Characterisation in the Novel Knjiga gorkog prijekora (The Book of Bitter Reproach) by Ivan Aralica

Abstract

The constellation of history and literary fiction in the consciousness of the recipient is fundamentally determined by the author’s skill in characterisation and in realising literary reality. The multiple literary affirmation of the Croatian writer Ivan Aralica, achieved through his historical novels, gains particular significance with his novel Knjiga gorkog prijekora (The Book of Bitter Reproach), which is the subject of this paper. Through reflection on his own historical knowledge of the city of Zadar and of one of the most valuable fourteenth-century Croatian monuments – the Chest of Saint Simeon, commissioned by Queen Elizabeta in honour of the local saint and for the purpose of strengthening the alliance between Zadar and the Hungarian crown – Aralica constructs the identities of his characters. The destruction of a city and the construction of the historical figure of Elizabeta Kotromanić through the literary character of a young girl fundamentally reflect Aralica’s ability to portray the inner states of his heroes and heroines, regardless of the level of historical and semantic hierarchy to which they belong. An interpretation of Aralica’s literary technique, most evident in his methods of characterisation and portrayal of social conditions, confirms the contemporary and original nature of his literary conception.