Bojan Rajević: THE PLEASURE OF THINKING DIFFERENTLY

The very title of writer Jovan Zafirović’s literary debut heralds an author of extraordinary talent, whose aphorisms are certain to attract considerable attention in the years to come.

The phrase “Headfirst Through Shame” (the title of the book, Glavom kroz stid) reveals an author unwilling to conform to established expressions or conventional language. By making a subtle linguistic alteration to the familiar Serbian idiom “glavom kroz zid” (“headfirst into a wall”), Zafirović establishes a framework that defines both the thematic and stylistic scope of his aphoristic work. His intention is to examine and explain the phenomena that represent the shameful aspects of our society, whether political, social, or rooted in the mentality of the people of this region.

One such affliction is undoubtedly the fear and apprehension surrounding independent thought, particularly opinions that fall outside prescribed and socially acceptable boundaries. “An airplane needs a pilot, fuel, and good weather conditions to take to the skies. A person needs only a different opinion,” Jovan Zafirović writes in an aphorism which, had we not known it was written by this young aphorist, we might easily have attributed to Stanisław Jerzy Lec or Gabriel Laub.

This tells us not only that Zafirović is well acquainted with the international tradition of aphoristic writing and draws inspiration from it, but also that aphorists, regardless of their geographical origins or the times in which they write, confront the same fundamental questions concerning their craft.

Two questions are particularly important: how to think differently, and how to remain alive after expressing a dissenting opinion. After all, as Zafirović puts it, “I don't know how wise heads spoke, but I do know how they flew,” and “Those who speak the truth today will have people saying tomorrow what good people they were,” among other examples.

Zafirović’s book contains a significant number of aphorisms featuring such self-reflection and observations on the fate of those who refuse to think and speak in the only manner deemed permissible — the manner expected by the so-called centers of power.

We may therefore conclude that Zafirović has successfully found an answer to the first of the two fundamental questions raised in the preceding paragraph. This achievement was also recognized by the jury that awarded him the 2021 Vib Award as the best young aphorist.

I must say that, as a previous recipient of the Vib Award myself, I feel both proud and honored when an award I have received is presented to authors who write as Jovan Zafirović does. Today, he is already one of the most distinctive younger voices in satire within the Serbian-language literary world.

Zafirović writes in a way that seeks to challenge official opinion with every sentence. He questions everything, responds even when no one has addressed him, fights for his right to speak, and refuses to let his language become entangled in clichés. Quite the contrary: woe betide any cliché that crosses Zafirović’s path!

One such cliché is the belief that, thanks to prosperity at every level, we can all go to bed happy. Yet, in the very first aphorism of his book, Zafirović casts a beam of light across an entire social landscape in which the constantly proclaimed progress and prosperity are not enough to guarantee a happy night's sleep — medication is also required.

Happiness has become a phenomenon dependent on medicine and pharmaceuticals:

“Many of our citizens will fall asleep happy tonight. The others have run out of pills.”

The opening aphorism already suggests that the book will explore a society whose system of values has been distorted. The second aphorism removes any remaining doubt:

“You're better off lighting a cigarette than telling the truth. It's less harmful.”

Speaking the truth is perceived as an abnormality. The same applies to the expectation that one's right to work will be fulfilled:

“In our country, those who seek a psychiatric certificate fare better than those who seek an employment contract. They are considered less insane.”

Skepticism toward messages proclaiming universal progress and the superiority of modern society — messages we hear daily from centers of power both at home and around the world — is an essential characteristic of Zafirović’s aphorisms:

“Thanks to contemporary, modern society, progress can be seen in many fields around the world. Battlefields stand out in particular.”

By looking beneath the omnipresent slogans of progress, Zafirović discovers destruction. He compels the reader to recognize it as well, encouraging an instinct to question information received from those in power rather than accepting it at face value. This is one of the most significant contributions of Zafirović’s book.

State institutions are another familiar fixture of our social reality. Let us hear how the aphorist reflects on them:

“State institutions are like churches. Whenever I go there, I end up kissing the door.”

