POSSIBLE READING OF THE SYMBOL OF MOTHERHOOD IN THE THEME STRATUM OF THE “PSALMS OF A BARREN WOMAN” CYCLE OF POEMS BY VESNA PARUN

Abstract

“Psalms of a barren woman” are an anthological cycle of poems in Vesna Parun’s collection of poems “You and Never”. Although this collection of poems is usually not analysed in detail in critical readings of Parun’s poetry, it contains this important cycle in which the myth of motherhood is demonstrated. This category is not a separate topic in her poetry. Instead, it is brought into relation with the Virgin Mary and the theological figures related to her, and on the basis of this the position of the female subject and its relation to the Other is analysed. Textual analysis of these poems is based on the symbolic and the stylistic approaches which have proven as acceptable approaches to explanations of the symbol of motherhood which is viewed as being trapped by the ideological tenets of patriarchal discourse. This interpretation contributes to our understanding of Parun’s poetics and brings a systematic separation of various phenomena related to the female subject, which is the most important element in this poetry.