Atdtda30: His slight victory over time, 842-844

[Paul Nightingale]

The previous section began with the transformation of Pljevlje, Cyprian and
Danilo "get[ting] their bearings" as they attempt to synchronise with
history (841). Here they arrive after the event, "[Salonika] still
reverberating ... from the events of the preceding spring and summer" (842).
In Pljevlje, Danilo thought of Salonika and home (841); here, they find they
are still playing catch-up with history, the "struck gong" an absent
presence (842). The Austrian "dream" of hegemony is countered by that of
"the chaste young revolutionaries of Turkey who had already set about
re-imagining the place" (843). Cf. the "notional railway not yet built", top
of 842. Intention before reality. Cf. the "anthems not of defined homelands
but of release into lifelong exile" down the page on 843: another absent
presence.

Earlier, in Pljevlje, Danilo observed: "Until now it has not felt like
exile" (841). One is always 'here', with 'here' and 'there' shaped as
fictional constructs: cf. the pre-release blurb. And note the role of
Cyprian in these pages: ostensibly the protagonist (with Danilo and,
earlier, Bevis as accomplices), he has been sidelined, or perhaps exiled. So
we might also note the insertion of "Cyprian heard ..." in the sentence that
juxtaposes "defined homelands" to "lifelong exile" (843). And later: "...
Cyprian was aware by way of Danilo". And then, listening to Vesna's song:
"... it took him all of eight bars to understand that this was his own
voice" etc (844). After a noisy section the final paragraph invokes silence,
the narrative returning to Cyprian in exile.