the cycle "Two'" narration is combined with direct speech; again, characters and their dispositions, revealed by actions, speech, and figurative descriptions, are essential for understanding the poem. The poem "The Ear of the Mountain" diverges because the speaker's consciousness tries to merge with some mysterious force that surrounds and transcends it. This article applies some narratological findings about the presentation of the mind in novels to lyric poetry through the study of Dane Zajc's poetry. Traditionally, interpreting lyric poems includes (re)construction of the speaker, and narratology can provide useful tools to broaden the analysis. I propose that studying the presentation of the mind in lyric poetry raises two questions: 1) Who attributes states of mind to whom? and 2) What techniques are used to attribute states of mind? In lyric poetry, (implied) authors, speakers, and (implied) readers usually attribute states of mind to speakers; compared with narrative fiction, characters' consciousness seems to be represented less often in lyric poetry (most obviously in dramatic monologues), and it is not usual for characters to attribute states of mind to other characters. Regarding techniques, one should observe categories for discourse presentation and the use of figurative or literal expressions. Key words lyric poetry? narratology? mind? Slovenian poetry? Dane Zajc
Barren Harvest: Selected Poems Davis, Robert Murray
World Literature Today,
09/2004, Letnik:
78, Številka:
3/4
Book Review, Journal Article
Recenzirano
Dane Zajc. Barren Harvest: Selected Poems. Ales Debeljak, ed. & intro. Erica Johnson Debeljak, tr. Buffalo, New York. White Pine. 2004. 109 pages. $14. ISBN 1-893996-67-0
Scorpions: Selected Poems Levy, Michele
World Literature Today,
06/2001, Letnik:
75, Številka:
3/4
Book Review, Journal Article
Recenzirano
Presenting these poems in two major languages, without the original, produces interesting results, for Zajc's poetry, whose repetition of sound and image comes close to surrealism, resonates ...differently in each language. Reading first in English, then in French (and hearing differently the repeated poems), one begins to imagine how the poem might sound and feel in the original. The absent Slovene becomes a shadow presence, creating a subtle echoing.
