Page 139 - Vinkler, Jonatan, Ana Beguš and Marcello Potocco. Eds. 2019. Ideology in the 20th Century: Studies of literary and social discourses and practices. Koper: University of Primorska Press
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Women’s Poetic Discourse in the Context of Post-war Ideologies 139
term is understood as a female writer, the claim is false because a tradition
of literature written by women existed before her. Even if the term is un-
derstood in the context of the French post-structuralist feminism, i.e. as
a different position of ‘feminine’ within the phallocentric symbolic order
which allows for the subversion of this order (according to Hélène Cix-
ous and Julia Kristeva possible also for male writers), Ada Škerl cannot
be understood as the first female writer of women’s writing according to
the above analysis. Such subversion should include the dynamics of social
and gender roles in the poetic discourse, which in the Slovenian poetry
first appeared only in the writing of female poets of the next generation
such as Saša Vegri or Svetlana Makarovič. Nevertheless, the importance
and the significance of Ada Škerl’s poetic discourse needs to be under-
stood within the context of its time and poet’s courageous individuality,
which was reflected in her insubordination to ideologic pressure on art
and in poet’s decision to include only poems about love and death in her
collection, leaving aside other poems—a decision motivated by both per-
sonal and artistic circumstances. Even if this decision might have resulted
in collection’s negative reception, the poet created a coherent work and,
despite the fact that traces of her youthful writing are visible, achieved a
vigorous poetic experience which is transhistorically manifested in each
subsequent reading.
Reception of Senca v srcu was controversial and it resulted in one of
the major literary scandals of the late forties of the 20th century. Not just
literary critics, even those who were not explicitly dealing with literature
(Škerl 1998) felt the need to judge how a young woman should write in
order not to corrupt the youth and threaten the general optimist poetics.
Škerl’s poetry was, in fact, popular among the young readers and it was
soon sold out.
Negative reviews published in the journals and newspapers were fol-
lowed by several debates during which Ada Škerl had to defend her po-
etry and reply to critiques and complaints (Pibernik 1978, 87) as well as
various public readings throughout Yugoslavia where her collection was
discussed. A collection of reviews was even published in the special edi-
tion of the journal Mladinska revija. As the editor Ivan Potrč later testi-
fied, the publishing house Mladinska knjiga published Škerl’s manuscript
without sufficient editorial revision (Kovič 1992, 88), since the young
poet could even face prison (Škerl 1998). Initially, the manuscript was in-
tended to be published by the Slovenian Book Bureau (Slovenski knjižni
zavod), but the editor, the poet Cene Vipotnik, informed the author that
the book will be published by Mladinska knjiga. Distancing themselves
term is understood as a female writer, the claim is false because a tradition
of literature written by women existed before her. Even if the term is un-
derstood in the context of the French post-structuralist feminism, i.e. as
a different position of ‘feminine’ within the phallocentric symbolic order
which allows for the subversion of this order (according to Hélène Cix-
ous and Julia Kristeva possible also for male writers), Ada Škerl cannot
be understood as the first female writer of women’s writing according to
the above analysis. Such subversion should include the dynamics of social
and gender roles in the poetic discourse, which in the Slovenian poetry
first appeared only in the writing of female poets of the next generation
such as Saša Vegri or Svetlana Makarovič. Nevertheless, the importance
and the significance of Ada Škerl’s poetic discourse needs to be under-
stood within the context of its time and poet’s courageous individuality,
which was reflected in her insubordination to ideologic pressure on art
and in poet’s decision to include only poems about love and death in her
collection, leaving aside other poems—a decision motivated by both per-
sonal and artistic circumstances. Even if this decision might have resulted
in collection’s negative reception, the poet created a coherent work and,
despite the fact that traces of her youthful writing are visible, achieved a
vigorous poetic experience which is transhistorically manifested in each
subsequent reading.
Reception of Senca v srcu was controversial and it resulted in one of
the major literary scandals of the late forties of the 20th century. Not just
literary critics, even those who were not explicitly dealing with literature
(Škerl 1998) felt the need to judge how a young woman should write in
order not to corrupt the youth and threaten the general optimist poetics.
Škerl’s poetry was, in fact, popular among the young readers and it was
soon sold out.
Negative reviews published in the journals and newspapers were fol-
lowed by several debates during which Ada Škerl had to defend her po-
etry and reply to critiques and complaints (Pibernik 1978, 87) as well as
various public readings throughout Yugoslavia where her collection was
discussed. A collection of reviews was even published in the special edi-
tion of the journal Mladinska revija. As the editor Ivan Potrč later testi-
fied, the publishing house Mladinska knjiga published Škerl’s manuscript
without sufficient editorial revision (Kovič 1992, 88), since the young
poet could even face prison (Škerl 1998). Initially, the manuscript was in-
tended to be published by the Slovenian Book Bureau (Slovenski knjižni
zavod), but the editor, the poet Cene Vipotnik, informed the author that
the book will be published by Mladinska knjiga. Distancing themselves
