Why should you read Flannery O’Connor? - Iseult Gillespie

Prevodilac: Milenka Okuka Lektor: Ivana Krivokuća

A garrulous grandmother and a roaming bandit face off on a dirt road.

Brbljiva baka i razbojnik lutalica se suočavaju na prašnjavom putu.

A Bible salesman lures a one-legged philosopher into a barn.

Prodavac Biblije namamljuje filozofkinju s amputiranom nogom u ambar.

A traveling handyman teaches a deaf woman her first word on an old plantation.

Na staroj plantaži, putujući nadničar podučava gluvu ženu njenoj prvoj reči.

From her farm in rural Georgia,

Na svojoj farmi u ruralnoj Džordžiji,

surrounded by a flock of pet birds,

okružena jatom ptica ljubimaca,

Flannery O’Connor scribbled tales of outcasts,

Flaneri O'Konor je ispisivala priče o otpadnicima,

intruders and misfits staged in the world she knew best:

uljezima i neprilagođenima smeštene u svetu koji je najbolje poznavala:

the American South.

američkom Jugu.

She published two novels,

Objavila je dva romana,

but is perhaps best known for her short stories,

ali je verovatno najpoznatija po svojim kratkim pričama,

which explored small-town life with stinging language, offbeat humor,

koje su istraživale život u malom gradu prodornim jezikom, neobičnim humorom,

and delightfully unsavory scenarios.

kao i očaravajuće neprijatnim scenarijima.

In her spare time O’Connor drew cartoons,

U slobodno vreme, O'Konor je crtala karikature,

and her writing is also brimming with caricature.

a njeno pisanje je takođe ispunjeno karikaturom.

In her stories, a mother has a face “as broad and innocent as a cabbage,”

U njenim pričama, majka ima lice „široko i nevino kao kupus“,

a man has as much drive as a “floor mop,”

čovek ima elana koliko i „krpa za brisanje poda“,

and one woman’s body is shaped like “a funeral urn.”

a telo jedne žene je oblikovano kao „pogrebna urna“.

The names of her characters are equally sly.

Imena njenih likova su jednako promišljena.

Take the story “The Life You Save May be Your Own,”

Uzmite priču: „Život koji spasiš možda bude tvoj“,

where the one-handed drifter Tom Shiftlet wanders into the lives

gde lutalica bez ruke Tom Šiftlet [shifty - prevrtljiv]

doluta u živote starice po imenu Lusinel Krejter

of an old woman named Lucynell Crater

and her deaf and mute daughter.

i njene gluvoneme kćerke.

Though Mrs. Crater is self-assured,

Iako je gđa Krejter samouverena,

her isolated home is falling apart.

njen izolovani dom se raspada.

At first, we may be suspicious of Shiftlet’s motives

U početku, možda smo sumnjičavi zbog Šiftletovih motiva

when he offers to help around the house,

kada se ponudi da im pomaže oko kuće,

but O’Connor soon reveals the old woman to be

ali O'Konor uskoro razotkriva da je starica jednako prepredena

just as scheming as her unexpected guest–

kao i njen neočekivani gost,

and rattles the reader’s presumptions about who has the upper hand.

i izvrće čitaočeve pretpostavke o tome ko ima premoć.

For O’Connor, no subject was off limits.

Za O'Konor nijedna tema nije bila van domašaja.

Though she was a devout Catholic,

Iako je bila predana katolkinja,

she wasn’t afraid to explore the possibility

nije se plašila da istražuje mogućnost

of pious thought and unpious behavior

da pobožno razmišljanje i nepobožno ponašanje

co-existing in the same person.

koegzistiraju u istoj osobi.

In her novel The Violent Bear it Away,

U njenom romanu „Nasilni pobeđuju“,

the main character grapples with the choice to become a man of God –

glavni lik je rastrzan izborom da postane božji čovek,

but also sets fires and commits murder.

ali i podmeće požare i vrši ubistva.

