NARRATIVE FORMS OF MILKA ALEKSIĆ GRGUROVA

Abstract

The paper will highlight the main creative forms in the short stories of Milka Aleksić Grgurova, a marginal Serbian writer from the late 19th and early 20th century. These are primarily reflected in the blend of the realist method and the oral fairy tale model, which also contributed to typified characters in the author's short stories. The dominant theme of Milka Aleksić Grgurova's short stories relates to family relations and emphasizing the figure of a woman as a self-sacrificing and loyal wife, mother, sister, or daughter, as well as family destabilization through different plots. The central motifs in the story plot include jealousy (Tit for Tat, Two Sisters, Vera, Pretty Tatijana) and infidelity (Temptation, Family Court, Dangerous Girlfriend), taken child (Gypsy Woman, Stolen Child) and orphan motif (Poor Mother, The Painter and his Family, The Smiljić Family), prodigal father repentance (Before the Icon, Christmas Eve). The characters are built in black and white technique, and their nature transformation comes only with changes in life circumstances through the topos of temptation as an essential attribute of the author's prose. The happy ending, characterizing most of Milka Aleksić Grgurova's short stories, represents a kind of implicit message about the victory of family values, and the ethical comments in the exposition of the short stories have a similar tendency. The third-person narration is the dominant form, often alternating with dialogue. A minor part of Milka Aleksić Grgurova's story-telling oeuvre comprises humorous short stories based on a novel twist and disappointed expectations, which are the source of the humorous effect. Better known as an actress, Milka Aleksić Grgurova was also successful in literary work, for which, however, she did not receive particular affirmation from critics during her lifetime. Hence, a new reading of her oeuvre brings a new insight into the overall artistic work of this versatile woman.