7. CONCLUSIONS

7. CONCLUSIONS

In summarizing the most important parts of the study of “literature of fact” in Petre Nakovski’s novels, we can arrange our findings in the form of conclusions:

1. All of Nakovski’s novels contain elements of “literature of fact”. His novels refer to the period from before and during the Greek Civil War and are not literary fiction. Most essential in them is the truth based on historical events, testimonies, documents and documentary knowledge taken from archival, media, or historiographical sources. The novels, as representative of “literature of fact”, are narrated by the author who participated in the events and was informed by first-hand accounts. Nakovski’s novels intertwine document with artistic narrative in the literary reflection of the Greek Civil War.

2. Nakovski’s five novels thematically refer to the national, historical, military, political and existential drama experienced by the Macedonian people from the Aegean part of Macedonia (Northern Greece). All novels are literary chronotopes and represent the temporal and spatial connections through which action is woven. The described time in which the events take place is placed in time frames. All facts and events described in the novels are arranged chronologically, except in the novel-report “Na pat so vremeto” (On the road of time), where facts and events are arranged retrospectively. Temporally, the novels cover the period from May-June 1947 to August 1949, except the novel “Na pat so vremeto” (On the road of time), in which action takes place in the present time and is in conflict with memories after 61 years.

3. In terms of content, the novels cover all key moments that describe the great evil that the Greek Civil War unleashed on the Macedonian people. Nakovski is an excellent connoisseur of the situation and with a lot of knowledge, in an original way, enters the heart of the war and the pain of the population, individual and collective, relating to the collective exile and displacement. His novels are a condemnation of the war and its destructive character. It very vividly follows a chronological path; it brings drama into the descriptions, scenes of cruelty and ferocity and, through them, follows a progression of feelings. He has translated emotional truths from testimonies into emotional images and has described the real facts and events about the difficult experiences and personal traumas the villagers from Kostur Region underwent. His novels carry the harsh and cruel truth about the Macedonian people thrown out of their homes; about the systematic and organized action to take the children to Eastern European countries that led to the destruction of the Macedonian family; about the participation of the Macedonian population in the war; about the fighters who died; about the mobilization of children aged 15-16 as reserves for DAG; about the mobilization of

young people into DAG’s ranks; about the military and political fraud perpetrated against the Macedonian people which led to their eradication and expulsion from their homes in the Aegean part of Macedonia (Northern Greece)...

4. All the names, spaces, settlement names, toponyms, etc., in all the novels are authentic and are represented as elements of “literature of the fact”. The actions in the novels take place in Aegean Macedonia (Northern Greece), in the Lerin and Kostur Region and in Southern Albania. The author uses the Macedonian (centuries-old) village, city, mountain, river, etc., names with unusually accurate topography for the sole purpose of preserving them as testimony in the individual and collective memory. Even though today all these villages, mountains, toponyms, rivers, etc., have Greek names, i.e. have been helenized by Greek law, we can still learn their real (Macedonian) names from the novels. This will help us enrich our knowledge of our past and our history. By writing them down they will be preserved in the altar of our national memory.

5. The author, through the chronological narration in his novels, has offered real events that took place and left a lasting mark on the fate of the Macedonian people. He has accurately observed the chronological order of action in the described events which led to the destruction of the Macedonian family and to the forced eviction of people from their homes. This confirms the great lie perpetrated against the Macedonian people as described by events that are key to shedding light on their fate and turmoil. Nakovski has based all described events on: documents, memoirs, testimonies of living participants, archival documents, excerpts from newspapers and magazines, notes, which confirm that his novels are based on real events that are authentically presented. Also, his mention of names such as camps, historical figures, military and political organizations, newspapers, anthems, songs, confirms the thesis of “literature of fact.”

6. The novels are a testimony, a history textbook about the Macedonian past, a documentary because through many years of research the author has precisely inserted in his novels military heights and positions relating to combat sectors on which the most difficult and decisive battles took place. He also provided a complete picture of the preparations of divisions, brigades, battalions, reserves, artillery combat activities, tanks, government army and air force responsible for attacking DAG.

7. All the characters in the novels, on which the author based actions, are real and, in addition to providing historical facts, their testimonies describe the collection and eviction of children, the eviction of civilians and the people who participated in the war. Each of these characters brings their own memories, and through their destinies the author embodies the destiny of the collective. He builds the characters pictorially based on their testimonies, specific life situations, drama, which are consistent with the truth. Their testimonies are authentic and full with lifelong scars deeply filled with sorrow. These characters, bearers of painful destinies, were persecuted, separated but still continue to last in and through time. They continue to move through time with their troubles, fears, expectations and most importantly - hope.

