The Bridge on the Drina

1. The Bridge on the Drina Na DriniĆuprija By IvoAndrić

2. Višegrad,Bosnia-Herzegovina

3. Historical-Political Background • Ottoman occupation of Bosnian territory • Child tribute • Great floods of late 17th Century • Serbian Revolt of early 1870s • Austro-Hungarian occupation • Period of modernization • New people groups • Change in the place of women • Freer movement of Serbs and Jews • Bosnian annexation from Austria-Hungary • The Balkan Wars and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

4. General Background • Novel of historical-fiction • First published in 1945 in Belgrade, Yugoslava • Translated and published in English in 1959 • 1961 winner of he Nobel Prize in Literature • IvoAndrić • Catholic, Croatian born in Travnik, Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1892 • Raised by his mother’s family in Višegrad • Active in the youth nationalist movement prior to World War I

5. Bridge on the River Drina

6. The Bridge • Constructed 1566 – 1571 • Built by Grand VezirMehmed Pasha Sokolli from Sokolovići – a Christian Serb that became a Muslim • Merged East and West • Symbolized identity of Višegrad • Destroyed 1914

7. Themes Overarching concepts • Identity • Violence • Alterity Specific Elements • Ethnicity • Religion • Language • Nationalism

8. Identity The bridge • Unchanging and undefeatable aspect of Višegrad life • Eternal • Link between east and west; and self and the other • Marker of divide between people groups • Ceding of Bosnia to Austria-Hungary by the Ottomans • Turkish warning to Bosnians that their time will come • Place of violence – impaling, beheading, and mounting of heads • Paralysis of bridge as link between east and west • Destruction of bridge equated to abandonment by God

9. Identity Change under Austro-Hungarian rule • Old vs. new as parallel of self vs. other • Han becomes barracks – connection to building of bridge and Mahmed Pasha Sokolli • Freer movement of Serbs, Jews, and women • Culture and identity remain on the kapia– traditions hold in the midst of change – Turkish times forgotten, but customs and dress remained • Merging with the other – change of identity through customs and dress • Bridge seen as invulnerable in the midst of change

10. Violence

11. Violence towards ‘the other’ Threat of violence Impaling • Torture of ‘the other’ by ‘the other’ • Merdjan the Gipsy • RadislavHeraci of Unište • Radislav as martyr Beheading • Decapitation of Serbs • Displaying of heads on the kapia Banditry Hanging and Prosecution of the Serbs

12. Alterity The Rulers The ruled • Ottoman Turk – Muslim • Austro-Hungarian Visitors -- 135 • Ethnic groups • Czechs • Poles • Croats • Hungarians • Austrians • Religion – Catholicism • Language -- German • Bosnian-Serb • Orthodox Christian • Nationalist movement • Jew • Sephardi – Spain • Ashkenazi – Galicia • Language – Judeo-Spanish • Gipsy – ‘godless’ (56)

13. Characters of Note • Mehmed Pasha Sokolli – Serb/Turk • Abidaga – Turk • AlihodjaMutevelic -- Turk • Opposed to violence • Unchanged through periods of violence, peace, and change • Living through suffering, dead, waiting to be buried • Pop Nikola – Serb • Respect without distinction of faith • “as close as a priest and a hodja” (129) • Relationship with Mula Ibrahim • Lotte – Jew

14. The End