SOURCE: "The Work of Ivo Andrić," in The Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. XLI, No. 97, June, 1963, pp. 301-26.

In the following essay, Goy explores autobiographical aspects of Andric's work and traces his development as an author.

I

Relatively little has been written about Ivo Andrić's life, but such facts as are generally known are perhaps relevant to an understanding of his works. The date of his birth (10 October 1892) and the place where he spent his childhood give some suggestion of the experiences which led to many of his later ideas and of the factors that have made Bosnia so central to his stories and novels.

Andrić was born in Travnik in Bosnia where his mother was temporarily living. His parents' home was in Sarajevo where his father worked as an artisan and where Andrić lived until his second year when his father died and he went...