- Dictionary of the Khazars
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Dictionary of the Khazars 
Author(s) Milorad Pavich Original title Хазарски речник;
Hazarski rečnikTranslator Christina Pribicevic-Zoric Country Yugoslavia Language Serbian Genre(s) Novel Publisher Alfred A. Knopf (English translation) Publication date 1984 Published in
English1988 Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback) Dictionary of the Khazars: A Lexicon Novel (Serbian: Хазарски речник / Hazarski rečnik) is the first novel by Serbian writer Milorad Pavić, published in 1984. Originally written in Serbian, the novel has been translated into many languages. It was first published in English by Knopf, New York in 1988.[1]
There is no easily discerned plot in the conventional sense, but the central question of the book (the mass religious conversion of the Khazar people) is based on an historical event generally dated to the last decades of the 8th century or the early 9th century when the Khazar royalty and nobility converted to Judaism, and part of the general population followed.[2]
However, most of the characters and events described in the novel are entirely fictional, as is the culture ascribed to the Khazars in the book, which bears little resemblance to any literary or archeological evidence.
The novel takes the form of three cross-referenced mini-encyclopedias, each compiled from the sources of one of the Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Islam, and Judaism). In his introduction to the work, Pavic wrote:
- "No chronology will be observed here, nor is one necessary. Hence each reader will put together the book for himself, as in a game of dominoes or cards, and, as with a mirror, he will get out of this dictionary as much as he puts into it, for you [...] cannot get more out of the truth than what you put into it."[3]
The book comes in two different editions, one "Male" and one "Female", which differ in only a critical passage in a single paragraph.[4]
Pavić stated that in his novel Khazars symbolically represent Serbs.[5]
See also
References
- ^ Milorad Pavic official site: TRANSLATIONS (Serbian)
- ^ Lektire i puškice: Hazarski rečnik – Milorad Pavić (Serbian)
- ^ Milorad Pavic's Dictionary of the Khazars, New York: Knopf, 1988
- ^ the male and female versions
- ^ Mirjana Dugandžija (June 5, 2002). "Slovenci i Hrvati postavljaju kontroverzni srpski hit" (in Croatian). Nacional. http://www.nacional.hr/clanak/13109/slovenci-i-hrvati-postavljaju-kontroverzni-srpski-hit. Retrieved 2009-05-22.
External links
- Dictionary of the Khazars: a novel by Milorad Pavic, excerpts from "Postmodernism as Nightmare: Milorad Pavic's Literary Demolition of Yugoslavia" by Andrew Wachtel
Categories:- 1984 novels
- False documents
- Metafictional works
- Postmodern novels
- Secret histories
- Serbian novels
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