The Poetic Portrait of Branimir Šćepanović in the Context of Modern Montenegrin Prose

Abstract

The three novels of Branimir Šćepanović (Podgorica, 1937) – The Shameful summer, A Mouth Full of Earth and Redemption, as well as his short stories,among which the best is Mr. Goluza’s Death, although being different in theirstructure, in terms of their motifs and meaning are in fact compatible works. Inhis prose, Šćepanović assimilates a harmonious blend of his original literary talentand the traditional spatial base of his country, whose ambience is in harmonywith the convincing psychological portrait of the hero. The lyrical paragraphs areinspirational and expressive, and all his works, including screenwriting and films,are coated with a specific kind of philosophy that allows for more interpretationsof the text ,thus elevating the meaning to a universal level. The blurred line betweenthe unreal and the possible makes the narrative situations absurd and bizarre;reality and fiction alternate and the plot seems to be located in a new, unusual anddisarticulated reality. The primary factor which predisposes Šćepanović’s heroes to atragic epilogue is their obsessive return to their homeland.