EDITORIAL

Dear & respected reader!

You have before you a special issue of ”Diwan” containing a selection of texts ranging from the first issue published in 1998 to the double issue 7-8 published in 2002. During the five years of our public life, we have collected works of some 100 authors from Bosnia-Herzegovina, from all the countries of the former Yugoslavia and from Poland, Germany, Holland, Iran and the USA. If you are a persistent researcher, you can check the information about the magazine you hold in your hands on our web page /www.diwanmag.com.ba/.

Diwan has published the works of the following authors: Enver Kazaz, Balša Brković, Hanifa Kapidžić-Osmanagić, Irfan Horozović, Munib Maglajlić, Ivan Pederin, Enes Kujundžić, Jovanka Uljarević, Zilhad Ključanin, Nedžad Ibrahimović, Lukasz Szopa, Alija H. Dubočanin, Željko Grahovac, Tvrtko Kulenović, Čedo Prica Plitvički, Marko Vešović, Zvonko Kovač, Hadžem Hajdarević, Ferida Duraković, Arnon Grunberg, Ferid Muhić, Alekandar Bečanović, Kader Abdolah, Miro Petrović, Jozefina Dautbegović, Sulejman Bosto, Miško Šuvaković, Ibrahim Kajan, Bojan Bahić, Tanja Stupar, Jacek Bierezin, Dragoslav Dedović, Avdo Žiga, Igor Isakovski, Ljubica Žikić, Carl Polónyi, Sead Čerkez, Dragan Šimović, Amir Brka, Gregor Podlogar, Admir Mujkić, Aleksandra Čvorović, Josip Mlakić and others.

From an almanach directed at the Gradačac Literary Meetings we have developed a magazine for culture that keeps up with current literary developments in B&H and its neighbouring countires, a magazine that connects the communicative space partitioned by ideas of fascism and national exclusiveness gone wild.

In 2001, ”Diwan” joined the Literary Consortium project of the digital magazine ”Litkon” /www.litkon.org/ and became part of a network for the development of independent publishing and dissemination of projects in culture on the territory of Southeast Europe. Although the publisher backing ”Diwan” is an institution, the Gradačac Library, the editorial board has deemed it necessary to bring one such (pro)traditional – (non)alternative magazine for culture closer to the youth press.

Because generational and genre partitions have been surpassed. Because postmodernism brings a non-ideological freedom of expression that enables polyvalent cultural contact.

With that aim in mind, at the end of 2002, we signed a contract with the German organisation Questa.Soft from Frankfurt (M) for the sistribution of articles from ”Diwan” through the Internet library CEEOL (Central and Eastern European Online Library) set up at /www.ceeol.com/.

The editorial profile of ”Diwan” was determined by the intention to deconstruct platitudes about ”academic masters” and ”writers beginners”, about ”large” and ”small” nations, about ”central” and ”marginal” cultures, about ”traditionalism” and ”modernism”. And the editorial board employed diligent ”workers of the pen” such as: Alija H. Dubočanin, Šimo Ešić, Dr. Nedžad Ibrahimović, Amir Brka, Vojislava Vasiljević, MA, Željko Grahovac, Aleksandra Čvorović, Dragan Šimović and Mirsa Šarić.

In these five years we have published thematic sections dedicated to Hasan Kikić, Ahmed Muradbegović, Mirko Marjanović, Alija Isaković, Bosniak and Bosnian cultural permeation, literary manifestations in B&H, and we have ascribed a large amount of space to ”young” literature from the territory of Southeast Europe because we believe that cultural achievements of one nation are not its exclusive property, but rather the heritage shared with others which constitutes an intercultural identity.

We have translated the selection of texts in the compilation before you into English, because we wish to be ”read” beyond the boundaries of our neo-štokavski language written by Bosniaks, Montenegrins, Croats and Serbs. Because we wish to contribute to the exchange of ”cultural goods” and not ”cultural evils”. Because we hope that the ”promised land” of Europe is a mother to us all.

Tuzla, April 24, 2003 Your editor, Dinko Delić