IVO ANDRIC AND THE
CONTRADICTIONS OF
HUMAN NATURE

BETWEEN DARKNESS AND LIGHT
• Ivo Andric is one of the greatest Serbian and Yugoslavian writers who, through his
literature, touched on topics that are universal to human existence.
• Through his works, Andric dealt with the duality of the human soul and the struggle
between darkness and light, between dark forces that cause pain not only to others,
but also to oneself, and the light and glimmer of hope in anthropological pessimism
and the omnipresent darkness of the human soul.

WORLD WHERE EVERYTHING SEEMS
PREDETERMINED
• Andric’s literature is full of symbolism that points to the tragic fate of human
existence.
• His novels, such as “The Bridge on the Drina”, “The Chronicles of Travnik”, “Miss”,
“The Damned Yard”, “Omer pasha Latas”, his stories, among which “The Bridge on
Zepa”, “Anika’s time” and “The Way of Alija Djerzelez”, as well as his poems, essays
and other literary works – tell of people who are trapped in their own limitations
and yearn for something better and different, but are doomed to live in a world
where everything seems predetermined and where change is impossible.

EXISTENTIAL SUFFERING
• This condemnation to existential suffering and pain that sometimes tears us apart is
a theme that Andric constantly explores and is reflected in all of his works.

TRAGIC FATE AND DESIRES
• In Andric’s works, man confronts his inevitable tragic fate and the unattainability of
his desires and wishes, which often leads to false hopes and soul-tearing.
• However, Andric points to man as an irreplaceable individual who strives for
something better, different, and even perfect.
• Although human suffering is inevitable, Andric emphasizes that man should fight
against evil, primarily in human nature, and that art and literature have their role in
that.

PEACE AND ILLUSION
• Andric is a witness to the tragic human existence that constantly repeats itself in all
times and at all levels of power.
• He points to man as a being that is in a struggle between darkness and light,
between the storms that tear apart and the peace that is visible from the outside,
but is only an illusion.
• Andric emphasizes that man’s fight against evil and suffering does not stop at the
end of the novel, but is a constant process that is reflected in all spheres of life.

PRESENTATION: MILAN STANKOVIC