A COLLABORATION THAT CONTINUES: MILORAD PAVIĆ AND JASMINA MIHAJLOVIĆ

The professional collaboration between Milorad Pavić and Jasmina Mihajlović began long before their marriage. One of their first major joint projects was the preparation of a bibliography for Pavić’s Collected Works published by Prosveta. Jasmina Mihajlović compiled “A Contribution to the Bibliography of Milorad Pavić,” published in 1990 in The Anchorite in New York, as part of the Collected Works, and subsequently issued as a separate publication by Prosveta in 1991. The bibliography covered Pavić’s books, translations, scholarly and theoretical works, literary texts published in periodicals from 1964 to 1990, and writings about his work from 1952 to 1990.

Their collaboration continued and expanded during their life together. Jasmina Mihajlović followed the bibliography, translations and international reception of Pavić’s work, participated in dealings with Serbian and foreign publishers, and documented his literary presence in different countries and media. In 1996, for a new edition of Pavić’s Collected Works published by Draganić, she compiled the substantially expanded “Bio-Bibliography of Milorad Pavić.”

In 1992, Jasmina Mihajlović also published Priča o duši i telu. Slojevi i značenja u prozi Milorada Pavića (A Story of the Soul and the Body: Layers and Meanings in the Prose of Milorad Pavić, Prosveta), a book devoted to the interpretation of Pavić’s prose.

Milorad Pavić and Jasmina Mihajlović also wrote two books together: Two Stories from Kotor (Dereta, Belgrade, 1998) and A Love Novel in Two Stories (Čigoja štampa, Belgrade, 2004).

After Milorad Pavić’s death on November 30, 2009, their collaboration did not end; it took on a new form. Jasmina Mihajlović continued to work on his literary legacy, new editions and translations, copyright and publishing contracts, as well as on organizing, expanding and publishing his bibliography and literary estate.

Since Pavić’s death, at least 275 posthumous editions of his works have been documented in Serbia and around the world — traditional printed books, electronic books and audio editions. This figure is not final, as the bibliography is continuously being expanded with new editions and newly discovered bibliographic entries.

A large part of this work is carried out through Milorad Pavić’s official website, which has developed into an extensive digital archive of his work and its worldwide reception. New editions and translations, bibliographic data, literary criticism and scholarly studies, doctoral dissertations, interviews, newspaper, television and radio features, as well as other documents concerning Pavić and his work, are continuously recorded on the website.

A distinct area of this work concerns the life of Pavić’s writings in other media. Since his death, his prose has continued to inspire theatrical productions and dramatizations, radio and audio adaptations, films and video works, musical compositions, visual and digital art projects, artists’ books and other forms of creative response. Reader reception is also followed on new digital platforms, in electronic libraries and across international literary networks.

At the same time, interviews, television and radio conversations, photographs, documents, theatre programmes, recordings and other materials are being collected and systematized. They document not only Pavić’s work during his lifetime but also his increasingly diverse posthumous presence across different cultures and media.

This work also encompasses the Milorad Pavić Legacy: preserving his literary and documentary estate, working with scholars, translators, publishers, artists and other visitors, and connecting the physical archive with an ever-expanding digital one.

Thus, the professional collaboration between Milorad Pavić and Jasmina Mihajlović has now lasted for four decades. It began with bibliographic work before their marriage, continued through joint literary and publishing projects and two books written together, and, after Pavić’s death, has continued through work on his literary legacy, new editions, translations, theatrical productions, other media, reception, archives and the Legacy.

The collaboration has, in fact, outlived one of its participants.