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Anton Podbevšek | |
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| Born | (1898-06-13)June 13, 1898 |
| Died | November 14, 1981(1981-11-14) (aged 83) |
| Occupation(s) | Linguist,poet,essayist,writer,translator |
Anton Podbevšek (13 June 1898 – 14 November 1981) was aSlovenianavant-garde poet. He was an important influence to the poetSrečko Kosovel. He was one of the participants of the artistic activity known as the Novo Mesto Spring (Novomeška pomlad) in 1920, which marked the beginning of Slovenian modernism. The poetMiran Jarc portrayed him in thesemi-autobiographical novelNovo mesto in the character of Andrej Vrezec.
Podbevšek was born at Grm manor near theLower Carniolan village ofKandija, today part of the town ofNovo Mesto. The region was then part of theDuchy of Carniola in theAustro-Hungarian Empire, and is now inSlovenia. The manor was owned by a noble family of Czech origin who had donated it to the Carniolan Agricultural Association, which ran an agricultural school in the building. Anton Podbevšek's father, who originally came fromUpper Carniola, worked in the school as a janitor, and the family lived in the manor until 1911.
Between 1909 and 1917, Podbevšek attended theNovo Mesto Grammar School, where he was a schoolmate of the poetMiran Jarc and the gymnastLeon Štukelj. During his school years, he also established a friendship with the painterBožidar Jakac, authorFran Albreht, and composerMarij Kogoj, who lived and studied in Novo Mesto. Podbevšek started writing poetry in high school: he was initially influenced by the aesthetic modernism ofOton Župančič, but soon fell under the influence of avant-garde movements, especiallyItalian ones. He first attempted to enter literature with the poem cycleŽolta pisma (Yellow Letters), which he wrote at age 16. This work shows that he was initially influenced by ItalianFuturism.[1]In 1917, he was drafted into theAustro-Hungarian Army and sent to theItalian front. He was wounded and spent the last months of the war in a military hospital inTolmezzo inFriuli. Upon his return, he re-established the contact with his artist friends from Novo Mesto with the intention to establish an avant-garde artistic community, based on the idea ofGesamtkunstwerk: a total work of art that would incorporate literature, music and visual arts.
In 1920, he helped organize a modernist artistic event known as the Novo Mesto Spring (Novomeška pomlad), together with the composer Marij Kogoj, poet Miran Jarc, and painter Božidar Jakac. He went on to become a founder of the journalTrije labodje (Three Swans), but later broke with its co-editorJosip Vidmar: Podbevšek wanted a more revolutionary and socialist orientation of the journal, while Vidmar rejected political activism and avant-garde orientations in the name of the classicist notion of "pure art." This led Podbevšek to leave theTrije labodje circle and to createRdeči pilot (The Red Pilot), which only lasted for two issues. In the journal, he also published the essay "Political Art" (Politična umetnost), which was one of the first avant-garde manifestos in Slovene.[2] In 1925, he published his only collection of poems,Človek z bombami ("Man with Bombs").
After the 1920s, he became less active, but in 1939 he made notable translations ofWalt Whitman to celebrate the poet's 120th birthday.[3] In the mid-1960s, he became active again, influenced by the emergence of new Slovene avant-gardism (especially the OHO group, and the poetry ofTomaž Šalamun). However, his intention of republishing theMan with Bombs was never realized.
Anton Podbevšek was the beginner and main representative of the first, radical phase of the Slovenian historical avant-gardes. He deviated from the established poetic forms: in his poems, he used free verse, a nominal or telegraphic style and unusual imagery. He gradually moved from relatively simple poems to longer, graphical hymns in lyrical prose. The themes of his poetry were existential experiences, war, as well as romantic themes.
His poems are characterized by the so-called titanic lyric subject, resulting from the neo-romantic lyrical subject, with the features of Nietzscheansuperman and Whitman's pantheism. In addition, many poems reveal a strong expressionist influence. Podbevšek's initial enthusiasm forfuturism was later attenuated: what remained from the futurist influences was the celebration of art and some stylistical elements, but even those can actually be attributed to the emerging expressionism. Differently from the futurists, Podbevšek had a highly ambivalent attitude to the war.
Podbevšek's work was highly influential for the Slovene constructivists, who mostly came from theSlovenian Littoral (includingTrieste andGorizia): particularly the poetSrečko Kosovel, but also the paintersAvgust Černigoj andIvan Čargo, and theater directorFerdo Delak, who later consciously distanced themselves from Podbevšek.
In the 1960s, the Slovenian neo-avant-garde re-discovered Podbevšek's work, although few of them were directly influenced by him.
In 2006 the Anton Podbevšek Theater was founded in Novo Mesto and named after him.
