Srečko Kosovel
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Srečko Kosovel (1904–1926) was a Slovene avante-garde poet from the Kras region of Slovenia. He was born in 1904 in Sežana, but his life was tragically cut short in 1926 at the age of 22; an irony, considering his given name means "lucky". He is considered by critics and the public alike as a poetic icon, in the league of other Slovene poets France Prešeren and Ivan Cankar. He produced a strong and deep body of work of more than 1000 poems that shows a quality of work beyond his natural age. Unfortunately, Kosovel was not to see the influence and admiration of his works during his lifetime as most works were published after his untimely death.
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[edit] Upbringing and Early Life
Kosovel was born on 18 March 1904 at about 10 PM to Anton and Katarina Kosovel (née Streš). His mother was 40 years old at the time of his birth. His father was a teacher and a choir leader and his mother came from a wealthy family from Trieste. Srečko was the youngest of five children. His siblings were Stano, the oldest brother and three sisters, Karmela, Tončka and Anica. Srečko and his family lived in Tomaj until 1924. His father was a schoolmaster at a local school for the period of residence in Tomaj.
It seems that Kosovel wrote from an early age. It is known that he wrote a poem for a children's paper entitled "Zvonček" as an 11-year-old. It was about the beauty of Trieste. Srečko visited Trieste a number of times with his father when he was a teenager. This left an impact on his writing, which often mentioned Trieste's beauty. Another impact on Kosovel was the impact of World War I, which occurred during his teenage years. He was traumatised by the effects of the war upon people; he had regular contact with wounded soldiers and saw corpses. Kosovel finished elementary school in 1915.
[edit] Early Years In Ljubljana
In 1916, Kosovel moved to Ljubljana, Slovenia's capital, with his sister, Anica, to continue with his studies. He stayed there until his death. In 1919, he met Branko Jeglič, a poet who later became a close friend to Kosovel. Jeglič produced a student literary newspaper by the name of "Kres" (Bonfire), which Kosovel participated in. Jeglič died an untimely death. Kosovel published an obituary in dedication to Jeglič in the Trieste Paper Edinost (Unity). At this time, Kosovel also made his first true attempt at poetry. Much of his poetry at this time and later concerned his longing for his family and a reflection on landcapes of the Karst region. It is thought that the poem "Rider in Dark Night", which was shown to his brother was his first attempt at poetry.
In 1920, he shared a flat with Ludvik Mrzel, editor of the "Jadran" (Adriatic) newspaper, for 18 months. Kosovel contributed to the newspaper as a writer. Mrzel stated that Kosovel did not like talking about his work but observed that Kosovel worked on his poetry intensely during this time.
[edit] University, Magazine Publications and Poetic Development
In 1922, Kosovel enrolled in Romance and Slavic Studies at the University of Ljubljana. At about this time, he established "Lepa Vida" (Pretty Vida), a youth literary magazine for the Organisation of High School Students from the Annexed Lands. At the time, Trieste had just been annexed by Italy and the Slovene population was oppressed and terrorised by the fascist regime. During his work on "Lepa Vida", Kosovel met Alfonz Gspan, who was the co-editor of the magazine. Gspan was later to become the editor on Kosovel's first collection of poetry. Kosovel also met poet Ivo Grahor and writer Bogomir Magajna. Grahor was later to become an acquaintance to Kosovel in the avante-garde movement.
In the autumn of 1923, Kosovel established the Ivan Cankar Club with his friend, Ciril Debevec. The club was engaged in debates concerning literature and society, social work, gazettes ("Novi Kres" (New Bonfire)), public lectures and recitals. The club had internal disputes, but despite this, a member who had opposed Kosovel, Anton Ocvirk, became an editor of Kosovel's "Collected Works". At this time, Kosovel was expressing new social revolutionary ideas.
In 1923, Kosovel edited the progressive "Vidovdan" magazine with Ivo Grahor, another Romance Studies student and left-wing activist. Grahor influenced Kosovel significantly. For instance, he would inform him of developments in Europe. He also introduced Kosovel to the works of numerous Soviet and German artists.
