2. MACEDONIAN LITERARY CRITIQUE OF THE “AEGEAN THEME” AND PETRE NAKOVSKI’S CRE

2. MACEDONIAN LITERARY CRITIQUE OF THE “AEGEAN THEME” AND PETRE NAKOVSKI’S CREATION

In Macedonia there are several authors who, in part, are involved in documenting the “Aegean theme” in their works, paying particular attention to the fate of the Macedonian people from the Aegean part of Macedonia. They have provided testimony in a traditional documentary fashion (memoirs), focusing primarily on the people who were exiled and in their exodus; a theme that requires relevance to historical facts and a well-developed historical memory; a theme of history and ideology that covers the political and moral ideas of the time.

According to Professor Miodrag Drugovac, as mentioned in his work “Istoria na Makedonskata knizhevnost XX vek” (History of Macedonian Literature XX Century), included among the authors who undertook the task of researching this subject are: Tashko Georgievski and Petar Shirilov. Included among other authors who wrote about this topic are: Kata Rumenova-Misirkova, Ivan Chapovski, Paskal Gilevski, Risto Jachev and Kole Mangov. 3

According to Professor Miodrag Drugovac, included among the authors who introduced elements in their literary works, known as “prose of the document” 4, is Tashko Georgievski, about whom Professor Drugovac said: “the data is also important for literary history, the fact that he undertook certain research (...), which should strengthen the authenticity” 5 Poet Rade Siljan in his reviews of the cycle of novels under the common name “Black Seed”, among other things, said that Tashko Georgievski in his works has introduced an “honest documentary portrait”.6

Similarly, Professor Drugovac has also singled out writer Petar Shirilov who he says is a “documentary filmmaker, who, through legends, has actively contributed testimony on the historical Golgotha of his people.” 7

Similarly, from a literary, historiographical and social aspect, Kica Bardžieva-Kolbe, in her work “Aegeans” 8 has provided a significantly exceptional amount of testimony about the personal dramas and about the forced exodus of hundreds of

3 Miodrag Drugovac: Istoria na Makedonskata knizhevnost XX vek. - Skopje: Misla, 1990, pp. 572-576 4 Ibid., p. 625 5 Ibid., p. 572 6 Tashko Georgievski: Tsrno seme; Zmiski vetar; Vreme na molchenie. - Skopje: Matica Makedonska, 2008, p. 378 7 Miodrag Drugovac: Istoria na Makedonskata knizhevnost XX vek. - Skopje: Misla, 1990, p. 576 8 Kica B. Kolbe: Egejci. - Skopje: Kultura, 1999

thousands of Macedonians from the Aegean part of Macedonia, and about those who were persecuted in the whirlwind of the Greek Civil War.

On the occasion of the Greek-Italian War’s 70th anniversary, at the exhibition of books and photographs entitled “Confession of the Damned”, organized by the Union of Macedonians from Aegean “MACEDON”, during his address, well-known poet, Rade Siljan said: “The Macedonian people have retained their autonomy and centuries-old recognizability through the rich Macedonian cultural heritage, through oral creativity and especially through the high literary achievements of contemporary Macedonian writers. Despite all the individual and collective tragedies, tortures, persecutions, intimidation, forced exiles, anti-Macedonian laws introduced by Greece to change our personal and family names and our toponyms…, thanks to the literary contribution of writers born in Aegean Macedonia, we have convincingly preserved a record of our space in our consciousness, with a sense of literary invention and rich lexical expression. In our memory we have preserved the ancestral names of our cities, villages, rivers, mountains and all the places and landmarks that were called by our centuries-old names. We have done this through the works of Tashko Georgievski, Petar Shirilov, Ivan Chapovski, Paskal Gilevski, Kata Misirkova, Petre Nakovski, Metodija Toshevski, Risto Jachev, Petre Bicevski, Stojan Kocov, Kica Bardzieva-Kolbe, Jovan Parlapanov, Kole Mangov and others. We have preserved authentic names such as Kroncelevo, Setina, Krušodari, Krčišta, Sveti German, Gorničevo, Setoma, Čegan, Požarsko, Kostur, Voden, Rodevo, Pela, Kukuš, Banitsa, Lerin, D`mbeni, Bapčor, Kajlari, Ranci, Trsje, Zhupanoshta, Shesteovo, Zagorichani, Gabresh, Cheresnitsa, Ovcharani, Tiolishta and many other settlements that are inhabited by ethnic Macedonians. The work of this group of writers is a kind of recognizable emblem for the Macedonian existence and a way of recognizing the geographical names, toponyms and personal names and surnames in Aegean Macedonia.” 9

Petre Nakovski and his works, undoubtedly, have been singled out as the subject of analysis in this master’s thesis. His works have been reviewed by academics Gane Todorovski, Dimitar Solev, Branko Cvetkovski, and Rade Siljan. He has dedicated his entire literary work to one historical time frame, the Greek Civil War (1946-1949). His work has been developed through the prism of the Macedonian identity for which he has struggled to preserve and safeguard. All his writings contain elements of literature of fact and are valuable for answering questions that are still relevant today for Macedonia and for the Macedonian people from the Aegean part of Macedonia. Answers to many questions can be found in his research, testimonies and documents contained in these works.

In his novel, “Na pat so vremeto” (On the road of time), Petre Nakovski wrote: “... our survival and existence which, as the wise minds once said, is a component of much past and little present.” 10

9 radiolav.com.mk ›News› Macedonia, Union of Macedonians from the Aegean “MACEDON” 70 years 10 Petre Nakovski: Na pat so vremeto. - Skopje: Matica Makedonska, 2010, p. 10

In this sense, it is characteristic of the author to retain the attention of the audience. It is important that he or she leave a legacy for the younger generation to study from and pass it on to future generations so that the past can be remembered and permanently preserved on paper.