THE PAST AND PRESENT IN THE (ANTI)MILITARY NOVELS OF JOSIP MLAKIĆ

Abstract

The article offers a comparative reading of Josip Mlakić’s novels “Alive and dead“, “When the mists have cleared away“ and “People who planted trees“. The main focus are the means of expression and the thematic motives, which the author applies when depicting the war, as well as its destructive nature. The text discusses the temporal planes (past and present) as the main way to construct the narrative, follows the development of the main characters and the author’s position on the individual’s role in events such as the Yugoslav wars. The article follows the author’s argument that the war brings no winners, but only destruction and trauma, which affects the individual and collective alike.