The New York herald., 1922-11-05

finally emerge and for the first
time in history, as united nation. Old
historic errors, dead traditions, false ideals,
have gone to the museums or scrap heap
the proper place for them. In literature
new authors have appeared with much
broader and more human sentiments and
understanding and belonging not to some
special province but to the whole nation.
Such as they are, our new men are rails
ing Jugo-Slav literature to much higher
level-to the level, indeed, of other great
national literatures.
The world war closed whole periods in
the arts of many great nations. 1t ended or
brought to a minimum the creative work
of many well known writer's, such, for ex-
ample, as Kipling. Hauptmann. Maxim
Gorky, Merejshkovsky. D'Annunzio, Mae
terlinck Our former literary giants are
nowadays most often writing memoirs or
political pamphlets, brooding over the
heaps of their broken ideals and destroyed
illusions. 1t seems as if they were feel
ing the necessity for an apology to human
ity.
The same thing has happened also with
most of the Jugo-Slav writer's, formerly
prominent.
To-day one rarely meets in the pages
of current Serbian magazines the names
of those who dominated literary taste be-
fore 1914. One gets the impression that
we are removed from that fatal date by
a whole century, not by just a few short
years. And they were not old men, those
who were writing in 1912, 1913 and 1914!
Many of them, even, were in the prime of
their youth. But half of them, and per-
haps more, were devoured by the war;
and the others have mostly ceased to
write. So Milutin Uskokovitch, author of
psychological and sociological novels and
short stories Ga pupil of the French
schooD, in sorrow over the defeat of the
Serbian army, committed suicide in 1915.
V. Petkovitch-Diss one of the best poets
of the group of Belgrade decadents, was a
victim of submarine warfare. Milutin
Boytch. a young student, and a writer of
passionate Sapphic sonnets died in gray
and prosaic hospital for refugees in
Saloniki
AS for those who are still alive, Borisav
Stankovitch, a novelist of very vigorous
and original talent with an Oriental tenn
permanent and a southern joie de tiUre
mixed with deep yearnings of youth. to-
day is no longer writing. Duchitch and
Rakitch, two of our best Parnassians,
whose literary dogmas were long the un-
written law of Serbian poetry, are now me-
andering about the world as members of
the Jugo-Slav diplomatic corps. The diplo-
matte service in JugO-Slavia sometimes Of
fers sinecures for writers who have already
won a certain literary reputation, and at
the same time are in favor with the gov
erning powers. Besides Duchitch and
Rallitch, we may here mention Tresitch-
Pavichitch (now head of the Jugo-Slav Le-
cation in Washington), Branko Lazare-
matte service in Jugo-S -Slavia sometimes Of
and Bozider Puritch, his successor in the
same office. Who can tell whether one
cause of the many recent failures of Jugo-
Slav diplomacy may not be the affectation
it has for such a brilliant staff of literary
geniuses!
Sima Pandurovitch, the leader of the
group of the decadents and modernists. is
writing only political articles nowadays.
DR.. Milan Churchin, the pioneer of free
verse and of revolutionary modes in con-
temporary poetry, is at present editor of
NelC Europe. Another, Mitrinovitch. who
created so great a sensation some years
ago with his unusual style. disappeared from
view during the war somewhere in London
and has never since returned. Mitrino-
..i.nh L. tl,1, DnrntI,,r Arnold % Cnrhin.,