Literature Forum

So little attention modern science in Montenegro gives to the problem of our oldest literature. Actually, we never know or exploit those boundaries. Our goal is to be objective and study the facts about the earliest form of literature in ancient province of Praevalitana, today Montenegro. Modern Montenegrin historiography attaches the beginning of literature for the novel of Andreacci from year 809 AD. That means that in one great period of time, more than half of millennium, we have no traces of written word in this area. For same period of time, we attach the foundation of antic town of Doclea, Roman government, creation of Praevalitana province, but also and start of Christianity, lack of traces of written words, seems impossible. Remains of material culture from the period of late antiquity, tell us about very developed culture, so our opinion is that we can say the same thing for literature.

This paper aims to critically comment on two adaptations of literary works by the internationally recognized Greek author, Alki Zei, in graphic novels. The works under discussion are Peter’s Great Walk and Wildcat Under Glass. At first and as a prerequisite for understanding the proposed approach, the role of storytelling in today’s media-dependent world is discussed. This is followed by a brief reference to the relationship of literature to the graphic novel genre, and to the notion of cognitive complexity as central to the “literariness” of a graphic adaptation. The interpretative toolkit to be used for the analysis of the texts is then delivered and the works under consideration are briefly presented. In the main part of the analysis, more criteria of graphic novels’ literariness are introduced. A key criterion of the self-contained literary quality of the adaptations is graphitization, as it fruitfully intersects and cross-fertilizes the visual style with the heroes’ characterization and the prevailing mood of the story. “Iconic solidarity” and focalization are used in the same direction. Graphic counterparts of literary expressions or Figurative language are also sought and the “authentication” index of adaptations is examined as an indication of the intended readership. In conclusion, it is perceived that both adaptations, although staying true to their sources, meet the conditions of a genre-specific literariness, but also differ in the degree of cognitive complexity, to the point of addressing different reading audiences.