engleski

The Imagined Arcadia of the Third Island by Croatian Writer Renato Baretić

The Eighth Commissioner (2003) is a novel written by the Croatian writer Renato Baretić. Its microcosm is placed on the imagined Third Island as the farthest Croatian point in the Adriatic Sea. The main character Siniša Mesnjak failed in his political career in Zagreb, so is sent to establish state administration bodies on the Third Island. In his remarks, the folk tradition and collective life of the Third Island, rather relied on the help of the Australian diaspora than the civil institutions, are opposed to urban life with its corrupt politicians, police and media. Unlike his seven predecessors, Mesnjak does not try to politicise the island, but becomes apolitical and learns that love, solidarity and friendship are the greatest human gifts. That kind of ending characterises the novel as a utopia. The specialty of the Third Island is its language, which is an amalgam of Croatian Chakavian dialect, Dalmatian Italianisms and the Australian version of English language. This mixture is caused by the emigrant fate of inhabitants. Using the imagological approach, the paper will consider the novel's image of Croatian political and urban life and national prejudices from the perspective of a marginalised island, which is revealed as more human despite its weird and even cruel folk customs.

insular prose ; Croatian literature ; Renato Baretić ; a utopia ; dystopian elements ; invented tradition ; imagological approach

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