SOURCE: "A Critical Literary Approach to Miroslav Krleza's The Return of Filip Latinovicz," in Journal of Croatian Studies, Vol. XIV-XV, 1973–74, pp. 134-44.

In the essay below, Ferguson assesses the meaning of The Return of Filip Latinovicz, distinguishing between Krleza's viewpoint and Filip's to suggest the novel's tragic intent.

The most noticeable feature of criticism of Miroslav Krleza's novel The Return of Filip Latinovicz is the divergence of opinion as to "what the novel is about." Potential difference of opinion appears all the more remarkable when it is considered how little surrounds other Croatian novels regarding "what they are about." Should this novel be read as a treatment of man's search for identity in society or his attempt to flee from society and himself; as a political statement by Krleza about the shallowness of bourgeois society; as a dramatic presentation of a discussion upon the importance of beauty and...