Matija Bećković
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Matija Bećković (Born November 29, 1939, Senta, Danube Banate, Kingdom of Yugoslavia) is a Serbian writer and poet of Montenegrin origin. He is one of the most prominent Serbian poets of the 20th century and a full member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
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[edit] Life
Bećković was born in Senta, in the Serbian province of Vojvodina, to Montenegrin parents. He graduated from the gymnasium in Valjevo in 1958. It was during his gymnasium years in Valjevo that he published his first poem, in the journal Mlada Kultura. Furthermore, it was also in Valjevo that Bećković met Vera Pavladoljska, to whom the poem of the same name, published in 1960, was dedicated. This poem remains one of his most widely known and read poems. Beckovic went on to marry Pavladoljska, and he remained married to her until her death.
Upon graduating from the Valjevo gymnasium, he entered the University of Belgrade, graduating with a degree in Yugoslav and world literature. He became a corresponding member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in 1983, becoming a full member in 1991. Bećković is one of the rare members of the Academy who criticized the regime of Slobodan Milošević as early as 1991. He was present at many gatherings in protest of the actions of Milosevic's regime.
Bećković is a close friend of Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica, and an active supporter of his Democratic Party of Serbia.
He currently resides in Belgrade.
On the Montenegrin independence referendum, Matija voted a "NO" on the question of Montenegrin independence, being on the pro-Serb side.
[edit] Poetic Style
A distinguishing feature of Bećković's poetry is its regionalism. Distinctly Montenegrin archaic dialect and phraseology permeate his work. This aspect of his work is most often lost when one reads it in translation.
Even so, other features that distinguish Bećković's poetry in the cannon of South Slavic literature will not be lost on the foreign reader. Bećković's poetry often strikes the reader as profoundly rhetorical.
By the same stroke, he avoids the danger of didacticism that often comes hand in hand with the resort to rhetoric. He does so by insisting on the entertaing aspect of his poetry, regardlessly of the subject matter, ranging from love, over politics, to theology.
[edit] Major Works
- Vera Pavladoljska
- Metak Lutalica
- Tako je govorio Matija
- Dr Janez Paćuka o medjuvremenu
- O medjuvremenu
- ČE: Tragedija koja traje (Published in English as CHE: Permanent Tragedy)
- Reče mi jedan čoek
- Medja Vuka Manitoga
- Lele i kuku
- Dva sveta
- Poeme
- Služba Svetom Savi
- O Njegošu
- Kaža
- Čiji si ti mali?
- Nadkokot
- Služba
- Sabrane pesme
- Kosovo najskuplja srpska reč
- Ćeraćemo se još
[edit] References
- Bećković, Matija. Izabrane Pesme i Poeme. Belgrade: Bigz, 1990.
- Petković, Novica. "Twentieth century literature". Essays on Modern Serbian Bards. Ralph Bogert, Ed. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006.
[edit] External links
- Bećković's poems at the South Slavic Library - Mostly in Serbo-Croat, one English translation.
