Momčilo Nastasijević

Momčilo Nastasijević

Momčilo Nastasijević, Serbian poet, novelist and dramatist, was born in Gornji Milanovac in Serbia in 1894, and whose work was issued during the literary epoch between the two world wars. He spent most of his adult life, however, teaching at a Belgrade Gymnasium. During his lifetime Momčilo Nastasijević was less well known than some of his contemporaries, such as Miloš Crnjanski and Rastko Petrović, but lately, however, his work has begun to be noticed again. His literary output was not large, and it gained immediate appreciation only in a narrow circle of intimate friends.

Biography

Although he published poem's regularly in leading literary periodicals such as Misao (Thought) and Srpski knjizevni glasnik (Serbian Literary Herald), he remained relatively unnoticed. He privately published his one volume of poetry, Pet lirskih krugova (Five Lyrical Cycles, 1932). One reason for this lack of recognition was that—with his individual views of poetry and literature and the problems of the development of the Serbian literary language—he was outside the trends of expressionism and surrealist Marxism dominant in Belgrade at the time. Another reason was that his compression of style and his individual imagery make him an extraordinarily difficult poet, especially for those who seek a paraphrasable meaning in poetry. For this reason, according to Vasa Mihajlović, Nastasijević has been accused of being hermetic by some critics. He also attempted to formulate through his works a national and religious philosophy whose roots, again, he found in the dark recesses of the soul of his nation.

As a poet, he is perhaps one of the most enigmatic of all Serbian poets, understood and admired only by those closest to him.

He died in Belgrade in 1938.

Works

In 1922 Momčilo Nastasijević's poems were first published, and in 1923 his first prose appeared in leading Belgrade reviews and periodicals, particularly Srpski Knjižani Glasnik and Misao.

External links

• Sorrow in Stone by Momcilo Nastasijevic, translated by Lazar Pascanovic