The Reception of John Updike’s Couples in Serbia and Montenegro

It is interesting to note that in 2014 Vijesti published a very positive
text on Updike’s style of clothes and his signature turtleneck, which,
it seems, had a magical power, and was recommended to people who
wanted to be successful. In 2017 an article dealing with the house where
Updike was born being potentially turned into a museum and cultural
center was published on the website of Radio Television Montenegro.
The article says that the future of the house had been unknown until
it was bought by the John Updike Society, which has engaged in creat-
ing the atmosphere of the 1930s with the help of old photographs and
Updike’s works. (Radio Televizija Crne Gore 1. avgust 2017, http://crna.
gora.me). This survey of the reception of John Updike in Montenegro
can be concluded by an article published in Vijesti. It analyzes the first
biography (Adam Begley; Harper, New York; 2014; 560 p.) about John
Updike, and his life which is claimed to have served as a buffet ("šv-
edski sto") for the writer. (Vijesti, 19.4.2014 16:23, www.vijesti.me) He
is described as Henry James who was obsessed with work. The author
further quotes Updike’s words that a writer has to write about the place
where he is. Every place contains life, while the imitation of the life
which he knows is the writer’s only spring for inspiration.

Conclusion
However, Updike does not stand alone as a significant literary figure
in Serbia and Montenegro. Zoran Konstatinović (2007), who discussed
the general reception of American literature in former Yugoslavia, is
not with us today to witness the latest influx of American literature
in Serbia and Montenegro. Still, some of his words echo, as he rightly
concludes, that the very number of American writers in our culture
of the time (Yugoslav), and the resulting cultures (Yugoslav, Serb-
ian-Montenegrin, Serbian, Montenegrin), is significant, substantive
and comprehensive enough to enable seeing our own literature from
a specific angle: the angle of the influence of American writers on our
literature. This opens up a possibility of creating a new and specific
history of our own literature, in which John Updike will certainly have
a prominent place. The responsibility of the creation of this history is
not left to those who have background in American or foreign litera-
ture, but rather those whose academic focus centers around Serbian
and Montenegrin literature, or comparative literature.

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