The book opens with the reluctant prophet in a particularly compromising position:

Knjiga počinje oklevajućim prorokom u izuzetno kompromitujućem položaju:

“Francis Marion Tarwater’s uncle had been dead for only half a day

„Ujak Frensisa Meriona Tarvotera je tek pola dana bio mrtav

when the boy got too drunk to finish digging his grave.”

kada se dečak toliko napio da nije mogao da dovrši kopanje groba.“

This leaves a passerby to “drag the body from the breakfast table

Zbog toga je povereno prolazniku „da odvuče telo sa stola za doručkovanje

where it was still sitting and bury it […]

na kom je i dalje stajalo, i da ga zakopa [...]

with enough dirt on top to keep the dogs from digging it up.”

sa dovoljno zemlje odozgo kako ga psi ne bi otkopali.“

Though her own politics are still debated,

Iako se o njenim političkim stavovima i dalje raspravlja,

O’Connor’s fiction could also be attuned to the racism of the South.

O'Konorina fikcija bi takođe mogla da bude u skladu sa južnjačkim rasizmom.

In “Everything that Rises Must Converge,”

U „Sve što raste mora se sastati“,

she depicts a son raging at his mother’s bigotry.

prikazuje sina koji besni zbog majčine netrpeljivosti.

But the story reveals that he has his own blind spots

Međutim, priča otkriva da i on ima sopstvene zablude

and suggests that simply recognizing evil

i nagoveštava kako puko prepoznavanje zla

doesn’t exempt his character from scrutiny.

ne oslobađa njegov karakter preispitivanja.

Even as O’Connor probes the most unsavory aspects of humanity,

Čak i dok O'Konor ispituje najneprijatnije aspekte ljudskosti,

she leaves the door to redemption open a crack.

ostavlja otvorena vrata za iskupljenje.

In “A Good Man is Hard to Find,”

U priči „Dobrog čoveka je teško naći“,

she redeems an insufferable grandmother for forgiving a hardened criminal,

iskupljuje nepodnošljivu baku zato što oprašta okorelom kriminalcu,

even as he closes in on her family.

čak i kad se ustremi na njenu porodicu.

Though we might balk at the price the woman pays for this redemption,

Iako možemo da negodujemo zbog cene koju žena plaća za ovo iskupljenje,

we’re forced to confront the nuance in moments

prinuđeni smo da se suočimo sa iznijansiranošću trenutaka

we might otherwise consider purely violent or evil.

koje bismo inače posmatrali krajnje nasilnim ili zlim.

O’Connor’s mastery of the grotesque

O'Konorino vladanje groteskom

and her explorations of the insularity and superstition of the South

i njena istraživanja uskogrudosti i sujeverja Juga

led her to be classified as a Southern Gothic writer.

svrstali su je u pisce južnjačke gotike.

But her work pushed beyond the purely ridiculous

Međutim, njena dela su prevazilazila puki apsurd

and frightening characteristics associated with the genre

i zastrašujuće karakteristike u vezi s tim žanrom

to reveal the variety and nuance of human character.

kako bi razotkrila raznolikost i iznijansiranost ljudskog karaktera.

She knew some of this variety was uncomfortable,

Znala je da je ponešto od ove raznolikosti neprijatno

and that her stories could be an acquired taste –

i da njene priče nisu za svakoga,

but she took pleasure in challenging her readers.

ali je pronašla užitak u izazivanju čitalaca.

O’Connor died of lupus at the age of 39,

O'Konor je umrla od lupusa sa 39 godina,

after the disease had mostly confined her to her farm in Georgia for twelve years.

nakon što ju je bolest uglavnom vezala za farmu u Džordžiji tokom 12 godina.

During those years,

Tokom tih godina,

she penned much of her most imaginative work.

napisala je većinu svojih najmaštovitijih dela.

Her ability to flit between revulsion and revelation

Njena sposobnost poskakivanja između odvratnosti i otkrovenja

continues to draw readers to her endlessly surprising fictional worlds.

i dalje privlači čitaoce njenim beskrajno iznenađujućim fiktivnim svetovima.

As her character Tom Shiftlet notes,

Kako njen lik Tom Šiftlet primećuje,

the body is “like a house:

telo je „kao kuća:

it don’t go anywhere,

ne ide nikuda,

but the spirit, lady, is like an automobile:

ali je duh, gospođo, kao automobil:

always on the move.”

stalno u pokretu.“