Kolo, 1971/7

Edited by Igor Zidić, Kolo 7/1971 holds a distinctive place in Croatian literary history through the first publication of Ivo Brešan’s playHamlet in the Village of Mrduša Donja. Written in 1965, the play appeared in print in the same year as its premiere at Zagreb’s &TD Theatre. Transposing Shakespeare’s Hamlet into a Dalmatian village, Brešan creates a grotesque exploration of abuses of power, ideological coercion and individual helplessness.

The issue also includes nineteen haiku by Tonči Petrasov Marović, Jean Tardieu’s Skršena rijeka and Tomislav Slavica’s Moljac i himna. Ivan Pederin examines the origins of the Croatian language standard, Georgi Stardelov discusses Pavao Vuk-Pavlović’s aesthetics, and Rupprecht Slavko Baur writes about Heinrich Böll. Daniel Bučan introduces the Arab poet al-Maʿarri, accompanied by selections from his Luzumiyyat.

Published during the Croatian Spring, the issue connects contemporary writing with questions of language, cultural identity and freedom. Brešan’s social satire adds to its significance as a record of intellectual life in 1971, while the first publication of his best-known play gives it particular appeal for researchers and collectors of Croatian drama.