Na rubu: dnevnik iz jedne tragedije

Dragan Bublić (Garešnica, 1895 – Klagenfurt, 1987), a Croatian writer and publicist, published the book On the Edge: A Diary from a Tragedy in 1920. It is his first significant prose work, of an autobiographical-diary character, which belongs to post-war literature and early expressionism in Croatian literature.

The work was created on the basis of Bublić's personal experience: participation in World War I, the withdrawal of the Serbian army through Albania, emigration, stay in France and Tunisia, and disillusionment with war and post-war reality. The book depicts a man on the edge of existence – physically, mentally, and morally broken in the midst of war chaos, hunger, disease, death, and the senselessness of a great conflict. Bublić introspectively and expressively records the inner state of an individual faced with collective tragedy, war horrors, and post-war disillusionment.

The critics of that time (Ljubomir Micić in Zenit, Milan Ćurčin in Nova Evropi, Vladimir Jurković and others) recognized the book as a powerful anti-war record and one of the first books in the Croatian language that deals with war trauma in a modern, subjective way. The style is fragmentary, diary-like, with expressionist elements – emphasized emotionality, visions, inner monologue and a sense of absurdity.

On the Edge stands out as one of Dragan Bublić's rare more successful artistic achievements. Later works (e.g. Assassination, On the Willow) transition into non-fiction and novels with a clear political tendency. This book remains an important document of the post-war generation, a testimony to the war trauma and disillusionment of Yugoslav idealism after 1918.

Today, the work is an antiquarian rarity, sought after among collectors of 20th-century Croatian literature. It represents an early example of modern war prose in Croatian literature, alongside works such as Krleža's war records, but in a more intimate, diary form.