Goran Tribuson
Encyclopedia
Bjelovar
Bjelovar is a city in central Croatia. It is the administrative centre of Bjelovar-Bilogora County. During the 2001 census, there were 41,869 inhabitants, 90.51% which are Croats....
) is a Croatian prose and screenplay writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
.
Tribuson received his B.A. in literature from the Philosophical Faculty in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
and his M.A. in filmology at the University of Zagreb
University of Zagreb
The University of Zagreb is the biggest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of Southeastern Europe...
. He worked for the Vjesnik Marketing Agency, and was a coeditor and revisor of the Croatian Lexicon. He teaches screen-writing at the Zagreb Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Along with Pavao Pavličić
Pavao Pavlicic
Pavao Pavličić is a Croatian writer, literary historian and translator whose main focus are crime novels. He writes for both adults and children....
, Tribuson is the most productive and the most popular Croatian writer from mid-1970s to the present day. From the point of view of style, genre and subject matter Tribuson’s work can be divided in several phases which all have in common the author's concern for the reader for whom he is writing, a compact plot, a great writing skill and the avoidance of any ideology. Tribuson is equally skilled in the application of postmodernist techniques: persiflage, quotes, intertextuality
Intertextuality
Intertextuality is the shaping of texts' meanings by other texts. It can include an author’s borrowing and transformation of a prior text or to a reader’s referencing of one text in reading another. The term “intertextuality” has, itself, been borrowed and transformed many times since it was coined...
, autoreference, metatextuality
Metatextuality
Metatextuality is a form of intertextual discourse in which one text makes critical commentary on another text. This concept is related to Gérard Genette's concept of hypertextuality in which a text changes or expands on the content of another text....
etc. His writing is influenced by rock and pop-culture, film and sometimes even jazz. His literary models are Raymond Chandler
Raymond Chandler
Raymond Thornton Chandler was an American novelist and screenwriter.In 1932, at age forty-five, Raymond Chandler decided to become a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Depression. His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in...
, Graham Greene
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
and Karel Čapek
Karel Capek
Karel Čapek was Czech writer of the 20th century.-Biography:Born in 1890 in the Bohemian mountain village of Malé Svatoňovice to an overbearing, emotional mother and a distant yet adored father, Čapek was the youngest of three siblings...
.
He lives in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
.
Work
Tribuson began writing and publishing short-stories in various magazines while he was still at college. As a subversive reaction to the superimposed social realismSocial realism
Social Realism, also known as Socio-Realism, is an artistic movement, expressed in the visual and other realist arts, which depicts social and racial injustice, economic hardship, through unvarnished pictures of life's struggles; often depicting working class activities as heroic...
in Croatian literature a generation of fantastical writers emerged in the early 1970s, and Tribuson was part of it. He is still considered to be one of the most prominent representatives of this movement. His early fantastical stories were published in three collections, Zavjera kartografa (The Cartographists Conspiracy, 1972), Praška smrt (Death in Prague, 1975) i Raj za pse (Dog Heaven, 1978). Mysticism
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
, the occult and horror are some of the themes of these stories. Thematically, the novel Snijeg u Heidelbergu (Snow in Heidelberg, 1980) belongs to the same fantastical cycle, although it also marks the beginning of a new phase. Critics consider it one of the best works of the fantastical writers' generation. It is a kind of mixture of the sotonic and the picaresque. Tribuson returns to the fantastical and the grotesque in several other works: in his novel Potonulo groblje (Sunken Cemetery, 1990), which is considered to be a contemporary version of the gothic novel and which got him the "K. Š. Gjalski" literary award; in the novel entitled Sanatorij (Sanatorium, 1993), as well as in the collection of short-stories entitled Zvijezda kabarea (Star of the Cabaret, 1999), in which he emerges as a fully mature writer of the so called fantastical prose.
The 1980s mark the beginning of Tribuson's so-called Aschenreiterov cycle which, in addition to the already mentioned ones, includes the novels Čuješ li nas Frido Štern (Do You Hear Us, Frida Štern, 1981) and Ruski rulet (Russian Roulette, 1982) subtitled "a boulevard novel", and erases the boundaries between the so-called "highbrow" and "lowbrow" literature.
