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  • THE SERIES THE COMPLETE WOR...
    Kramberger, Igor

    Slavistična revija, 01/2013, Letnik: 61, Številka: 1
    Journal Article

    Choosing authors is like any kind of evaluation an ideological act. Therefore, from today's somewhat removed view, it seems totally logical that another publishing house includes in its plans authors that suit it and that they are published in editions of equivalent editorial quality to the editions in the series Complete Works. It is cause to wonder that such authors should have two sets of complete works when it is not possible to descry appreciable differences in content or editing. In a 1989 interview in Vecer conducted by Marjan Kunej, France Bernik mentioned the publication of complete and selected works by Mohorjeva druzba. He did the same in a 1994 conversation with Kunej for the newspaper Republika, and in a paper at the 2006 Slavic Congress in Zagreb: "For that reason, after the war Mohorjeva druzba in Celje-as a sort of counterbalance to the complete works-began to publish and finished publication of selected works of what I might call Catholic tending writers: Ksaver Mesko, Fran Detela, F. S. Finzgar, and Ivan Pregelj" (Kunej 1989: 30). Considering the bibliographic facts on the publication of these four editions, Anton Ocvirk's summary forecast in a 1965 anniversary article can be understood as a kind of answer. He expanded the list of authors to be included in the series: "And that is not all, because we also have in hand, from older periods, Valentin Vodnik (who was already in the list in 1946), and of modern writers Finzgar and Kraigher, and of the expressionists especially Miran Jarc and Slavko Grum, who will be included along with the most important poet of modern times, Srecko Kosovel" (Ocvirk 1965: 28). He thus used a series of names to list all of the genres, and with the full list he answered the question Andrijan Lah had put with the title of a Jezik in slovstvo article, "Na poti k torzu?" (And now the torso?) about a year prior. The realization of this prediction began only ten years later and was concluded in 2012. Anton Ocvirk decided that introductions were not appropriate for these scholarly editions. For this reason he placed the contents of Ivan Prijatelj's introductions immediately before the "Notes." The introductions now contained more detailed and better documented information on the genesis, publishing, and reception of each literary work. Because the book was now clearly divided into the first part, with the author's works, and second part, with notes, he could omit the word "editor's." The result of his changes was that editor offered the reader scholarly assistance: He adumbrated the author's texts with his own explanations to facilitate further research and interpretation. He also directed attention to specific relations between the person of the author, his production, and final achievements. The "Notes" as a title can be understood in this context as defining editor's texts as a supplementary, subordinate contribution. The smaller font size can be seen as a typographic means of underlining this unpretentious relationship. One could argue that the decision to use the title "Notes" (Opombe) was a mistake on Ocvirk's part, but also that he wished to stress the author-editor relationship I am describing. Ocvirk mentions representative writers in his introduction in the course of enumerating tasks for literary history and poetics. He limited himself to the most familiar names on a list that Slovenski porocevalec had printed on 19 March. It is disappointing that he did not link these tasks with writers who were new to the list of classics: Linhart, Mencinger, and Kosovel. The journal sections Zapiski in gradivo (Annotations and materials) and Knjizna porocila in ocene (Book news and reviews) contained items that show that the original function had to a great degree been maintained in the new journal. In the first issue, Marja Borsnik, who had edited the first volume of Anton Askerc's works in 1946, published and commented on letters from the poet to Fran Vidic. The opening of France Dobrovoljc's bibliographic article plainly affirms the journal's initial direction: "I am publishing several corrections and additions to Cankar's bibliography, found in the jubilee book Ivan Cankar, Voice of Our Times (SKZ 1946), for the purpose of facilitating the work of future editors of a new edition of Cankar's complete works" (Dobrovoljc 1948: 122). In 1951, Boris Merhar began editing Cankar's Izbrana dela (Selected works) in ten volumes, in collaboration with Dobrovoljc. Cankar's works only began appearing in the series Complete Works in 1967. Dobrovoljc published critical commentaries on the volumes in Nasi razgledi. The first issue of Slavisticna revija's slow composition is evident in the last item. Alfonz Gspan wrote a long review of Anton Slodnjak's publication of France Preseren in December 1946, and in April 1948 he added an addendum to it (Gspan 1948: 137).