Sandro-syndrome. Context-based allegory in F. Iskander’s tour-de-force novel

Abstract

The objective of this study is to show the evolution of F. Iskander’s idea of the novel Sandro of Chegem [Sandro iz Chegema] over the thirty years it took to finish the book. Devised originally as a collection of ironic sketches about the patriarchal way of life in a mountain village and its legends and prejudices, the book proceeds to re-examine the described events, draw insightful conclusions and project them onto totalitarian society in general. Eventually, the narrative acquires an allegorical and prophetic quality. The article offers an insight into the writer’s creative process, citing his own words and excerpts from the novel to illustrate the author’s philosophical virtuosity. In view of the principal concept, the article draws attention to selected plotlines that underscore the novel’s leitmotif — a person’s yearning for the recovery of moral purity and ethical values, measured up with shame and innocence. The study argues that Iskander was preoccupied with the relationship between the human and the soul established for everyone in childhood. This issue is supported by the metaphor in the title of the novel’s last chapter, ‘Tree of Childhood.’