DA LI "REČI RAZBIŠE MAGIJU”? SIMBOLIČKA I SEMANTIČKA MOĆ REČI FRULA, VRETENO I CRN(ILO) U NOVOM JERUSALIMU BORISLAVA PEKIĆA

Abstract

The main purpose of the paper is to examine the power of the words flute (played), spindle and black(ness) in the novel New Jerusalem (1988) by Borislav Pekić. Through five stories, the mentioned words in Pekić’s poetic discourse appear in different contexts - directly and indirectly. If, according to Foucault, a discourse is a culturally constructed representation of reality, the paper will explore the ways of culturally and symbolically constructing the narrative matrix of the New Jerusalem by pointing out the power of words that simultaneously create meanings and permeate the entire narrative. The semantic power of words will be interpreted based on several dictionaries of symbols (Dictionary of Symbols by J. Chevalier (2004), Dictionary of Symbols by H. Biderman (2018), Dictionary of Symbols by J. C. Cirlot (1990), etc.). The symbolic power of the mentioned words, with its variations, is transposed through the (mythical) past, present and future – that is, from 1347 to 2999. Based on the selection of these words and the observation of their discursive power, which first encompasses the meaning of the stories, and then the meaning of the New Jerusalem as a whole, we will try to point out Pekić’s symbolic manipulation of words that is complicating its semantics. In other words, by varying the mentioned words from story to story, changing their temporal and narrative context, the author manipulates them by assigning them symbolic meanings. Thus, their semantics – depending on the context – are different. The power with which the mentioned words permeate on the poetic discourse of New Jerusalem opens the reading to a symbolic, folklore and magical interpretation of Pekić’s text.