CONCRETE BLUES by Slavica Perović
CONCRETE BLUES
This is a novel which is not only a narrative told through the contrasting experiences of life in the Balkans, within a predominantly male sector of construction, it is an exacting exploration in linguistic form that plays with suggestive inter-textual connections, as well as a layered exploration of medieval and transitional semantics. The characters of Viktor and Marija, embody social constructs of sacrifice, and anonymity, of embedding and occasionally caustic feudal ritual of myth and antagonism of transition.
The language too revels in its implicit evocation of the brash, indifferent, the harsh and the delicate triviality that illuminates the social norm of invisibility accorded women, against which Marija retaliates. In its linguistic precision, the feminine gaze through Slavica Perović’s prose, so eloquently captured through Will Firth’s exceptional translation, the plot dissects through the socio-psychological chimera of arrogance and ‘affectionate deprivation’ from which echoes a refrain of melancholy, both lexical and stylistic in its depiction of a ‘soulful struggle to break through the indifference of the concrete jungle, in search of an architectural ideal and an inner world of beauty.
Slavica Perović
Professor Slavica Perović was born in Kotor, Montenegro. She is a full professor and a distinguished scholar in linguistics and English language studies. Throughout her academic career, she has been closely associated with the University of Montenegro, contributing significantly to the development of higher education and international academic cooperation. She held several prestigious international appointments, including as a Fulbright Scholar at UC Berkeley (2004–2005), where she conducted research, and later as a visiting professor at the University of Bologna (2015). Alongside more than 100 scientific papers published in national and international journals on language, discourse, and social practice, she is the author of several influential scholarly books, including Language in Action, Conceptual Metaphor of Culturally Related Phenomena, and Indirect Questions in Contrast.
In addition to her academic achievements, she is an acclaimed novelist and literary critic. Her three novels have received significant critical attention. Her debut, Life Lift, was shortlisted for the prestigious Balkan NIN Award, marking her as an important new voice in contemporary literature. This was followed by Concrete Blues and The New Nora, all praised for their stylistic precision, intellectual depth, and social insight. Through her combined work as a scholar and writer, she occupies a unique position at the intersection of academic inquiry and literary creativity
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