| A Note |
Dusan
Velickovic |
|
DAYS OF
BOMBARDEMENT AND MARTIAL LAW IN BELGRADE: true stories |
I wrote
down these notes on the days of martial law in Beograd because I wished to preserve some
of my momentary thinking in the form of "true stories" which (so it seemed to me
then) might one day be used as a basis for writing of some real stories. Now I conclude
that real, good stories, unlike the true ones, can be created, after all, only in one's
mind. This is why I decided not to have any further engagement with the stories which
originated outside of me. I'll just publish them as they stand, in the form in which I got
them down on paper, including the details which now look to me as if someone else has
written them. My only intervention was to omit the names of certain individuals whom I now
think should not be identified. Mostly, I replaced the names with initials, thus making
those people anonymous.
I took from Hannah Arendt's book—known in America as The Human
Condition and in Europe as Vita Activa –the idea of love of the world and
love for the world as one of the conditions of human existence. Hannah Arendt started
writing that volume under the title, Totalitarian Elements of Marxism. The book was
supposed to be about 90,000 words long, and it was to serve as a supplement of The
Origines of Totalitarianism. After several years of work, the book transformed itself
into something else entirely—an original study about the fundamental principles of a new
political science.
Rejecting the philosophical tradition of contempt for the world and for
all things mundane (contemptus mundi), Hannah Arendt introduced into the political
thinking the notion of love of the world or love for the world (amor mundi). It was
an affirmation of the importance of an active life, as opposed to a life of contemplation.
It was probably a natural consequence arising from her study of the phenomenon of
totalitarianism. For this reason, I thought that various forms of open or potential
totalitarian consciousness described in my stories ought to be "opposed" by the
title Amor Mundi. I had in mind not only the meaning ascribed to that phrase by
Hannah Arendt, but also its literal meaning.
A shorten version of Amor Mundi was published by the Belgrade independent
publishing house Alexandria Press in December 1999. Fragments of the book have also been
published in Wiener Journal (Vienna, November 1999), and PEN International Magazine
(London, Vol.49, No 2, 1999).
Dusan Velickovic (b.1947, Sabac, Serbia) is a journalist and writer.
In 1993-1997, he was the editor-in-chief of the leading Serbian weekly, NIN ,
which became completely independent during his tenure. His dismissal in 1997 triggered a
six week strike by the journalists at the magazine.
He is the author of the book, Images of Doubt, and the co-author of documentary
drama, Campo Santo (First Prize at Barcelona Drama Festival). His short stories and
essays have been published in various European journals. He has also translated several
books from English into Serbian. His novel, Internationale, is forthcoming.
Velickovic lives in Belgrade with his wife, two sons and a stepdaughter.
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