In this way, Zafirović ridicules the attempt of the profane to present itself as sacred. In doing so, he uses his opponent's own weapons against him, undermining him from within. He turns the indifference of state institutions toward the needs of citizens into a means of stripping those institutions of their supposed sanctity.

Aware that a skillfully crafted phrase is worth more than a poorly written book, the aphorist endeavors to use words with corresponding precision. He possesses a thorough understanding of their meanings and the different linguistic registers in which they appear, including, in this particular case, the meanings of the actions those words describe in different contexts.

Kissing a door has its place and meaning within a religious context, but the expression also carries meaning in everyday speech and colloquial slang. A masterful verbal dribbler operating in a confined space, as Zafirović undoubtedly is, needs both meanings produced by the phrase in order to combine them and achieve his desired effect.

By employing an expression associated with the religious sphere, he points to the desire of the profane to present itself as sacred. By simultaneously activating its colloquial meaning, he restores things to their natural order, reminding us that the only thing state institutions have in common with churches is the practice of kissing doors — albeit in very different senses.

This is, of course, not the only aphorism in which Zafirović suggests the intertwining of the sacred and the profane in our society. He does so again in the following aphorism:

“The Great Fast began two months ago. And it will last until I receive my salary.”

With this, he suggests that even religious customs in our time are not motivated exclusively by religious sentiments. Naturally, the aphorism also exposes the widespread hypocrisy that this literary genre is particularly effective at confronting.

Our aphorist delights in uncovering meanings concealed within metaphors that people who use language solely for practical purposes no longer even recognize as metaphors.

In this way, Zafirović succeeds in surprising us with something familiar, as in the aphorism:

“It is not true that no one will shed a tear for the leader. Prison is crying out for him.”

Another noticeable characteristic of the aphorist's style is his tendency to introduce an apparent negation alongside statements he ultimately wishes to affirm, thereby further emphasizing their truth. He delays the punchline, but never the pleasure of reading.

Like a skillful dribbler, Zafirović knows how to hide the ball from his opponent — and, indeed, from the audience as well. He achieves this by shifting it into an entirely different context until he finds the perfect space and moment to deliver it with maximum effect.

He accomplishes this in the following aphorisms:

“I didn't get the job because I have a problem with my spine. I find it difficult to bend.”

“Good health is achieved through physical activity, a regular and healthy diet, and good connections.”

Here, too, Jovan's linguistic hypersensitivity comes to the fore: his awareness of language, the meanings of words, and the contexts in which particular expressions may appear.

Sometimes, the humor in Zafirović’s aphorisms owes as much to visual imagery and imagination as it does to linguistic acrobatics, as in the following example:

“People formed a living hedge with their bodies, but still nobody gives a damn about them.”

Naturally, the author is never content with creating humor merely for its own sake. Through humor, he consistently strives to comment on society and reality as a whole.

In this writer's aphorisms, we also recognize an ability to explain universal and complex subjects in a simple, accessible manner, using the vocabulary of everyday language that everyone can understand.

The process works in both directions: complex problems are simplified through familiar, easily understood statements, while those same statements acquire greater complexity and semantic richness by being connected to profound themes, such as life itself:

“All beautiful things come to an end. Since life is eternal, it cannot be beautiful.”

This aphorism demonstrates how skillfully Zafirović finds a way to reconcile his religious sensibility with his humorous perception of the world.

By frequently writing and publishing his aphorisms, while carefully ensuring that everything he publishes is of high quality and artistic maturity, Jovan Zafirović has made his name recognizable on our aphoristic scene.

It is hardly surprising that, with a slight rearrangement of the letters in his surname, Zafirović can become Aforizvić — a playful variation evoking the Serbian word for aphorism.

Enjoy the reading!

Bojan Rajević is an aphorist and a doctoral candidate in the Language and Literature program at the University of Novi Sad.

PHOTO: Personal archive of Bojan Rajević / Edited by KOZA Publishing.