Promišljanja o kritičkom izdanju djela Vladana Desnice s posebnim osvrtom na roman "Pronalazak Athanatika"

Objavljivanje kritičkog izdanja djela nekog pisca važan je dio recepcije i afirmacije toga pisca. Radi se o složenom, osjetljivom i dugotrajnom poslu i kada je riječ o utvrđivanju teksta djela modernoga ili suvremenog pisca. Kritičko je izdanje naročito korisno, ili neophodno, u slučaju djela koja su imala dugu, neravnomjernu genezu i dugu povijest izdanja ili koja nisu objavljena za autorova života. Potreba objavljivanja kritičkog izdanja djela Vladana Desnice nastaje iz navedenih razloga i činjenice da se dosadašnja izdanja sabranih i izabranih djela pokazuju zastarjelima i neprikladnima prema mjerilima filologije i akademskoga proučavanja, iako su dosad igrala nezaobilaznu, hvalevrijednu ulogu u širenju Desničine književne baštine. Nezaobilazna bi predradnja bila određivanje kriterija ostvarivanja najprikladnije vrste kritičkog izdanja, ali pouzdano kritičko izdanje moralo bi idealno uključiti sve vidove autorove književne djelatnosti, uz prikladan znanstveni, popratni aparat. Pored "Proljeća Ivana Galeba", ali iz djelomice drugačijih razloga, bilo bi naročito važno ustanovljenje najpouzdanijega teksta nedovršenoga i za autorova života neobjavljenog romana "Pronalazak Athanatika". To izdanje trebalo bi se zasnivati na rukopisu i povijesti teksta, uključujući autorova svjedočanstva o genezi djela i odnos prema "Proljećima Ivana Galeba".

Publishing a critical edition of a writer’s work is an important part of the reception and affirmation of that writer and his literary works. It is a complex, sensitive and long-term job, even when it comes to determining the text of the work of a modern or contemporary writer. There are still few reliable editions of the most important Croatian and South Slavic writers. A critical edition is particularly useful, or necessary, in the case of works that had a long, uneven genesis and a long history of editions or that were not published during the author’s lifetime. The need to publish a critical edition of Vladan Desnica’s works arises from the above-mentioned reasons and the fact that previous editions of collected and selected works, edited by Stanko Korać, appear to be outdated and unsuitable according to the standards of philology and academic study (e. g. they do not offer the necessary information on the procedure for determining texts), although until now Korać’s work has played an indispensable, commendable role in spreading Desnica’s literary heritage among researchers and readers. The inevitable preliminary work would be to determine the criteria for achieving the most appropriate type of critical edition, but, in any case, a reliable critical edition would ideally have to include all aspects of the author’s literary activity (novels, short stories, poems, drama, articles and essays, letters, maybe even translations), with appropriate scientific accompanying apparatus (introduction, notes and philological commentary, list of editions, list of versions, etc.). In addition to "Ivan Galeb’s Springs", but for partly different reasons, it would be particularly important to establish the most reliable text of the unfinished and unpublished novel "The Discovery of the Athanatik" during the author’s lifetime. The edition in question should be based on the manuscript and the history of the text, including the author’s testimony about the genesis of the work and its relationship to "Ivan Galeb’s Springs".