As a full professor at the University of Montenegro, Slavica Perović’s fields of scientific interest include linguistics, cognitive linguistics, morphology, syntax, discourse analysis, etc. A member of the Language Board of the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts (CANU), she is the author of three novels: Life Lift, which was shortlisted for a NIN Award; Concrete Blues, which has been translated into English and is in the process of being published by a renowned American publisher; and last year’s New Nora. She deals with translations of poetry and dramatic works, essay writing and literary criticism
Slavica Perović is a member of Montenegro’s intellectual elite, but she was educated in Belgrade, at the University of California, Berkeley, in London and elsewhere. She lectured doctoral studies students of the University of Bologna’s Faculty of Philology and Foreign Languages. She has presented at conferences worldwide and given guest lectures, while she is today a full professor at Union University in Belgrade and Novi Sad.
Originally from the Bay of Kotor, she says that, to her, her native Boka has always been, and remains, magical, inspiring and beautiful. It was because of the bay that she grew to become a person who must have the sea on the horizon, mountains and scents of nature:
The aroma of the Mediterranean is unique. It’s not so much a geographical elevation as much as it’s a genetic record that, in me, can be read on the scent of plants, certain dishes, when I smell the south wind in the bay or fall asleep on bed linen that dried in the sun. I’ve had the experience of finding myself in various countries of the Mediterranean during the summer, walking, looking around and stepping on oregano, rubbing rosemary or lavender in my hands, which transports me back to the garden of my grandmother, who grew flowers, or to my grandmother’s kitchen, which always had those vineyard peaches on the table that smell like a soul and, for me, possess magical power. The natives of the Bay of Kotor, Bokelji, are affable, cultured people, while Bokeljke are refined, elegant women. Boka is also a series of small towns that are similar in many ways, but also different.
“I would today refer to my first childhood memory as a memory of freedom, the possibility of unlimited play outside with my sisters and friends, skinning my knee and my mother washing it with rakija, kissing it and saying, ‘come on’, nothing bad will happen to you”: “‘Come on, nothing will happen to you’ was a verification of faith, a mornguarantee of quality and a word that caused you to fly when uttered by your mother. I don’t know what that phrase would be today; I don’t know if unquestionable beliefs exist, but mine brought me peace, and sometimes even happiness. ‘Mom, I fell in love’. ‘Come on, you’ll be okay. It happens to everyone’. ‘Mum, I hit the car’. ‘Come on, it’s minor, nothing bad will happen to it. And she would add the term of endearment kućo moja, literally “my house”. When your mother sends you out into the world and says, ‘come on, kućo moja, good luck,’ with those words you take with you the sea, the city, your mother, all your relatives and your house. And when you circumnavigate the world and return, you have your own people, house, sea, and your mother’s grave, because you have that sentence: good words are always a home.”
A woman’s designing of her own life is given to her and conditioned by her biology, her female being and female roles
Mother Ljubica and father Mirko raised their three daughters Slavica (the eldest), Nevenka and Branka, and did so with three words and plenty of love. The words were of the old Austrian ethic: work, order and discipline, while love knew no nationality had no citizenship and was inexhaustible. Her father was a strict pillar of support for the family, but also a gentle Boka native, while her mother was a phenomenal mum to three little girls, young teens and grown women. She was always there when needed.
“As the eldest child, I remember that I had to master everything first, as parents and parenting are practiced on the first child. I only realised that later, when I thoughtfully studied the psychological explanations of the order of birth. My story is that of the first-born. My sisters are self-realised people, each with their own profession, career and life choices. One has long been a Belgrader, while the other spent her working life in Switzerland. Both are creative and distinctive individuals. We are more complementary than we are similar, but any pronounced difference dissolves on a summer’s day, when we drink coffee in the shade of the terrace of our house in Tivat and look down on the Bay of Tivat from above. That is priceless.”
Her family today consists of her daughter Jelena and son Nikola, daughter- in-law Ivana and twin grandchildren Andrija and Una. “When I’m with either of them, I call them Dušan and Dušanka [in reference to the soul], and refer to them in a million other ways. They respond to each name, because all those names represent a string attached at the end to my heart. They are aware of that. Una and Andrija are almost ten now and I try to cherish as many moments with them as possible with them.”
