Poésies

The book “Poésies” was edited and provided with a foreword by Predrag Matvejević, who was already a respected literary critic and expert on Krleža’s work. Matvejević’s foreword represents a significant interpretative framework: it contextualizes Krleža’s poetry within European modernity, emphasizing its intellectual depth, expressionist strength, social engagement, and philosophical dimension.

The translations were made by prominent translators: Predrag Matvejević, Zoran Mišić, French poets Alain Bosquet and Marc Alyn, and Janine Matillon. The combination of domestic and French translator-poets ensured the high literary quality of the translations, which strive to convey the rhythm, metaphorical density, and emotional charge of Krleža’s verses.

The edition includes a selection from different phases of Krleža’s poetry – from early lyric poetry and expressionist “Symphonies”, through socially engaged poems, to later introspective and meditative cycles. Krleža's poetry is shown here in all its layers: from vehement protest against war and civil lies, through mythological and historical motifs, to existential anxiety and visionary images.

This edition has a special cultural and diplomatic weight because it comes at a time when Krleža was already a canonical author in Yugoslavia, and the Croatian Writers' Association was actively working on promoting Croatian literature abroad. The French translation represented an important step in the international reception of Krleža's oeuvre, which is otherwise difficult to translate due to the richness of the language, allusions and rhythmic complexity.

Poésies is a valuable testimony to the attempt to universalize Krleža's poetry and one of the early serious steps in the French reception of Croatian modern literature.