Svetislav Basara | |
|---|---|
Светислав Басара | |
 Basara in 2014 | |
| Born | (1953-12-21)21 December 1953 (age 71) |
| Education | Užice Gymnasium |
| Alma mater | University of Belgrade (no degree) |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Political party | Democratic Party |
| Relatives | Branislav Crnčević (father-in-law) |
Svetislav Basara (Serbian Cyrillic:Светислав Басара; born 21 December 1953) is a Serbian writer and columnist.
Basara grew up inUžice, attended theGymnasium of the town and graduated withmaturity diploma, then he began studying at thePhilological Faculty of theUniversity of Belgrade but left the faculty after twosemesters without graduation in 1976. The young man started his career as freelance writer and became editor of theliterary journalsKnjiževna reč (1983–86) andMeđaj (1989); many other journals, newspapers and magazines published numerous contributions to literary and cultural-philosophical topics of the author in recent decades, he writes for thecolumnFamous (Famozno) ofDanas since 2009. He is the author of more than forty literary works, including novels, short story collections, essays, he is considered to be one of the most important writers of contemporary Serbian literature, and one of the most successful contemporary Serbian authors in the international book market. His complete work is already including one or several editions in Bulgarian, German, English, French, Italian, Dutch, Romanian, Slovenian, Spanish, Hungarian and Ukrainian translation. He received theNIN Prize 2006 for the novelThe Rise and Fall of Parkinson's Disease (Uspon i pad Parkinsonove bolesti) and theIsidora Sekulić Award 2015 for his novelAngel of Assassination (Anđeo atentata). Basara wrote the screenplay forBoomerang and his playHamlet Remake (Hamlet rimejk) premiered atNational Theatre Niš in 2001, his seconds-long guest appearance in the role as drug addict in the filmMunje! is an amusing edge note of his artistic biography. Five works have already been published in English, translated by Randall Major, Department ofAnglistics,University of Novi Sad.[1][2][3][4][5]
Basara was the ambassador ofFR Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) inCyprus from 2001 to 2005. The artist is current member of theDemocratic Party (DS) but had changed his party affiliation in the past for several times and was temporary member of theDemocratic Party of Serbia (DSS) as well asChristian Democratic Party (DHSS). In any case, the author takes a clear and unambiguous position in a political sense: he calls in question any form of political extremism in his country, and dismantles it into its absurd components in literary way. The titles of the novelMein Kampf:burleska (allusion toMein Kampf) and the collection of essaysVučji brlog (LittleWolf's Lair; not to be confused withWolf's Lair) are provocative confrontations to related topics of Serbian extremist self-images. Basara was already denigrated because of his critical and cosmopolitan attitude, for example, by the far-right group of theSerbian national movement Naši.[6][7]
On 28 December 2019, the Montenegrin PresidentMilo Đukanović signed a new freedom of religion act, which caused unrest in Montenegro and provoked some political reaction from Serbia. An official response is anAppeal for condemning the threat to peace in Montenegro, signed by more than eighty prominent personalities of formerYugoslavia including Basara; it says, among other things, that severalEuropean institutions and governments of democratic countries are condemning the new attempt to destabilize Montenegro on the principles ofSlobodan Milošević's policies. Political, ecclesiastical and media campaigns of misinformation from Belgrade, which is being implemented in both Podgorica andBanja Luka, have seriously threatened peace not only in Montenegro, but throughout the region. Monuments of such policy aregenocide,ethnic cleansing, war andcrimes against humanity committed inCroatia,Bosnia and Herzegovina andKosovo.[8][9]
The writer is also signatory of theDeclaration on the Common Language of theCroats,Serbs,Bosniaks andMontenegrins within the projectLanguages and Nationalisms (Jezici i nacionalizmi). The declaration is against political separation of fourSerbo-Croatian standard variants that leads to a series of negative social, cultural and political phenomena in which linguistic expression is enforced as a criterion of ethno-national affiliation and as a means of political loyalty in successor states of Yugoslavia.[10]
Dobrila Basara, his mother, grew up as an orphan under the care of Svetislav Veizović and his family, who was arrested, charged and shot byPartisans under pretext during the time of theRepublic of Užice in 1941. The mother baptized her son in honor and in memory of this man by his given name, who was rehabilitated as an innocent victim in 2013 only. Svetislav Basara is the father of two children (daughter Tara and son Relja) and was married toBranislav Crnčević's daughter Vida, who is also the mother of the children, and his second residence is inBeška.[11][12]
He once said in an interview:It’s the same with people as with money, the more of something there is, the less valuable it is. Hyperinflation of humanity. Fatigue. The crisis of meaning…. nothing exists except for selling and buying.[13]
When there is talk oftheories, I always think ofBaudrillard’s definition that - I paraphrase - theory might be a trap, in which the reality should blunder in. Reality too often blunders in these apparently naive traps, to its own and our chagrin. I think thatfarce, exaggeration and non earnestness are the very best tools for writing about the so-called „serious things“. I also have a citation ready for this assertion. In the 1950s, an Italian actor and comedian, who felt strongly connected to religion, wrote a letter toPadre Pio, the famous mystic and stigmatist. He complained in it that he was unable to devote to the spirit, because he had to go on stage with makeup each evening and make a fool of himself. Padre Pio gave him following answer: „My son, these scruples are groundless. We all make morons of ourselves in the places that providence has determined for us.“ Great misfortune happens when a human being takes itself and the world in which it lives too seriously.Svetislav Basara, June 2014[14]
