Simbolički potencijal tajanstvene zvezde u romanu "Kraj stoleća Kasiopeje" Miroslava Savićevića

Abstract

The paper examines the meanings that the appearance of a new star in the constellation Cassiopeia in 1572, (known today as a supernova) realizes in the novel The End of the Cassiopeia by Miroslav Savićević. The symbolism of the stars and their grouping into a constellation permeates the entirety of Savićević’s novel, and it can be recognized both on a structural and thematic-motive level, as well as on the level of network binding of four texts, testimonies of four narrators – members of different nations, religions and cultural areas. Postmodernist-oriented, the novel The end of the Century Cassiopeia was created as a result of the anonymous editor’s search for texts that talk about the appearance of a supernova, the Banat uprising and the burning of the relics of Saint Sava. The continuous alternation of the narrator’s voices in the interweaving of textual fragments allows the symbolism of the new star to be viewed from four different angles, as well as the cosmic burning and decay of the supernova to be brought into a meaningful connection with the flame of the pyre on which the relics of Saint Sava were burned.