Anton Podbevšek
Encyclopedia
Anton Podbevšek was a Slovenia
n avant-garde
poet. He was an important influence to the poet Srečko Kosovel
. He was one of the participants of the artistic activity known as the Novo Mesto Spring (Novomeška pomlad) in 1920, which marked the beginning of Slovenian modernism. The poet Miran Jarc
portrayed him in the semi-autobiographical novel Novo mesto in the character of Andrej Vrezec.
n village of Kandija, today part of the town of Novo Mesto
. The region was then part of the Duchy of Carniola
in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and is now in Slovenia
. The manor was owned by a noble family of Czech origin who had donated it to the Carniolan Agricultural Association, which ran an agricultural school in the building. Anton Podbevšek's father, who originally came from Upper Carniola
, worked in the school as a janitor, and the family lived in the manor until 1911.
Between 1909 and 1917, Podbevšek attended the Novo Mesto Grammar School, where he was a schoolmate of the poet Miran Jarc
and the gymnast Leon Štukelj
. During his school years, he also established a friendship with the painter Božidar Jakac
, author Fran Albreht
, and composer Marij Kogoj
, who lived and studied in Novo Mesto. Podbevšek started writing poetry in high school: he was initially influenced by the aesthetic modernism of Oton Župančič
, but soon fell under the influence of avant-garde movements, especially Italian
ones. He first attempted to enter literature with the poem cycle Žolta pisma (Yellow Letters), which he wrote at age 16. This work shows that he was initially influenced by Italian Futurism
.
In 1917, he was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian Army
and sent to the Italian front. He was wounded and spent the last months of the war in a military hospital in Tolmezzo
in Friuli
. Upon his return, he re-established the contact with his artist friends from Novo Mesto with the intention to establish an avant-garde artistic community, based on the idea of Gesamtkunstwerk
: a total work of art that would incorporate literature, music and visual arts.
In 1920, he helped organize a modernist artistic event known as the Novo Mesto Spring (Novomeška pomlad), together with the composer Marij Kogoj, poet Miran Jarc, and painter Božidar Jakac. He went on to become a founder of the journal Trije labodje (Three Swans), but later broke with its co-editor Josip Vidmar
: Podbevšek wanted a more revolutionary and socialist orientation of the journal, while Vidmar rejected political activism and avant-garde orientations in the name of the classicist notion of "pure art." This led Podbevšek to leave the Trije labodje circle and to create Rdeči pilot (The Red Pilot), which only lasted for two issues. In the journal, he also published the essay "Political Art" (Politična umetnost) was one of the first avant-garde manifestos in Slovene. In 1925, he published his only collection of poems, Človek z bombami ("Man with Bombs").
After the 1920s, he became less active, but in 1939 he made notable translations of Walt Whitman
to celebrate the poet's 120th birthday. In the mid 1960s, he become active again, influenced by the emergence of new Slovene avant-gardism (especially the OHO group, and the poetry of Tomaž Šalamun
). However, his intention of republishing the Man with Bombs was never realized.
His poems are characterized by the so-called titanic lyric subject, resulting from the neo-romantic lyrical subject, with the features of Nietzschean superman and Whitman's pantheism. In addition, many poems reveal a strong expressionist influence. Podbevšek's initial enthusiasm for futurism
was later attenuated: what remained from the futurist influences was the celebration of art and some stylistical elements, but even those can actually be attributed to the emerging expressionism. Differently from the futurists, Podbevšek had a highly ambivalent attitude to the war.
(including Trieste
and Gorizia
): particularly the poet Srečko Kosovel
, but also the painters Avgust Černigoj
and Ivan Čargo, and theater director Ferdo Delak, who later consciously distanced themselves from Podbevšek.
In the 1960s, the Slovenian neo-avant-garde re-discovered Podbevšek's work, although few of them were directly influenced by him.
In 2006 the Anton Podbevšek Theater was founded in Novo Mesto and named after him.
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
n avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
poet. He was an important influence to the poet Srečko Kosovel
Srecko Kosovel
Srečko Kosovel was a Slovene expressionist poet who evolved towards avant-garde forms. Since the 1960s, Kosovel has become a poetic icon, in the league of the most prestigious Slovene literates like France Prešeren and Ivan Cankar. Together with Edvard Kocbek, he is considered as the most...
