The Mountain Wreath as the Subtext of Mojkovac Battle by Ćamil Sijarić

Abstract

Ćamil Sijarić’s novel is ending with Mojkovac battle, as the decisive battle of the Sandzak army in the First World War, since everything, previously narrated is leading towards it. Facts about the results of the battle, after soldiers’ going to the battlefield and a picture of their return are displayed to a reader, instead of strategy, tactics and microanalysis of the battle. Thus, the author is focused on the meaning of Mojkovac battle and its contextualization, not only within the First World War, but also in the context of the prior Serbian history. On the one hand, novel’s lyrical moments permanently strive to shape a legend, and, on the other, description of Lim, the watch-tower, a hero’s cap and the flag are getting historical perspective. Enlightening the tragedy of such a choice (battle instead of capitulation) and motivation of the choice, as well as prehistory of his heroes, Sijaric made an exquisite picture of Sandzak’s collective in which we recognize an ethical dimension of Kosovo’s archetype and The Mountain Wreath. Njegos depicted the killing of converts to Islam in the context of Kosovo’s oath, as Sijaric presented Mojkovac battle considering Kosovo, killing of converts to Islam, Ottoman’s time and migration of Serbs. Scholars did not elaborate the thesis that Njegos’s epic and Kosovo’s archetype are the subtext of Mojkovac battle, although the meaning of battle which Sijaric’s novel enquired should be read just in that key, which is, at the same time, testimony about Sijaric’s humanistic reading of The Mountain Wreath and about spontaneously realized influences in the system of values existing within the same culture.
Implicit dialogues between Mojkovac battle and The Mountain Wreath is seen in the concrete motives, in the manner of presentation of the historical event and, above everything, through the values which novel affirms. These facts, as we shall present, contribute to perceiving the battle in the First World War in the tradition of permanent fights for the freedom which were led on the Serbian territory until that moment.