On meni nema Bosne
On meni nema Bosne is perhaps the best-known monodrama by the Bosnian writer , cabaret artist and actor Josip Pejaković .
content
In the play, a Bosnian whose name is unknown tells of the experiences he had when he tried to find work , first in Bosnia and later as a guest worker in Germany. During the trip to Germany, things happen that are used to trace the character of the individual ethnic groups of the former Yugoslavia in a humorous way.
The narrator, who has a simple disposition, has arrived in Germany and is pointed out by a mysterious stranger that Bosnia does not exist. However, since the narrator comes from Bosnia, he decides, deeply concerned by such statements, to go back to Bosnia to see whether it still exists or not.
In contrast to the real guest workers, the narrator does not remain in a foreign country, but returns home, worried by the stranger. There he takes possession of it again. In this way, Pejaković shows - whether intentionally or not - very finely differentiated that the only way not to lose one's homeland is to return to it.
title
The title On meni nema Bosne is difficult to translate due to the fact that it is a grammatically illegal abbreviation. Literally translated it means "He doesn't give me Bosnia". Semantically very close, however, is rather “He says to me: Bosnia does not exist.” The entire text of the monodrama is interspersed with similar, very characteristic abbreviations.