. He was one of the participants of the artistic activity known as the Novo Mesto Spring (Novomeška pomlad) in 1920, which marked the beginning of Slovenian modernism. The poet Miran Jarc
Miran Jarc
Miran Jarc was a Slovene writer, poet, playwright and essayist.Jarc was born in the town of Črnomelj in White Carniola, in what was then Austria-Hungary in 1900. He was sent to school in Novo Mesto, and between 1918 and 1922 studied Slavic philology in Zagreb and Ljubljana, though he never...
portrayed him in the semi-autobiographical novel Novo mesto in the character of Andrej Vrezec.
Biography
Podbevšek was born at Grm manor near the Lower CarniolaLower Carniola
Lower Carniola was a kreis of the historical Habsburg crown land of Carniola from 1849 till 1919 and is nowadays a traditional region of Slovenia. Its center is Novo Mesto, while other urban centers include Kočevje, Grosuplje, Krško, Trebnje, Mirna, Črnomelj, Semič, and Metlika.-See also:* Upper...
n village of Kandija, today part of the town of Novo Mesto
Novo Mesto
Novo Mesto is a city and municipality in southeastern Slovenia, close to the border with Croatia. The town is traditionally considered the economic and cultural centre of the historic Lower Carniola region.-Geography:...
. The region was then part of the Duchy of Carniola
Duchy of Carniola
The Duchy of Carniola was an administrative unit of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy from 1364 to 1918. Its capital was Ljubljana...
in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and is now in Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
. The manor was owned by a noble family of Czech origin who had donated it to the Carniolan Agricultural Association, which ran an agricultural school in the building. Anton Podbevšek's father, who originally came from Upper Carniola
Upper Carniola
Upper Carniola is a traditional region of Slovenia, the northern mountainous part of the larger Carniola region. The centre of the region is Kranj, while other urban centers include Jesenice, Tržič, Škofja Loka, Kamnik, and Domžale.- Historical background :...
, worked in the school as a janitor, and the family lived in the manor until 1911.
Between 1909 and 1917, Podbevšek attended the Novo Mesto Grammar School, where he was a schoolmate of the poet Miran Jarc
Miran Jarc
Miran Jarc was a Slovene writer, poet, playwright and essayist.Jarc was born in the town of Črnomelj in White Carniola, in what was then Austria-Hungary in 1900. He was sent to school in Novo Mesto, and between 1918 and 1922 studied Slavic philology in Zagreb and Ljubljana, though he never...
and the gymnast Leon Štukelj
Leon Štukelj
Leon Štukelj was a Yugoslav gymnast of Slovene nationality, Olympic gold medalist and athlete.Štukelj was born in Novo Mesto, Austria-Hungary . He is a noted figure in Slovenian sporting history...
. During his school years, he also established a friendship with the painter Božidar Jakac
Božidar Jakac
Božidar Jakac was a Slovene Expressionist, Realist and Symbolist painter, graphic artist, art teacher, photographer and filmmaker. He produced one of the most extensive oeuvres of pastels and oil paintings , drawings and, above all, graphics in Slovenia...
, author Fran Albreht
Fran Albreht
Fran Albreht was a Slovenian poet, editor, politician and partisan. He also published under the pseudonym Rusmir....
, and composer Marij Kogoj
Marij Kogoj
thumb|right|Marij KogojMarij Kogoj was a Slovenian composer. He was a pupil of Schoenberg and Franz Schreker, and immensely popular during the 1920s, culminating with his opera Black masks....
, who lived and studied in Novo Mesto. Podbevšek started writing poetry in high school: he was initially influenced by the aesthetic modernism of Oton Župančič
Oton Župancic
Oton Župančič was a Slovene poet, translator and playwright.Župančič is regarded, alongside Ivan Cankar, Dragotin Kette and Josip Murn, as the beginner of modernism in Slovenian literature...
, but soon fell under the influence of avant-garde movements, especially Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
ones. He first attempted to enter literature with the poem cycle Žolta pisma (Yellow Letters), which he wrote at age 16. This work shows that he was initially influenced by Italian Futurism
Futurism
Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century.Futurism or futurist may refer to:* Afrofuturism, an African-American and African diaspora subculture* Cubo-Futurism* Ego-Futurism...
.
In 1917, he was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian Army
Austro-Hungarian Army
The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint army , the Austrian Landwehr , and the Hungarian Honvédség .In the wake of fighting between the...
and sent to the Italian front. He was wounded and spent the last months of the war in a military hospital in Tolmezzo
Tolmezzo
Tolmezzo is a town and comune in the province of Udine, part of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of north-eastern Italy.-Geography:Tolmezzo is located at the feet of the Strabut Mountain, between the Tagliamento River and the Bût stream. Nearby is the Mount Amariana...
in Friuli
Friuli
Friuli is an area of northeastern Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, i.e. the province of Udine, Pordenone, Gorizia, excluding Trieste...
