Summary
Janko Polić Kamov: The dried bilge
The dried bilge is a novel by Janko Polić Kamov divided into three parts: Na dnu, U šir and U vis. It was designed as an author's diary, which contains all the important features of Janko's novels. Critics consider the mentioned work an intimate chronicle in which the compositional principles of the prose of the time were inherited. Arsen Toplak's novel, which is considered an integral part of "Dried Bilge", best reveals the type of critical literature that Kamov addressed to the public at a time when modernity is changing with the help of avant-garde directions. The mentioned novel is the best example of a work from the earlier phase of the avant-garde, when everything was directed towards newer methods in literature with the help of which writers wanted to express themselves and interest the public. The dried bilge is a work in which elements of avant-garde, modernism and poetics are present. Kamov wanted to oppose the then dominant forms of literary works, so he used the principles of negation and shock several times, which will eventually represent one of the most important determinants of literature in the decades to come. While dealing with Croatian modernism, Kamov tried to write different works. For this reason, throughout the history of Croatian literature and novels, the work "Dried bilge" has been called an anti-novel several times. Kamov simply wanted to be special.
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