Extract

       10.

       Tatarka’s multilayered identity1

       (The myth and reality of the author’s archai)

With his emphasis on individuality and uniqueness Dominik Tatarka is a typical author of the modern. His seriousness, humourless deliberations, his seeking the essence of things, dignified solutions and starting points, his presence in culture and literature in Slovakia together embody, despite the mistakes which no human life can avoid, not only the limits of correctness, but also the mythical dimension of an artistic-human fate.

In summary it is possible to say: the initial tragic feeling of life and uncertainty evoked by his father’s death brings him early to adulthood and sparks a desire for harmony, community and love. The hard reality of his life’s journey, however, continuously shows him that in his own romantic imagination he wants more than he can get from life. He acts, despite the conditions, as if they could actually be changed. Education and intellectual potential enable him to have a vision of a better future. With his activities and his exemplary achievement, Tatarka maintains the continuity of Slovak intellectuals who had almost no conditions for a dignified life but nevertheless took hold of the right to live as free citizens. ← 179 | 180 →

10.1 A summary of knowledge from the viewpoint of identity

Tatarka’s path is the path of a strong individual human identity: education, recognition, the fame of a writer, appreciation, even the “divine identity” – of a victim, a social...