. Upon his return, he re-established the contact with his artist friends from Novo Mesto with the intention to establish an avant-garde artistic community, based on the idea of Gesamtkunstwerk
Gesamtkunstwerk
A Gesamtkunstwerk is a work of art that makes use of all or many art forms or strives to do so...
: a total work of art that would incorporate literature, music and visual arts.
In 1920, he helped organize a modernist artistic event known as the Novo Mesto Spring (Novomeška pomlad), together with the composer Marij Kogoj, poet Miran Jarc, and painter Božidar Jakac. He went on to become a founder of the journal Trije labodje (Three Swans), but later broke with its co-editor Josip Vidmar
Josip Vidmar
Josip Vidmar was a prominent Slovenian literary critic and essayist. Vidmar is remembered because of his role in the Slovenian resistance during World War II, and for his influence in the cultural policies of the Titoist regime in Slovenia from the mid 1950s to the mid 1970s.He was born in...
: Podbevšek wanted a more revolutionary and socialist orientation of the journal, while Vidmar rejected political activism and avant-garde orientations in the name of the classicist notion of "pure art." This led Podbevšek to leave the Trije labodje circle and to create Rdeči pilot (The Red Pilot), which only lasted for two issues. In the journal, he also published the essay "Political Art" (Politična umetnost) was one of the first avant-garde manifestos in Slovene. In 1925, he published his only collection of poems, Človek z bombami ("Man with Bombs").
After the 1920s, he became less active, but in 1939 he made notable translations of Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman
Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
to celebrate the poet's 120th birthday. In the mid 1960s, he become active again, influenced by the emergence of new Slovene avant-gardism (especially the OHO group, and the poetry of Tomaž Šalamun
Tomaz Salamun
Tomaž Šalamun is a Slovenian poet. He was born in 1941 in Zagreb, Croatia, and raised in Koper, Slovenia. He has published 39 collections of poetry in his native Slovenian language. Šalamun spent two years at the University of Iowa Writer's Workshop in the 1970s and has lived for periods of time in...
). However, his intention of republishing the Man with Bombs was never realized.
Work
Anton Podbevšek was the beginner and main representative of the first, radical phase of the Slovenian historical avant-gardes. He deviated from the established poetic forms: in his poems, he used free verse, a nominal or telegraphic style and unusual imagery. He gradually moved from relatively simple poems to longer, graphical hymns in lyrical prose. The themes of his poetry were existential experiences, war, as well as romantic themes.His poems are characterized by the so-called titanic lyric subject, resulting from the neo-romantic lyrical subject, with the features of Nietzschean superman and Whitman's pantheism. In addition, many poems reveal a strong expressionist influence. Podbevšek's initial enthusiasm for futurism
Futurism
Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century.Futurism or futurist may refer to:* Afrofuturism, an African-American and African diaspora subculture* Cubo-Futurism* Ego-Futurism...
was later attenuated: what remained from the futurist influences was the celebration of art and some stylistical elements, but even those can actually be attributed to the emerging expressionism. Differently from the futurists, Podbevšek had a highly ambivalent attitude to the war.
Legacy
Podbevšek's work was highly influential for the Slovene constructivists, who mostly came from the Slovenian LittoralSlovenian Littoral
The Slovenian Littoral is a historical region of Slovenia. Its name recalls the historical Habsburg crown land of the Austrian Littoral, of which the Slovenian Littoral was a part....
(including Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
and Gorizia
Gorizia
Gorizia is a town and comune in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, and it is a local center of tourism, industry, and commerce. Since 1947, a twin...
): particularly the poet Srečko Kosovel
Srecko Kosovel
Srečko Kosovel was a Slovene expressionist poet who evolved towards avant-garde forms. Since the 1960s, Kosovel has become a poetic icon, in the league of the most prestigious Slovene literates like France Prešeren and Ivan Cankar. Together with Edvard Kocbek, he is considered as the most...
, but also the painters Avgust Černigoj
Avgust Cernigoj
Avgust Černigoj, also known in Italian as Augusto Cernigoi was a Italian painter, known for his avant-garde experiments in Constructivism....
and Ivan Čargo, and theater director Ferdo Delak, who later consciously distanced themselves from Podbevšek.
In the 1960s, the Slovenian neo-avant-garde re-discovered Podbevšek's work, although few of them were directly influenced by him.
In 2006 the Anton Podbevšek Theater was founded in Novo Mesto and named after him.