Aleš Debeljak
Encyclopedia
Aleš Debeljak is a Slovenia
n cultural critic
, poet
, and essayist.
n capital Ljubljana
, then part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
. He graduated from comparative literature
at the University of Ljubljana
in 1985. He continued his studies in the United States
, obtaining a PhD
in sociology of culture
at Syracuse University
in 1989. He was later a Senior Fulbright fellow at the University of California, Berkeley
. He also worked at the Institute for Advanced Studies Collegium Budapest, the Civitella Ranieri Center and the Bogliasco Liguria Study Center for the Arts and Humanitites.
Since the mid 1980s, Debeljak has taken an active part in civil society
movements.
He has been one of the co-editors of the critical alternative journal Nova revija
. He has also participated in the social liberal think tank
Forum 21, led by the former President of Slovenia
Milan Kučan
.
He is currently a professor of cultural studies at the Faculty for Social Studies of the University of Ljubljana
.
He is married to the American columnist and translator Erica Johnson Debeljak. They have three children and live in Ljubljana.
who helped him in the literary scene. His first collection of poetry was very well received also by the poet Tomaž Šalamun
, who declared Debeljak as the best poet of the young generation of Slovene authors.
Debeljak's poetry is noted for its melancholy and a new reaffirmation of traditional values
such as family and God
. An opponent to the everything-goes schools of modern thought, such as Post-Modernism, Debeljak's work is informed by an "Enlightenment
" ideal of right and wrong, good and bad.
Debeljak is an extremely prolific writer. Besides poetry and cultural criticism, Debeljak has also worked as a columnist for the most important newspaper
in Slovenia, Delo
.
His works have been translated in many languages, including English
, German
, Japanese
, Spanish
, Italian
, Polish
, Czech
, Croatian
, Serbian
, Macedonian
, Lithuanian
, Hungarian
, Rumanian, Slovak
, Finnish
, and Catalan
(by Simona Škrabec
).
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
n cultural critic
Cultural critic
A cultural critic is a critic of a given culture, usually as a whole and typically on a radical basis. There is significant overlap with social and cultural theory.-Terminology:...
, poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, and essayist.
Biography
Debeljak was born in the SloveniaSlovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
n capital Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
, then part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
. He graduated from comparative literature
Comparative literature
Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the literature of two or more different linguistic, cultural or national groups...
at the University of Ljubljana
University of Ljubljana
The University of Ljubljana is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. With 64,000 enrolled graduate and postgraduate students, it is among the largest universities in Europe.-Beginnings:...
in 1985. He continued his studies in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, obtaining a PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in sociology of culture
Sociology of culture
The sociology of culture concerns culture—usually understood as sets of cognitive meanings—as it is manifested in society. For Georg Simmel, culture referred to "the cultivation of individuals through the agency of external forms which have been objectified in the course of history".Cultural...
at Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
in 1989. He was later a Senior Fulbright fellow at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. He also worked at the Institute for Advanced Studies Collegium Budapest, the Civitella Ranieri Center and the Bogliasco Liguria Study Center for the Arts and Humanitites.
Since the mid 1980s, Debeljak has taken an active part in civil society
Civil society
Civil society is composed of the totality of many voluntary social relationships, civic and social organizations, and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society, as distinct from the force-backed structures of a state , the commercial institutions of the market, and private criminal...
movements.
He has been one of the co-editors of the critical alternative journal Nova revija
Nova revija
Nova revija is a Slovenian publishing house and cultural institute that developed from the literary journal with the same name.- The magazine :...
. He has also participated in the social liberal think tank
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
Forum 21, led by the former President of Slovenia
President of Slovenia
The function of President of the Republic of Slovenia was established on 23 December 1991, when the National Assembly of Slovenia passed a new constitution as a result of independence from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia....
Milan Kučan
Milan Kucan
Milan Kučan is a Slovenian politician and statesman. He was the first President of Slovenia.-Early life and political beginnings:...
.
He is currently a professor of cultural studies at the Faculty for Social Studies of the University of Ljubljana
University of Ljubljana
The University of Ljubljana is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. With 64,000 enrolled graduate and postgraduate students, it is among the largest universities in Europe.-Beginnings:...
.
He is married to the American columnist and translator Erica Johnson Debeljak. They have three children and live in Ljubljana.
Poetic works
Debeljak began publishing poetry in his college years. He was spotted by the poet Veno TauferVeno Taufer
Veno Taufer is a Slovenian poet, essayist, translator and playwright. Together with Dane Zajc and Gregor Strniša, he is considered one of the foremost Slovenian modernist poets of the postwar era...
who helped him in the literary scene. His first collection of poetry was very well received also by the poet Tomaž Šalamun
Tomaz Salamun
Tomaž Šalamun is a Slovenian poet. He was born in 1941 in Zagreb, Croatia, and raised in Koper, Slovenia. He has published 39 collections of poetry in his native Slovenian language. Šalamun spent two years at the University of Iowa Writer's Workshop in the 1970s and has lived for periods of time in...
, who declared Debeljak as the best poet of the young generation of Slovene authors.
Debeljak's poetry is noted for its melancholy and a new reaffirmation of traditional values
Traditional values
Traditional values refer to those beliefs, moral codes, and mores that are passed down from generation to generation within a culture, subculture or community.-Summary:Since the late 1970s in the U.S., the term "traditional values" has become synonymous...
such as family and God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
. An opponent to the everything-goes schools of modern thought, such as Post-Modernism, Debeljak's work is informed by an "Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
" ideal of right and wrong, good and bad.
Debeljak is an extremely prolific writer. Besides poetry and cultural criticism, Debeljak has also worked as a columnist for the most important newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
in Slovenia, Delo
Delo
Delo is the largest national daily newspaper in Slovenia. It was established on May 1st, 1959, when two newspapers Ljudska pravica and Slovenski poročevalec merged. Nowadays, it is the most influential and credible daily newspaper in Slovenia...
.
His works have been translated in many languages, including English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
, Czech
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
, Croatian
Croatian language
Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
, Serbian
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
, Macedonian
Macedonian language
Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...
, Lithuanian
Lithuanian language
Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
, Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
, Rumanian, Slovak
Slovak language
Slovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people...
, Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
, and Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
(by Simona Škrabec
Simona Škrabec
Simona Škrabec is a Slovene literary critic, essayist and translator who lives and works in Barcelona.She was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia, to a Serbian father and a Slovene mother. She spent her childhood in the small town of Ribnica in the Lower Carniola region. She studied German language and...
).
List of works
Works published or translated in English:- The Hidden Handshake: National Identity and Europe in The Post Communist World (Rowman & Littlefield, New York & Oxford 2004).
- Reluctant Modernity: The Institution of Art and its Historical Forms (Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham & New York 1998).
- Twilight of the Idols: Recollections of a Lost Yugoslavia (Wite Pine Press, Fredonia & New York 1994).
- Persistence of Modernity: Critical Social Theory of Modern vs. Postmodern Institution of Art (UMI, Ann Arbor, 1994).