The Image of Angelus Novus in the Poetry Book Ictus by Bojan Vasić
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3986/pkn.v48.i1.02Keywords:
Serbian poetry, samizdat, Caché, Vasić, Bojan, Benjamin, Walter: Theses on Philosophy of History, Angelus NovusAbstract
In 2012, as part of the group gathered around the Caché samizdat edition (Tamara Šuškić, Goran Korunović, Vladimir Tabašević, Uroš Kotlajić), contemporary Serbian poet Bojan Vasić published his poetry book Ictus. At the center of this book is a reproduction of the watercolor Angelus Novus, painted by Paul Klee in 1920, which Walter Benjamin possessed, but also interpreted in multiple texts, providing its most famous description in his “Theses on the Philosophy of History.” This article demonstrates how the image of Angelus Novus is incorporated into the poetry book Ictus, and how, through the figure of the angel, the text communicates with Benjamin’s “Theses.” Based on the interpretation of the paratextual elements of the book (cover page, typography and the meaning of the title, epigraphs, etc.), as well as its composition around the painting and, finally, the different layers of meaning within the text itself, the article explores how Vasić poetically reinterprets Benjamin’s understanding of history and critique of progress.
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