19th BOOK FAIR(Y) IN ISTRIA
Pula Festival of Books and Authors
Theme: Socialism on the Bench
Focus: Contemporary Russian Literature and Vojvodina – Region in the Region
December 5 – 15, 2013
Pula, Croatia
FROM UTOPIA TO MIMESIS
The overarching theme and focal points of the 19th Book Fair(y) in Istria are intertwined with the social, cultural and literary contexts of socialism. Historically speaking, Europe (including Croatia) got rid of socialism quite recently, and is left today with only a critical memory of an ideology despised by many. The theme Socialism on the Bench opens up a wide palette of critical historical, political, economic, social and cultural reflections on state socialism and self-management, its consequences and popular nostalgia.
The central theme Socialism on the Bench will be carried out in collaboration with the Centre for Cultural and Historical Research of Socialism (CKPIS), Juraj Dobrila University of Pula (Igor Duda, Lada Duraković, Boris Koroman, Andrea Matošević). The scientific and humanistic approach to the subject represents a powerful impulse and a potential for entering into a meaningful epistemic, methodological and hermeneutic dialogue with researchers of socialism, as well as a kind of "detabooization" of a topic undesirable within the Croatian scientific circles for a long time. The scientific production will go in different directions and will be represented in a number of ways – through research, an anthology, round table debates, lectures, book promotions...
The Fair(y)'s programme, with its focus on two topics: the Contemporary Russian Literature and Vojvodina – Region in the Region will directly address the central theme as significant historical heritage on which there lies a messianic vision of the present, as well as a glimpse of the future.
Despite inhuman repression and pervasive censorship in all spheres of society, Russia (former Soviet Union), the longest-lived socialist state, has produced an enviable literary and cultural heritage, a tradition that the post-socialist, contemporary Russian literature heavily, sometimes even completely, relies on. This focal point of the 19th Book Fair(y) in Istria will be carried out in collaboration with the Department of Russian Language and Literature (Živa Benčić-Primc, Ivana Peruško, Jasmina Vojvodić) and the Department of East Slavic Languages and Literatures, the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. The outline of contemporary Russian literature will focus on the Russian literary classics of the 20th century, the Soviet dissident authors whose literary production was marked by the relationship with the Soviet state and socialism on one hand and, on the other, with contemporary (and committed) Russian authors of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
The traditional manifestation Days of Vojvodina in Istria will present most of its contents at the 19th Fair(y), through the programme Vojvodina – Region in the Region. The contemporary Vojvodian cultural scene will be introduced through inter-media approach, including a concert, an exhibition and a movie, while also addressing the Fair(y)'s thematic focus during round table debates and authors' introductions.
