Biography Essay

The literary opus of Borisav ("Bora") Stankovic is not large. It includes one finished novel, Necista krv (Tainted Blood, 1910; translated as Sophka, 1932), and two unfinished ones, Gazda Mladen (Master Mladen, 1928) and Pevci (Singers, 1928), collected in Dela Borisava Stankovica (The Works of Borisav Stankovic, 1928-1930); about forty short stories; and two plays, Kostana (produced 1900, 1901; published 1902; translated 1984) and Tasana (produced 1927; published 1928 in Dela Borisava Stankovica). The short stories range from very short ones, such as the character sketches in the collection Bozji ljudi (God's Children, 1902), to several long ones, such as "Uvela ruza" (A Wilted Rose), "Jovca," and Pokojnikova zena (1907; translated as "The Dead Man's Wife," 1966) that could be classified as novellas. Stankovic wrote his best works between 1898 and 1910. All of them are set in Vranje, his native town, located in southern Serbia. They deal with life in Vranje in the decades that followed the 1878 liberation of southern...