THE MAN'S FALL FROM THE SACRED TO THE CHTHONIC IN THE LATEST SHORT STORIES BY VENKO ANDONOVSKI

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis and interpretation of the essential narrative specifics in the latest (third) collection of short stories by Venko Andonovski, titled “Taming of the Bitch” and subtitled “Stories about Madness”, published in 2018 by the publishing house “Tri”. In the analysis and interpretation of the short stories we follow the moral decline of the modern man, but also of man in general, which is the dominant theme in this collection. This moral decline is demonstrated successively in the three narrative cycles (“Frescoes”, “Icons”, “Caricatures and Grotesques”), starting from the sacred (in the first two cycles of the collection) and through the profane to the chthonic (in the third cycle of short stories). In the conclusion of the paper, it is emphasized that the primary message in the collection of short stories “Taming of the Bitch” by Venko Andonovski - which is a narrative presentation of all forms of madness whose negative reflections result in moral decline and dehumanization of man - is demonstrated very skillfully both through the form and through the content of the short stories.

Keywords: Venko Andonovski; short stories; man’s moral decline; madness; frescoes; icons; grotesques.