Smisao (ne)sreće i otuđenja: ka Domanovićevoj psihološkoj pripoveci

Abstract

The main purpose of the paper is to reexamine the phenomenon of happiness, as well as to answer the question of the characterization and experiences of happiness in Domanović’s stories about happiness (Razorena sreća, Promašena sreća, Sreća, Rođendan (birthday as the happiest day of the year)). The next level of analysis includes the interpretation of Domanović’s characters, with the help of which the motives of (un)happiness and alienation, as well as the types and degrees, are re-examined. This allows us to gain a more complete insight into the problematic of the works. In the short stories, dealing with psychological characterization, we try to point out the complexity of the symbology of happiness, the nature of which is presented as multi-problematic: the debatable definition of happiness leads the heroes down a path of alienation, on which, often brought to the existential limit, they begin to question the meaning of life and existence. Therefore, the boundary between happiness and unhappiness remains broken and conditioned by the specific experience of these two phenomena, which leads to the fact that the heroes, striving for “happiness”, are transformed into unhappy, alienated, despair-filled identities. Following the threads of tragic destinies, the psychological dimension of the characters is depicted through the individualization of the characters, with a special focus on the symbolic aspects of happiness as a deceptive philosophy of life