Kvirin Vasilj on “the limited world” of Miroslav Krle？a

Sa？etak Croatian philosopher Kvirin Vasilj (1917–2006) focused on the physical and metaphysical challenges of the concrete existence of man. Croatian writer Miroslav Krle？a (1893–1981) is a distinguished figure of Croatian modern literature. Although contemporaries, they most probably never met. On the basis of Vasilj’s writings about Krle？a, it appears that he has read much of Krle？a’s works, particularly his lyric poetry. By contrast, we might assume that Krle？a has not read any of Vasilj’s six hundred bibliographic units, either because his works were not accessible in Yugoslavia, or because of ideological reasons. The first article in which Vasilj mentions Krle？a is a review published in Danica, Chicago weekly, from May 1952, while in the accessible published works Vasilj’s last mention of Krle？a dates from 1998. It was in the 1980s that Vasilj became increasingly preoccupied with Krle？a’s work. Vasilj never embarked upon a systematic literary-critical analysis of Krle？a’s works, yet he published three essays with Krle？a as a reference point: “Veli？ina i bijeda ？ovjeka – skra？eni svijet M. Krle？e” [“The magnitude and misery of man – limited world of M. Krle？a”] (1956), “U o？ajnome svijetu Miroslava Krle？e” [“In the desperate world of Miroslav Krle？a”] (1973), and “O Krle？inu nebu” [“On Krle？a’s heaven”] (1979). In this article Vasilj’s attitude towards Krle？a is approached in terms of problem, and not chronologically. From Vasilj’s perspective tackled separately are the artistic and ideological dimension of Krle？a’s work. In his aesthetics Ljepota i umjetnost [Beauty and art], as well as in his other writings, Vasilj admits to Krle？a that his verses touch upon the fate of man, even in the poem Plameni vjetar [The fiery wind], whose message he rejects, yet recognises its technical perfection, and on one occasion referred to his artistic style as “rococo.” On the other hand, Vasilj always warns about the ideological background of Krle？a’s works: limited Marxist humanism. He recurrently criticised Krle？a’s objections to religion, notably his belief that “the faith in the Divine being is an indirect cause of social poverty in human society.” Most curious he finds “Pjesma iz hrvatske kr？me” [“The Poem from Croatian inn”], in which Krle？a refers to God as tyrant. Among the rebellious and confusing messages of the poem Plameni vjetar, Vasilj observes that Krle？a shows no sympathy for “the pyramids of dead defenders.” Upon his reading of Krle？a’s drama Don Quijote, Vasilj remarks that Krle？a’s hero is fighting against medieval monsters instead of the