„Onamo svetli Bogomajka, a ja joj na poklonjenje stupam”: (Bez)grešnost i ukleta dobrota u „Zapisu o darovima moje rođake Marije” Momčila Nastasijevića

Abstract

The main purpose of the work is to reexamine the relationship between good and evil in Records of the Gifts of my cousin Marija by Momčilo Nastasijević through the characters that determine those relationships. Thus, the following main themes emerge: the nature of (no)sinlessness as a source of suffering, cursed goodness as a consequence of exceeding human measure, and cursed beauty as a sign of the heroine’s identity and suffering. The record - the spoken secret raises numerous symbolic questions, of which the research will first focus on the following: the role of exceeding the human measure in relation to sin and goodness; how good is constituted in relation to evil; Maria and the relationship of beauty-haunting-goodness; the psychological nature of the (lucid) narrator, etc. By looking at the Record in the broader context of Nastasijević’s poetics, the notion of Christianity is persistently invoked in the reader’s consciousness: it is about the existence of a certain symbolism in Mary, whose name, in addition to the sacredness that the narrative exudes, allusively refers to the Virgin. On the other hand, the so-called Christian performances can also be read in the interpretation of virtues (goodness as a polyphonic expression), repentance and sin.