Pekiceva nemoguca zemlja

This paper deals with the self-other relationship throughout the life and work of Borislav Pekić (1930-1992). It is an indisputable fact that when Pekić emigrated to England he created the conditions to write and cultivate his “scribomania”, and that during his stay in London from 1971-1992 he actually published most of his works. In this period, however, the self-other relationship in Pekić appears to be in conflict since even though the author was living in a foreign country he chose to write in his own native language. Writing in his mother tongue from a foreign prospective, the Yugoslav writer was able to create a unique work but this choice also placed obstacles between Pekić’s work and a potential lingua franca readership, primarly the English. Paradoxically although the content of his work speaks to a world readership, his choice to wirte in his own language hindered his communication with that ideal readership.