Cankar: Inscribed into Society

The series of literary evenings taking a closer look at different areas of Cankar's prodigious body of work marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Ivan Cankar, one of Slovenia's most prolific and influential writers.

Ivan Cankar’s short fiction, novels, essays, plays, poetry, etc. address social phenomena and ethical patterns with great acuity and subtle writing style, revealing the personal standpoint of an author with a keen feel for the sociological phenomena of his time. Despite the temporal distance, with all the intervening historical, political and technological shifts, Cankar's central interest – the ethical and psychological profile of the individual and his encounter (or, better yet: collision) with social phenomena – continues to provide an inexhaustible resource for discourses on modernity. The series of literary evenings will include excerpts from Cankar's works read by Slovenian actors, as well as discussions with experts in cultural studies, philosophy, politics and sociology. Each event will also highlight a thematic element within a particular genre, from Cankar's characteristic satirical critique of the social and political order, the issues of social inequality, exploitation of labour and the role of art, to ethical questions of personal responsibility. These talks aim not only to position Slovenian literary history within contemporaneity, but above all to offer a space for reflection on the ethical responsibility of the individual in a time of post-capitalist individualism, overt and invisible violence, simultaneous passivity and activism.

Featured guests: Dr. Gregor Moder, Dr. Miloš Kosec, Živa Bizovičar, Maša Pelko, Jernej Potočan
Concept and host: Katja Markič
 

Alme Karlin Hall, free tickets