As a redundant gymnasium school student, she travelled on the ship Durmitorac (from Tivat to Kotor) where one could study, write homework, daydream on the bow and fall in love. She had to get up at 6am everyhas long been a Belgrader, while the other spent her working life in Switzerland. Both are creative and distinctive individuals. We are more complementary than we are similar, but any pronounced difference dissolves on a summer’s day, when we drink coffee in the shade of the terrace of our house in Tivat and look down on the Bay of Tivat from above. That is priceless.” Her family today consists of her daughter Jelena and son Nikola, daughter- in-law Ivana and twin grandchildren Andrija and Una. “When I’m with either of them, I call them Dušan and Dušanka [in reference to the soul], and refer to them in a million other ways. They respond to each name, because all those names represent a string attached at the end to my heart. They are aware of that. Una and Andrija are almost ten now and I try to cherish as many moments with them as possible with them.” As a redundant gymnasium school student, she travelled on the ship Durmitorac (from Tivat to Kotor) where one could study, write homework, daydream on the bow and fall in love. She had to get up at 6am every mornguaranteeing, but that was also part of a disciplined routine.
Even if you don’t deal with politics, it deals with you in every aspect of your life
“My parents were never called into school because of my grades. The book came as a natural solution to me. After all, it’s best to have a book when it rains in a small coastal town. That was my path in life. It wasn’t good or better, rather just life. Writing scientific papers was an obligation, while writing fiction was an internal requirement for me. Learn at prestigious schools and head out into the world, which can be achieved by ship, plane, on foot, whatever. Just go. The return is inscribed in the departures.”
She’d wanted to become a teacher when she was a little girl, but she became a university professor. She was supported on that journey by her parents, and by that bygone era that required educated people, that time of ideals. If she hadn’t become a linguist and a writer, she might have been a doctor, which was the desire of one of her grandfathers. Perhaps that’s why the heroine of her novel New Nora is a heart surgeon who has the power to heal and help children.
Her studies in Belgrade marked one of the biggest transitions in her life. She learned studiously, socialised and familiarised herself with the cultural and public life of Belgrade.
“I regularly showed my parents my academic index with the undisguised pride of a swot who passes all exams on time. Such were the times. On the one side, I was an orderly daughter, while on the flip side I was a rebellious student watching the play Hair at Atelier 212. And all the other shows alongside Hair. I recall the Faculty of Philology as having excellent professors and great lectures, and for the intellectual elite that formed there. Many of my classmates became outstanding professors, translators and professionals in various fields all over the world. I remember the wonderful lecturers who brought new ideas and theories from the world’s best universities and conveyed them with gusto. I will mention the recently departed Professor Ranko Bugarski, because he was a role model for all of us and because I spoke about him during the recent commemoration at the Faculty of Philology. We had English teachers who trained us to speak without accent. That was important back then. I remember tenderness, I remember enthusiasm, I remember love. Studying in Belgrade was a privilege. I grew wings from that privilege.”
Through her rich and extremely significant research work, she succeeded in using abstract theories to explain tangible phenomena in the use of language, whether in English or the mother tongue.
“Two new and powerful theories from the field of linguistics – discourse analysis and pragmatics – helped me investigate the phenomena of direct and indirect questions in communication, to explain the category of politeness, especially apologies and the cultural script by which they are conditioned. I dealt with the category of gender and participated very actively in discussions on gender-sensitive language. I analysed the language of the media through critical discourse analysis and highlighted the importance of media literacy. As the theory of cognitive linguistics gained momentum, so I began exploring the extremely interesting link between language and the brain through conceptualisation that relies greatly on our bodily experience. It was there that I developed a great interest in metaphors and metonymies, and one of my books on metaphors has been published by CANU. Given that the structure of language plays a vital role in literature, it was a great challenge for me to venture into research in cognitive stylistics, i.e. cognitive poetics. Moreover, the most important thing for me is that I was able to provide a scientific contribution to linguistics and to publish works worldwide, after which I was able to convey that to my students and to utilise my expert knowledge to help address current issues in my country, with solutions that should be incorporated into law.”
The aroma of the Mediterranean is unique. It’s not so much a geographical elevation as much as it’s a genetic record
The joy of work is among the most precious accomplishments of her university professorship, alongside contact with the wonderful young people called students. Her rich CV includes a doctoral thesis done at the Senate House in London, an international visitor programme at universities in the United States of America, a Fulbright scholarship at the University of California, Berkeley, lecturing in doctoral studies at the University of Bologna’s Faculty of Philology, conferences, congresses, scholarships, specialisations, guest lectures all over the world… She travelled the world in pursuit of science, meeting people and forging contacts. That meant an awful lot of work in very competitive surroundings, a great sacrifice that can only be achieved through a willingness to work hard and love what you do. That was something she obviously had.
