Svetlana Makarovič


Svetlana Makarovič is a Slovenian writer of prose, poetry, children's books, and picture books, and is also an actress, illustrator and chanteuse. She has been called "The First Lady of Slovenian poetry." She is also noted for borrowing from Slovenian folklore to tell stories of rebellious and independent women. She is well-known adult and youth author. Her works for youth have become a part of modern classic and youth canon, which both hold a special place in history of the Slovenian youth literature. She won the Levstik Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2011.

Biography

Makarovič finished secondary school for pre-school teachers in Ljubljana. In the early 1960s she began with study of various humanistic sciences, she played piano in various cafes and for a short period she was a secretary and teacher for children with special needs. In 1968, she finished her study at Academy for Theatre, Radio, Film and Television. She was an actress in the Ljubljana city Theatre and the Slovene National Theatre. She is a freelance writer since 1970.

Works

Adult works

Makarovič started publishing her works in magazines and newspapers in 1957. Her first poem, In the Black Pavement was published in the magazine Mlada pota. Other poems and magazines, in which she published, were: Naša sodobnost, Tribuna, Problemi, Perspektive, Sodobnost and Dialog.
Her first poem collection, called Somrak, was published in 1964. This one, as well as her all other works in the second half of the 1950s and early 1960s, follows the predominant path of the Slovenian lyric poetry from Intimism to Modernism. In the collection Kresna noč, she expressed her personal poetics based on traditional poetic forms. Her folk poetry-based poems present a new expression of existential crisis of modern man. In the beginning of the 1970s, her poetry became more harsh in terms of form. Tragical and balad mood was the prevailing one. An example is the collection of poems Bo žrl, bo žrt. Creative peaks came with her collection Srčevec and the anthology Izštevanja. Her poem anthology, Samost was self-published in 2002.
In February 2012, Svetlana Makarovič published a ballad fairy tale, titled Sneguročka, which was inspired by the Russian fairy tale character Snegurochka. Makarovič has had great passion for Russian tradition since childhood.

Youth poetry

Makarovič started releasing her youth works after 1970. In her prose works, she developed her own individual style, which is known for its original naming of characters: Zofka the Witch, Emily the Hen, Mishmash the Baker and others. These characters have premeditated character with archetypical motive of leaving home, hurt child, orphan child.
Svetlana Makarovič writes predominantly modern animal stories and Sapramiška, collections Take živalske, Mačja preja and Veveriček posebne sorte ), with primarily myth-based main characters, as well as fantastic fiction. The protagonists are animals, living in a special world and who have similar characteristics as human. The reality in the stories is not idealised. It includes cruel, selfish, envious people; gossips, grown-ups who limit children's playfulness – the reasons why these animals go through moments of loneliness, despair and sadness. Noticeable innovation of her works are taboos Škrat Kuzma dobi nagrado and Coprnica Zofka are regarded as stories with primarily myth-based main characters. Her stories point out, in its very core, non-understanding and non-acceptance of difference. Representative fantastic stories are Kosovirja na leteči žlici, Kam pa kam kosovirja? and Mi, kosovirji. The storyteller is taking the side of free being and opposes rules and demands of authorities. Some of her works were tape recorded, Sapramiška, Čuk na palici, Mali kakadu, Sovica Oka.

Curriculum for Slovenian language at schools

Her works have been recommended in Curriculum for Slovene language : Jaz sem jež, Čuk na palici, Pismo, Sovica Oka, Papagaj in sir, Zajček gre na luno, Razvajeni vrabček, Pod medvedovim dežnikom, Jazbec in ovčka, Prašičkov koncert, Pekarna Mišmaš, Coprnica Zofka, Kosovirja na leteči žlici, Miška spi, Volk in sedem kozličkov, Kam pa kam, kosovirja, Jutro.

Music participation

She has published some books of chansons, e.g. Krizantema na klavirju, and has performed her own works on musical recitals before invitation-only audiences. The subjects of her chansons are very like those of her poems - the lyrics address the fields of modern family upbringing, social habits, moral norms and social conventions. A difference is that in her chansons there is more humor.
She has recorded albums of her interpretations of her own chansons: Nočni šanson ; Dajdamski portreti ; Pelin žena ; Namesto rož.
She also wrote lyrics for some standards: , , V Ljubljano and an intro song for the movie Sreča na vrvici.

Cooperation with the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre

Her work named Sovica Oka was introduced in 1972 on the stage of Ljubljana Puppet Theatre. Sapramiška is a puppet show which was played most times. It was first performed on 17 October 1986. Svetlana Makarovič cooperated with LGL in many ways – she wrote and put music to lyrics; wrote and adapted text, made the designs for puppets and sets; she even performed sometimes. She played a part in 31 shows; she was a host in Italy, Austria, Mexico, Australia, and Croatia.

Selection of stage acts from Svetlana Makarovič

Svetlana Makarovič quit the Slovene Writers' Association, because she disagreed with the standards for allocation of membership. She believed that the main criterion should be quality, not quantity. She defied official publishers, claiming they only exploit authors. Besides that, she strived for social rights of freelance artists. She stood up for the founding of a new, opened to pluralism and only-literature dedicated magazine, but did not cooperate with Nova revija, which started to come out in 1982. Current political and ideological issues supposedly pushed out the art. She forbade publishing of her works in any anthologies or school books, based on her belief that her black and deathlike poetry would be a big reason that young people hate literature. She regards her works not as national goods but as a protected author property. She opposes communist saying that art is for all people. She declined her placement in the Anthology of Slovenian female writers, because the criterion was gender and not quality.
She expresses her criticism of her social environment through columns. In 2000, she declined the public reception of the Prešeren Award.

Slovenceljni

Makarovič perceives image of Slovenes as cold-hearted, primitive, hypocritical and servile. She contemptously calls them Slovenceljni. In her satirical poems Pesmi o Sloveniji za tuje in domače goste, she disintegrated mythicised self-image of Slovenes using quite witty irony. She portrayed them as narcissistic, primitive, aggressive on the inside, naive on the outside through travesty of popular tale of Martin Krpan and through allusion on Holy Bible. She mocked the same image in her chansons, collected in Krizantema na klavirju

Anti-Catholic stance

In January 2012, Svetlana Makarović caused a controversy with her statement: "In my opinion the Catholic Church in Slovenia is something one must hate. I feel it as my civic duty." The statement was part of an interview published by the Planet Siol.net web portal.
The Council of Lay Catholics of Slovenia designated the statement "crooked, primitive and unacceptable", and in contradiction with the Constitution of Slovenia. The office of the Human Rights Ombudsman in Slovenia as well as the Slovenian police have received several initiatives for intervention. The office did not take a stance in this particular case, but has denounced all forms of publicly expressed hatred and intolerance pointed towards individuals and individual groups due to their personal circumstances. Zdenka Čebašek Travnik, the ombudsman, explained: "For me as a person and the human rights ombdusman, it is unacceptable that the artist used her gift in such a harsh way, which hurts and wounds people." Nataša Pirc Musar, the Information Commissioner of the Republic of Slovenia, did not study the case as it was out of her jurisdiction, but condemned the statement. Aleš Gulič, the director of the Office for Religious Communities, explained that he does not see the statement as a call to lynch and added: "It's not nice what the poet said, but actually, she was just angered due to the acts that are really controversial, and due to the concealement of these acts. From her statements, I've only read her personal stance towards the Catholic Church as an institution."

Adult poetry

Fairy tale collections

Albums

Recognition awards