The third cycle comprises Tribuson’s autobiographical writings, the best known among them being a trilogy of "generation" novels: Polagana predaja (Slow Surrender, 1984), Legija stranaca (Foreign Legion, 1985) and several editions of the bestselling Povijest pornografije (History of Pornography, 1988), which deals with the theme of growing up in a small town, the emergence and disappearance of youthful illusions and ideals, the confrontation of socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
with the unstoppable breakthrough of rock, pop culture, film and media. This cycle of varying quality includes, among other things, autobiographical prose works such as Rani dani (Early Days, 1997), Trava i korov (Grass and Weed, 1999) and Mrtva priroda (Still Nature, 2003). These are witty, ironic, clever and often fragmentary writings about the author's family history which is intertwined with history in general. Thematically the cycle includes the humorous novel Ne dao Bog većeg zla (God Save Us From Greater Evil, 2002), written after the production of the film with the same title, for which Tribuson wrote the screenplay.
His fourth cycle consists of "pure" crime novels in the manner of the American hard boiled school: in his interviews, Tribuson repeatedly asserted that "a crime novel can either be a stylistic exercise or a social novel; if it is just an exercise, I am not interested in it". Thus, in the six novels published so far (Zavirivanje/Peaking 1985; Siva zona /The Grey Zone 1989; Dublja strana zaljeva /The Deeper End of the Bay 1991; Noćna smjena /Night Shift 1996; Bijesne lisice /Rabid Foxes 2000; Gorka čokolada /Bitter Chocolate 2004), structured as detective stories featuring P.I. Nikola Banić he has given a historical panorama of the Croatian society, from the beginning of the fall of socialism to the ups and downs of the transitional period. Tribuson has not only given literary legitimacy to the crime genre in Croatian literature, he also bases novels of this genre on the everyday reality of the local community. Although his private investigator Nikola Banić, a Croatian version of Phil Marlow, is a slightly unconventional detective type because he is a jazz fan, a beer drinker, a dedicated smoker and a man burdened with many family problems, he has become very popular among the readers.
Tribuson is the most popular Croatian writer of his generation. Critics sometimes consider him to be a populist writer, a writer who is too eager to please his audience with his genre novels. They therefore consider his fantastical novels to be his best. It is true, however, that Tribuson has produced works of anthological value in each of his cycles.
Books
- Zavjera kartografa, (The Cartographists Conspiracy, stories), Zagreb: Znanje, 1972
- Praška smrt, groteske, (Death in Prague, grotesques), Zagreb: Centar za kulturnu djelatnost Saveza socijalističke omladine, 1975
- Raj za pse, (Dog Heaven, stories), Čakovec: "Zrinski", 1978
- Snijeg u Heidelbergu, (Snow in Heidelberg, novel), Zagreb: "August Cesarec", 1980
- Čuješ li nas Frido Štern, (Do You Hear Us, Frida Štern, novel), Zagreb: "August Cesarec", 1981
- Ruski rulet : bulevarski roman, 2 sv., (Russian Roulette: a boulevard novel) Beograd: Prosveta, 1982
- Spavaća kola, izabrane priče, (Sleeping Compartment, selected stories), Osijek: Revija, 1983
- Polagana predaja, (Slow Surrender, novel), Zagreb: Znanje, 1984
- Legija stranaca, (Foreign Legion, novel), Zagreb: Znanje, 1985
- Zavirivanje: [prvi slučaj policijskog inspektora Banića], (Peaking: police inspector Banić's first case), Beograd: Prosveta, 1985
- Uzvratni susret, (Counter game, novel) Opatija: "Otokar Keršovani", 1986
- Made in U. S. A., roman, (Made in USA, novel), Zagreb: Znanje, 1986
- Klasici na ekranu, zbirka priča, (Classics on the Screen, stories), Zrenjanin, 1987
- Povijest pornografije, roman, (History of Pornography, novel), Zagreb : Znanje, 1988
