Page 103 - Ekonomija i Biznis_septemvri 2016.indd

LITERATURE
with an excessive positivity he displays
the other characters, the president of the
Republic, the famous French intellectu-
als, politicians and goatherds, however
he doesn’t stop to wonder why he is the
person they dedicate so much attention
to, why he was invited to almost save the
world, that is, the European future of
Macedonia and the Macedonian future of
the European goats.
After he sets such meta-literary frame
of the novel, Starova continues the nar-
rative as a kind of political autobiography cal nonsense, the Balkan failed cohabita-
whereby the literary layer leaves room to
the political-diplomatic layer. Not deviat- ture politicians due to which the project
ing from the ironic approach, he provides
many details (a more extensive study re-
mains in order to analyze the historical
against the fictional elements) about the
political destiny of Macedonia, the un-
certainty of its international recognition
and the improvement of the diplomatic
relations and political friendships at Eu-
ropean level.
Following the rules of the genre sotie,
the narrator continues to pretend that he
is dull and he cannot understand why, on
the basis of his novel, an individual eco-
nomic project is initiated – the renewal
of goat breeding in Macedonia and devel-
opment of the goat industry – through
which the key issue about the survival of
the country should be violated, as well as
its European relevance and its acceptance
within the circle of the European people.
Of course, beyond the genre, the book
can also be read as a small case study in
the field of diplomacy, particularly about
the power of cultural diplomacy and the
role of culture in socioeconomic develop-
ment, issues which are in the center of
the current trends in culturology and cul-
tural politics.
Smart or eco capitalism?
In its culmination, the novel manages
to capture the two main trends of the
modern global economy. Through the
characters of the two French goatherds,
the charismatic Andre Dekoster and Jean
Domecq, Luan Starova skillfully displays
the current viewpoints of world capital-
ism. On one hand is the new age trend
of the radical green, environmental,
humane and fair, altercapitalistic eco-
nomic policies represented by the robust
Domecq. And on the other hand are the
globally networked, perfectly developed
capacities of the modern industrial pro-
duction.
The end of the novel of Luan Starova
is placed as a political grotesque. He re-
jects the rich ironic metaphors of the
sotie and cruelly, with a huge critical
charge, he shakes the Macedonian politi-
tion, the shortsightedness of the imma-
for renewal of the goat industry and the
strong diplomatic mission ends in the
middle of the unintelligent, greedy, igno-
rant, transition mobsters changed in the
clothes of mellifluous businessmen. The
selected herd of goats, before the eyes of
the desperate French experts and power-
less diplomats is sold around, although it
is a donation, without anyone knowing
its trace.
The openness of the metaphoric end
in the first novel, The Time of the Goats,
which announces the return of the goats
and which self-poetically entangles in
the beginning of the novel continua-
tion, is completely closed by the author
with great intellectual resignation – the
goats do not have a future in transition
Macedonia. The country gambles with
its historical chance. The cruelty of the
Stalinist system is replaced by the cynical
cruelty of the transition corruption.
The stylish approach “I laugh when I
feel like crying” and “It would have been
funny if it was not sad” makes the work
readable. However, Luan Starova indi-
cates strong intellectual criticism. With
this novel the silent and joyful writer an-
swers to everyone who are asking about
the silence of the Macedonian intellec-
tuals. The ignorance that this book en-
countered, transfers it in the hands of
the immediate and the wider public. Do
we read something at all, are we working
on improvement of our own spirituality,
can we accept something more than the
daily political comments and Facebok sta-
tuses?
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