Prosaic as Poetic

Matko Peić presented his travels through Egypt, Israel, China, India, Japan, the Philippines, most of Europe and whole Croatia in several travelogues – Skitnje (Strolls, 1965), Jesen u Poljskoj (Autumn Poland, 1969), Crno zlato (Black Gold, 1974), Ljubav na putu. Od Drave do Jadrana (Love on Road. From Drava to Adriatic, 1984) Evropske skitnje (European Strolls, 1985) which earned him status one best Croatian stylists. Peić’s travelogue style is characterised by a refined synthesis empiricism, emotion expression, with he layers seemingly prosaic reality life. In poetic approach latter, three dominant stylistic features can be identified: a) so-called masculine writing, use augmentatives, recording brutal actions, vigour eroticism style, sexualised metaphors, parallelism instinctive impulses animal world intense erotic human pleasures, blend aggressiveness, irony, directness expression undisputed tone; b) poetics descriptive, expressed concise picturesqueness picturesque lapidary synesthetic evocations, musical painterly weft texts baroque-rococo characteristics writing; c) perceptive focus, i.e., ability present naturalistically faithful manner certain life revealed characteristic details at same time perceive it its totality, as well discover everything observed possible deeper, potentially symbolic meaning objects, beings, animals phenomena.