The attitude of Andrić and Koneski towards tradition
What separates them both from other writers is the deep consciousness for the value of literary inheritance and the deep creative impulse to oppose the chaotic modern world to the harmonic reality of art. Whereas modernists, in their revolt against the already established norms and laws, were drastically braking their relation to the past, they quenched their thirst on the rich spring of tradition. Their knowledge of “national code” of the poetry of a writer, according to Koneski, is the basic precondition for the correct interpretation of the poetic ideas of the writer. This, again, leads us to the doors of collective experience, whereas it drifts us from the actual avant-garde influences. And we will again stress the ascertainment of the importance of tradition in legitimizing altruism. The revelation of universal human truths, their sense of the endless time, includes them among great writers, through whose creation the whole Balkan tradition utters. They clearly know that the spirit of the Balkans or the spirit of their native lands is much more important than their personal spirit. Their intellect appreciates the values of collective experience, and this fact implicitly leads towards altruistic aspiration. The people are the power that gives spirit to the poet, in order to create verses which, with their beauty and strength, penetrate in the deep roots of the ancient knowledge of humanity. Exposing the ancient wisdom of their own people and enriching them with their creative vision, they produce endless values. In that context we can mention the poems “Vezilka”, “Teshkoto”, “Sick Dojchin”, the series for “Marko the King” and many others that reveal the relation of the poet to the national soil of which he had sprouted. That wonderful connection of the tradition and vision resulted in richness in the development of many original ideas.4F The relation between tradition and innovations (a term used by Blaže Koneski) will be especially interpreted by him in the interview for the magazine “Expression”: “I have never believed in a complete breaking up with the tradition as a pledge for renewal of the poetic expression. As it is usually said, tradition (in all fields – as well as in art) should be approached in a creative manner”.5F Tradition in the creative work of Koneski and Andrić appears as a pattern to reach new artistic values, and plays role in creation of their own expressive style.
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4. Andrić had an already differentiated opinion on Njegoš’s fight against the absurd and on “rebelled man” ten years before Camus.
5. Koneski, Blaže, Expression, Sarajevo, No. 7, 1977 (We would like here to stress the fact that Koneski did not participate at the discussion in the 50s, a discussion between the realists and modernists, and by such an attitude, he remained consistent in his theoretical and creative determinations, which have their own way.