In 1925, Kosovel was considering the establishment of a new modernist magazine with Avgust Černigoj. Černigoj suggested the magazine be called "Konstruktor" (Constructor), while Kosovel preferred KONS. During the summer of 1925, Kosovel commenced writing his famous constructivist poems. He dubbed his them "konsi" ("kons" in singular), which was short for "konstrukcije" (constructions).
Also at about this time, Kosovel prepared a series of his published and unpublished early works to be published under the name of "Zlati čoln" (Golden Boat) - with this selection of poems he intended to break away from his early writing style, which strongly resembled the impressionist poetry of Josip Murn. He approached Albert Albreht's publishing company for publication of the "Golden Boat" but the publisher rejected his proposal. This crushed Kosovel. Furthermore, his brother Stano, who was a journalist at the "Jutro" (Morning) daily and at the time a renowned poet himself, was strongly opposed to Kosovel's publication.
Kosovel also intended to publish his selected constructivist works under the title "Konsi", but it is not known exactly what was to be published in the publication, as it was only brought out posthumously by Anton Ocvirk in as late as 1967 under the title "Integrali '26"; Ocvirk had included most of Kosovel's constructivist legacy in the said publication.
The year 1925 furthermore saw Kosovel take over the publication of the magazine "Mladina" (Youth). It had an enormous impact on his life. Kosovel intended to conquer Slovenia with the publication. Before Kosovel's arrival, it had been a farmers' magazine, but in Kosovel's hands, it metamorphised into a left-wing publication. He would remain the programme editor of the paper until his death. "Mladina" differed from all other previous magazines that he was involved in that there were no mortgages on the publication and had a carefree element to it.
During this period, the Ivan Cankar Club first appeared in public to small gatherings on the 9th and 10 November. Kosovel recited the poem "Kriza" (Crisis) on the first evening. According to critics, Kosovel's poetry takes on a more complex construction and shows signs of expressionism at this point. His poetry expresses a dislike for technology, civilisation and industrialisation. It is also activist and utopian in nature. Kosovel recited "Ekstaza smrti" (Ecstasy of Death) on the second night, much to the approval of the gathering.
The year 1925 also was Kosovel's most productive period. His writing style changed as he adopted a writing style that was not used by contemporary Slovene poets at the time, that is, the prose style that was used by writers such as Aloysius Bertrand and Charles Baudelaire. It was also a time that saw him shift his politics to the left. As his prose was simpler in style, it had a greater appeal to the proletariat. Kosovel conceived the idea of a proletarians' writers union and a publishing house called "Strelci" (Archers). Strelci was to publish "Konsi". Konses were still being written by Kosovel at this time but Kosovel was also developing the prose style as well.
In an evening in 1926, Kosovel visited the town of Zagorje for a recital in the evening. His recital concerned the issues of a class-free society, human rights and the demise of capitalism. It is said that following the recital, Kosovel waited for a train and came down with a cold, which eventually developed into meningitis. Kosovel died on 26 May 1926. He was buried on 29 May 1926. His coffin had ribbons in the colours of the Slovene flag placed on it. Italian Carabinieri threatened to exhume the coffin to remove the ribbon but this did not occur.
[edit] Publications Following Kosovel's Death
Alfonz Gspan in 1927 published his late friend's poetry in a booklet consisting of 66 works. In 1946, Ocvirk published "Collected Works", receiving interest from the literary community. Ocvirk further published "The Golden Boat" in 1954. The 1954 publication did not consist of the works that Kosovel wanted to publish in 1925, only the foreword from Kosovel remains the same in the 1954. "Integrals '26" was published in 1967 and was edited by Ocvirk. It still remains mystery as to what Kosovel wanted published in the "Integrals" collection. The third volume of "Collected Works" was published in 1977.
[edit] Famous Poems
- Kons 5
- A Suicide In Front of A Mirror
- Hey Hey
[edit] Other works
Kosovel also left us with unfinished works in lyrical prose form, sketches, note, diaries and essays and criticisms concerning cultural problems.
[edit] Literary Analysis
The poetry of Kosovel is seen to come from three artistic movements, those being, Impressionism, Expressionism and Constructivism. However, Kosovel's poetry also fuses with elements with Dadaism, Surrealism and Futurism. He is too complex to be defined by a particular movement. His works show his concern with foreign rule of Slovenia and the fate of the Karst region. Kosovel's poetry is known for its wit, irony, depth and tragedy.
