Political and literary controversies on the Yugoslav literary left, known as
Sukob na ljevici (Conflict on the left), remain famous for their culmination points,
such as Miroslav Krlezˇa’s book of essays Moj obracˇun s njima (My reckoning with
them, 1932), his ‘‘Predgovor Podravskim motivima Krste Hegedusˇic´a’’ (The foreword
to the Podravina motives by Krsto Hegedusˇic´, 1933), Bogomir Hermann’s
(alias A.B.C.) subsequent invective ‘‘Quo vadis, Krlezˇa?’’ (1933), Krlezˇa’s later
‘‘Dijalekticˇki antibarbarus’’ (Dialectical antibarbarous, 1939), and the one-issue
journal Knjizˇevne sveske (Literary volumes, 1940). As the historiographic memory
of these controversies is mainly concentrated on the authoritative personality of
Krlezˇa himself, the arguments of his opponents are mostly remembered as arguments
of ‘the others’ and are granted only marginal validity. This article gives an
account of the debates of the Conflict’s first stage (1928–1934), which were manifold
and profound, and which foreshadowed the literary and ideological positions
of the Conflict’s later, culminating stages. By taking into account the dynamic and
complex international context that serves as a backdrop to the Conflict, this paper
explores the developments in the Yugoslav ‘counterpublic’ literary sphere, especially
with a view to discussions, debates, and polemics over the emerging social
literature. Particular attention goes to the group of authors gathered around Socijalna
Misao, Zagreb’s sociological and cultural journal edited by Bozˇidar Adzˇija.
As this journal’s most productive authors were derogated as ‘social literature
swindlers,’ which affected their marginal position in the cultural historiography of
this period, the aim of this article is to offer a proper analysis of their particular
position on the literary and political left.

EB00000003004K

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• Social literature swindlers’: the r/evolutionary controversy in interwar Yugoslav literature