Novel
Na klancu
Not translated into English
Ivan Cankar · 1902
Synopsis
Francka, fourteen, runs behind the cart of pilgrims going up to a religious festival; each time she catches up with it, the coachman whips the horses, to the amusement of the passengers, and she falls, gets up, sets off again. Born in the poor quarter bordering a prosperous market town, she grows up, and the man who gave her children leaves. She works in the fields, sews, begs, sees one of her children die, and each time gets up again as in her childhood race.
Context
The novel appeared in 1902; its author, a penniless student in Vienna, returned in it to his native village, and the national biography sees in it a monument raised to his mother, the model of the suffering and believing woman. It mixes naturalism, allegorical symbolism and a style inspired by the Bible. Eight chapters take up the motif of running behind the cart, and the slope of the title figures an almost impossible social ascent. The book also criticises a hypocritical Marian devotion and the idyllic image of peasant life.
Who it is for
A short novel, in a rhythmic language full of images; there is no French translation, but a German translation appeared in 2007.
Prizes and reception
The novel brought its author wide recognition; it is on the Slovenian baccalaureate syllabus for 2026.
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