THE OTHERNESS OF POEM (THE LYRIC OF VESNA KRMPOTI？)

Sa？etak This dissertation analyses the relationship between desire for transcendence and the poetic language of Vesna Krmpoti？ as the medium of that desire. The influence of desire for transcendence on the poetic language itself ultimately leads to the question of what the (real) object of poetic desire is. In essence, the author’s poetic world is shaped around the lyrical subject’s desire to reveal the Secret, and for the Secret to become Knowledge. In this work the Secret is interpreted as the poem’s Other, (familiar) unfamiliarity, as something that is, but does not know what it is. The Secret is outside of language, but influences the language, the language represents it, but cannot uncover it. The Secret is also the result of language and it is closely related to the poem. The Secret is not related to knowledge, but to premonition. As opposed to such conception, in the poetry of Vesna Krmpoti？ the Secret is equal to the Voice imposing the Truth. The dissertation examines the implications of such an approach to the Secret in the poetry of Vesna Krmpoti？, as well as to the understanding and interpretation of poetry as such. In this work Vesna Krmpoti？’s poetry has been divided into two stages: before and after 1990. In the first stage the lyrical subject addresses the voiceless Other, while in the second stage the Other gains its voice. By relating the desire for transcendence to poems and encouraged by Krmpoti？’s idea of unfamiliarity of the source of a poem, this dissertation refers to Western philosophy (Plato, Heidegger), which is a completely new approach with regard to the former critical evaluations which mostly relied on Eastern philosophy. The reading of Vesna Krmpoti？’s poetry is also analysed within the framework of contemporary theoretical approaches to poetry and literature (Clark, Culler, Furniss, Bath), opposing them to the cultural tradition that connects poetry with pseudo-divine acts