Her scientific focus also encompasses language and media. She says that it would be good for the media to stick to prescribed language standards and for professionalism to prevail. In other words, for sensationalism not to be the main fuel of the media.
“The media’s job is to inform, but there is a lot of manipulation in that process. One type of manipulation is the use of populist or colloquial speech to bring an article closer to the readership and to ‘sell’ them the political, ideological, legal, and whatever other story that media is interested in. That is a complex job and the language layer is the the first one that the readers react on. The second is the graphic layer, which is also very powerful and seductive. Imitating politicians and popular figures is the general method of the tabloids and the yellow press. Their basic principle isn’t a linguistic standard, rather their hooks prey on the imperfection of the human being. It’s a tango danced by the media and readers, and the dance floor is the time and circumstances in which the dance unfolds. That dance always spirals down and lower. You never know who will drag themselves lower – the tabloid, in its biased articles, or the readers in their comments on web portals. The direction of that spiral could be reversed easily, if one wanted to do so. The only question is whether that would also be profitable.”
As the eldest child, I remember that I had to master everything first, as parents and parenting are practiced on the first child
Slavica’s novels have attracted lots of attention among the public and critics alike. The latest one, New Nora, has rated very highly by both critics and readers. Its title refers to the Nora of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. When asked why she chose that title and whether she had it in mind before she started writing or if it came to her when she’d completed it, she explains that the title only came at the end. And that it must be a short story, which isn’t at all easy.
“Ibsen’s Nora is a metaphor for a woman who has rebelled. New Nora is about a woman for whom all rebellions were carried out in her name; she is the successor to a great emancipatory achievement of a long life and change. However, that’s not the end of the story – either the story of emancipation or the story of the universal human need to conceive one’s own life. A woman’s designing of her own life is given to her and conditioned by her biology, her female being and female roles. The difference lies in the fact that Ibsen’s Nora was compelled to play those roles, while the modern woman has a choice – may choose to play them — or not. But the number of roles has remained more or less the same. Want to have a career, here you go. Want to be a mother, who’s stopping you? Want to be a wife and spouse – be one. Want to be a good daughter – it’s a given that you can be. Do you want all of that? Or just your own combination? And how sustainable is your combination in the existing system of values and hard-won freedoms? Choices must be made and goals must be set. Those are turning points and decisions that form the foundations on which we choose and around which we devise our life, both publicly and privately. New Nora explores these questions — and more. It addresses love. None of these choices are good without love.”
Does the life of women in Montenegro today differ markedly from the life of women in other parts of Europe? Was that the case during the years when Slavica resided abroad? How, both as a woman and a scientist, did she compare her country of origin with the countries she’s experienced?
“I’ve always compared. Sometimes that comparison has been to the detriment of my country, and sometimes it has been to its advantage. It seemed to me that the economic element could solve the issue – if we were richer and better developed, that would be the end of the problem. However, it wasn’t only that, as many parallel democratic and emancipatory processes, as well as processes of shifting consciousness, had to take place. And they did take place, but it took too long. Women in today’s Montenegro are aware of their power. They are emancipated and self-aware, and they have built their voice. I also believe that I personally contributed to that.
“Today, there are many young women in whom I see hope for Montenegro’s progress. They have responsible jobs and do them well. I want to see as many women as possible in politics, in leadership positions and in the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts… Many decades ago, when I went primarily to the UK and the U.S. for various specialist studies, I went there to learn from those who are better and more developed. I no longer think that they’re much better in everything, despite being more developed. Relationships, family cohesion, friendships, the certainty that someone’s there to help you when you need it – these are all very important for the health of a society. There are also health institutions, social and pension services that are not equally accessible to everyone in many parts of the developed world. They are made for the rich. These aren’t the best solutions. I hope that Montenegro, as the 28th member of the European Union, will represent a good blend of its best values, on the one hand, and proven achievements of developed societies and stable states on the other, to the benefit of everyone, including women, of course.”
She never engaged in politics because she didn’t want to be tied to a party, though she did have clear political affiliations and has participated in all elections.
“Even if you don’t deal with politics, it deals with you in every aspect of your life. I felt particularly powerless when, as dean, I advocated in favour of the Faculty of Philology in Montenegro to be established in Podgorica, for which my team and I gave a convincing and comprehensive argument. That faculty was nonetheless established in Nikšić, because the politics of the time overpowered the science of the time, thus depriving philological science of all the advantages of development offered by the capital city of Podgorica. I’ve felt politics in other ways too. It’s simply impossible not to feel it. We all feel it.”
Photo: Vesela Mišković