Review article

Animalistic Themes in Matko Peić’s “Wanderings”.

Ana Batinić orcid.org/0000-0002-0007-1015 ; Hrvatska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti, Zagreb, Hrvatska

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to offer a new interpretation of Skitnje (Wanderings) – a unique work written by Matko Peić – from the viewpoint of animal studies, a relatively young scientific discipline that emerged in the 1970s. In the delicate whirl of Peić’s thoughts and filigree observations related to the Pannonian area, one constant is prominent: the inseparability of man and the natural world. From a vulnerable position of being only a passer-by in this world, the author observes native animals with the same sagacity and scrutiny with which he observes people and landscapes. All the splendor of the wild and domestic fauna of Turopolje and Slavonia springs from Peić’s writings, positioned equally with descriptions of landscapes, architecture, traditions and customs. Peić’s attitude towards human-animal relationships is by no means pessimistic as in, for example, some works by Petar Šegedin – on the contrary, life and death are a permanent source of fascination for him, and he accepts and respects them as invariable facts. In one of his later works, he wrote: “When writing in the honour of Man, we should not forget to show respect to Nature.” Therefore, we will not make a mistake claiming that precisely through animalistic motifs, the author reveals himself as a competent connoisseur of biology and a sincere, biocentric promoter of animalistic – or, even wider, ecological – correctness, which brings us to the conclusion that in 1967, when he published Skitnje, Matko Peić was ahead of his time.

Keywords

Matko Peić; Skitnje; animalistic themes; attitude towards nature; ecological correctness

Hrčak ID:

133850

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/133850

Publication date:

17.4.2014.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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