IN QUEST FOR THE PEARL - TREATMENT OF HISTORY IN <em>HOW TO QUIET A VAMPIRE</em> BY BORISLAV PEKIĆ

Abstract

Connections between Konrad Rutkovski, the hero of Pekić’s  How to Quiet a Vampire and Goethe’s Faust are revealed, among  other  things, in the criticism of science articulated by both  characters. In the case of Rutkovski the criticism of science is seen as the criticism of historiography. The basic reproach to historiography in Rutkovski’s opinion is that it never comes to philosophical meaning of historic event (“the pearl”), but rather to mere historical facts (the “sea shell”). A path to “ the pearl” of philosophical meaning of  historic event, or facts, leads Pekić to poetic polemic with Kiš. Kiš sees his prose as a correction of fictionalized historiography, thus taking role of historical reconstruction of historical facts   dissociating from the fiction. Contrary to this, Pekić dissociates his prose from historical   truth in order to focus it on the task of interpretation of meaning of historical facts, thus   turning    attention  towards  the  philosophical   truth of historical events, in other words what Rutkovski considers as “ the pearl”, the true historical knowledge.