Baština (Jan 2018)
The textological history of Borisav Stanković's Koštana
Abstract
By a parallel comparison of all versions of Koštana, we are given the answer to the question regarding the creative process in general. Can it be said, and with what certainty, that a literary work is finished when it is published? Is careful consideration of details, as a way of anticipating potential 'tripping' spots, an indicator of an even greater gift of an author? We think it is. The textological analysis of such editions is a necessary addition to the literary-critical apparatus and indicates those spots which are most commonly overlooked when interpreting a literary work. In its shaping, Koštana passed through all the phases: from motive, scene in a story (almost a sketch), the first version for which the author himself states that he 'did not know how or where to organise' to the one of the most performed plays. Through exceptionally dedicated 25-year long work, Borisav Stanković managed to put on stage and before the readers distinct characters and a unique theme of sadness for youth, distinctive in the Serbian literature, and by destroying one type of literary canon (theatre play, performance with singing) set free the expression towards the adjustment to the new form.
