Cankar i Andrić – Osvrt na upotrebu poređenja i nekoliko odabranih izraza

Abstract

The paper focuses on the examples of comparison constructions appearing in the collected works of Ivan Cankar i Ivo Andrić containing expressions such as ‘as/like petrified’, ‘as/like struck down’ , ‘as/like wounded’, , ‘as/like dead’. Another focus is also on comparisons revolving around nouns such as ‘funeral’ and ‘grave’, as well as on some other idiosyncratic comparison constructions (including ‘writhe like a worm’, ‘rattle like a grandma’, ‘like the plague in the house’). Additional expressions centring on the description of the colour of ones face (i.e. pale or green face, colourless face, face of unhealthy colour, dead man’s pale face), centring on the concept of something being made of one piece only, something illuminated from within, and something being taken using both hands. A common denomination of the observed expressions is their infrequent use since both of the writers at hand limit their employment to one use only per one piece of writing. Also, both Cankar and Andrić use these somparisons in situations in which something is unfavorable, uncertain, or risky for a particular character. Moreover, the istances of use of these partcular comparison constructions have further been illustrated by their appearance in the writings of other South Slavic and Russian authors (which also helps us underlie the most typical verbs used to support these comparisons).