8. There is a style of artistic expression in the narration. The works are written in the Macedonian literary language but are also enriched with words and expressions from the Kostur Region dialect. The use of this rich vocabulary has preserved the authenticity of place and language and, through that, the mark of the Macedonian identity. In addition to the Macedonian literary language and Kostur dialect, the author has also used Greek, Russian and Albanian words in his works, and by doing so has confirmed the authenticity of events, time and space. The striking dialogues, witness testimonies and testimonies of the most shocking events have been expressed through emotions and reflections which shows that “literature of fact” has been expressed in the works.

9. The characters of Macedonian women in the novels have been authentically presented with having deep and lifelong scars deeply filled with sadness. But Macedonian women in the novels are the backbone of the family. Greatness and courage can be seen in their participation in the fighting, especially in DAG’s ranks, under severe climatic conditions, hunger, thirst, exhaustion from marches, insomnia. They are examples of courage, bravery, dedication, high morale and determination in performing their combat duties.

10. In order to preserve even the smallest detail of the truth and the tragedy of that time, the author, through the pages of his works, has captured the essence of what it is to be Macedonian, with authentic descriptions of the Macedonian family and home, which during the war became a place of suffering and tragic living, because the family as the basic cell of society was destroyed. Through the descriptions of the interior of the Macedonian house, the village streets and gardens, the author captured the soul of the Macedonian villager who, on a daily basis, was being destroyed by the military events. In the novels, the author especially refers to the celebration of Christian Orthodox customs: celebrating name days, traditional Macedonian Orthodox holidays and expressing the true faith in God by praying to the icon of the Mother of God, lighting candles and distributing food for the souls of the dead. This reveals the touching authenticity of Macedonian life and customs. As valuable proof of the existence of the Macedonian being, are the Macedonian dances and Macedonian folk songs, the Macedonian clothes, the Macedonian village dishes and the customs practiced in the home. The novels are a source of real facts taken from life and from the people’s understanding of the time in which they lived.

11. The novels are ennobled with symbolism. All the titles of the novels are symbolic; they are a symbol of duration and survival of the individual and the collective -the nation.

The title “I kamenot e zemia” (A stone too is soil) symbolizes attachment to the homeland, place of birth. The stone symbolizes permanence, existence, the messenger of truth (God’s truth was written on stone), guardian of property, the stone is earth and represents the homeland. The title of the novel “Postela za chemernite” (A bed for the wretched) symbolizes incurable sorrow for the birthplace, gloom of the soul of the evicted and exiled. The title “Golemata udolnitsa” (The great decline) symbolizes the loss of ideal. The title of the novel “Golemata izmama” (The great lie) symbolizes

Macedonians being deceived. The title of the novel “Na pat so vremeto” (On the road of time) symbolizes the image of a burning fire. The lantern symbolizes eternity, warmth, life, which the author has connected with the fate of the collective. The novels also contain other symbolisms such as the icon, the spoken word, the written word, the speech, the oak… which in the novels are symbols of permanence and the existence of the nation.

12. These novels also carry a message for our present and future generations. In his message, the author instructs and bequeaths our generation to study and learn our Macedonian history, the traumas and sufferings of our nation’s collective, and to pass it on to future generations. What happened on those roads in stormy weather should never be erased from our memory. The author’s message is clear: don’t forget what happened so that it’s never repeated. That is why the author proposes that everything important be put on paper in order to be preserved because, as Professor Gane Todorovski pointed out, “... The Macedonian darkness has no end…” 208

13. In terms of knowledge about the “Aegean theme”, Nakovski deserves a special place in Macedonian literature because this theme is an attribute of his work. His novels are evidence that the Greek Civil War was real and took place, a document of the time. Petre Nakovski’s novels offer the reader the opportunity to learn the truth about the Macedonians under Greece and to find an answer to the question:

- What really happened to the Macedonians in the Greek Civil War and how much do modern Macedonians really know about it?

That’s why Nakovski’s novels should be “history textbooks”, sources of information for current and future students who, through literature, real facts and beautifully written words, can learn history and preserve the truth of our individual and collective memory, about those difficult and traumatic times.

208 Stezhor, January-March 2004, p. 44