Deledda and Zagorka

Two Authors as Two Literary Characters?

Abstract

Grazia Deledda and Marija Jurić Zagorka were almost the same age. Deledda was born in 1871 in Nuoro, Sardinia, and Zagorka in 1873 in Negovec near Vrbovec. They both grew up in deep province, in wealthy families, but without the possibility of continuing their studies. However, on their way to become writers who, even decades after their death, have a large audience, they have successfully overcome the obstacles placed upon them by family, society, tradition, but also by their literary profession itself as well as by literary criticism. In addition to a strong will and the need to write, they have another unusual detail in common: until their deaths, both indicated the wrong year of birth, thus pretending to be a few years younger. Furthermore, both Deledda and Zagorka wrote autobiographies in novel form, transforming themselves into literary characters, Cosima and Mirjana. The theme of this work is precisely these autobiographical novels, Cosima and Stone in the street (Kamen na cesti). Zagorka published her romanticized autobiography first as a serial novel from 1932 to 1936, while Deledda’s novel was found in manuscript after her death in 1936 and published posthumously in the same year, also as a serial novel, then later as a book. These autobiographical novels allowed both authors to return to their earliest memories, to deal with the “problematic character” of mother and to resolve the most important identity issues. At the same time, these works constitute a possible key to understanding the poetics of the two women who were geographically distant, but similar in many respects. Strong women, who had the courage to fight for their right to write and to observe themselves as literary characters and therefore play with the complex relationship between fiction and faction.