- Siva zona : [drugi slučaj policijskog inspektora Nikole Banića], (The Grey Zone: police inspector Banić's second case, novel) Zagreb: Školska knjiga, 2001
- Potonulo groblje, (Sunken Cemetery, novel), Zagreb: Znanje, 1990
- Dublja strana zaljeva : [treći slučaj istražitelja Nikole Banića], (The Deeper End of the Bay: detective Nikola Banić's third case, novel), Zagreb: Školska knjiga, 2001
- Sanatorij, (Sanatorium, novel) Zagreb: Znanje, 1993
- Noćna smjena : [četvrti slučaj istražitelja Nikole Banića], (Night Shift: detective Nikola Banić's fourth case, novel), Zagreb: Targa, 1996
- Rani dani : kako smo odrastali uz filmove i televiziju, (Early Days: How We Grew Up With Films and Television, autobiographical writings), Zagreb: Znanje, 1997
- Zvijezda kabarea : [nove priče], (Star of the Cabaret, new stories), Zagreb: Znanje, 1998
- Osmi okular : izabrane priče; izbor i pogovor Igor Štiks, (The Eight Ocular, selected short stories), Zagreb: Ceres, 1998
- Trava i korov : novi zapisi o odrastanju, (Grass and Weed: New Writings on Growing Up, autobiographical writings), Zagreb: Mozaik knjiga, 1999
- Bijesne lisice : [peti slučaj istražitelja Nikole Banića], (Rabid Foxes: detective Nikola Banić's fifth case, novel), Zagreb: Školska knjiga, 2000
- Klub obožavatelja : periferijski kvartet, (The Fan Club: A Suburban Quartet, stories), Zagreb: Znanje, 2001
- Ne dao Bog većeg zla, (God Save Us From Greater Evil, novel), Zagreb: Mozaik knjiga, 2002
- Mrtva priroda : ogledi iz estetike, (Still Nature: Esthetical Essays, autobiographical writings), Zagreb: Mozaik knjiga, 2003
- Gorka čokolada : [šesti slučaj istražitelja Nikole Banića], (Bitter Chocolate: detective Nikola Banić's sixth case, novel), Zagreb: Školska knjiga, 2004
- Divlja plaža, (Wild Beach) 2009
Screenplays
- Crvena prašina, (Red Dust) 1999, director Zrinko OgrestaZrinko OgrestaZrinko Ogresta is an acclaimed Croatian screenwriter and film director.-Filmography:* Fragments: Chronicle of a Vanishing - writer and director...
- Srce nije u modi, (The Heart is Not Fashionable) 2000, director Branko Schmidt
- Polagana predaja, (Slow Surrender) 2001, director Bruno Gamulin
- Potonulo groblje, (The Sunken CemeteryThe Sunken CemeteryThe Sunken Cemetery is a Croatian film directed by Mladen Juran. It was released in 2002. The screenplay is based on the novel of the same name by Goran Tribuson....
) 2002, director Mladen JuranMladen JuranMladen Juran is a Croatian film director, screenwriter and actor.Juran was born in Zagreb in 1942. He graduated from high school in Split in 1960. After obtaining a diploma from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Zagreb in 1964, he went to Paris, where he graduated from the Dramatic... - Ne dao bog većeg zla, (God Save Us From Greater Evil) 2002, director Snježana Tribuson
Collections
- Hrvatska kratka priča : antologija priča "Večernjeg lista" 1964.-1994.; izbor, predgovor i bilješke Tomislav Sabljak, (Croatian Short Story: an anthology), Zagreb: Alfa : Večernji list, 1994
- Antologija hrvatske novele, ed. Krešimir Nemec, (Anthology of Croatian novellas), Zagreb: Naklada Pavičić, 1997
- Antologija hrvatskog humora : zlatna knjiga humorističke i satiričke književnosti kroz šest stoljeća, odabrao i priredio Fadil Hadžić, (Anthology of Croatian Humor: the Golden Book of Humoristic and Satirical Literature Through Six Centuries), Zagreb: V.B.Z., 1999
- Antologija hrvatske književnosti, (Anthology of Croatian Literature), ed. Matilda Bolcs, Budapest: Nemzeti Tankonyvkiado, 1999
- Prodavaonica tajni : izbor iz hrvatske fantastične proze, (Shop of Secrets: a selection of Croatian fantastic prose), ed. Jagna Pogačnik, Zagreb: Znanje, 2001
- V objetí řeky: antologie chorvatské povídky 20. století / sestavil, úvod a slovník zastoupených autorů napsal Ivan Dobrovský; doslov napsal Miroslav Šicel; přeložili Vlasta Burmazová... [et al.] 1. vyd, Brno; Boskovice : František Šale - ALBERT, 2002
- Pisci o pisanju, (Writers on Writing), ed. Milana Vuković Runjić, Zagreb: Vuković & Runjić, 2003