Animalistic Themes in Matko Peić’s “Wanderings”.

Cilj rada je iz motrišta animalistike, kao relativne mlade znanstvene discipline nastale 1970-ih, pružiti novo čitanje neponovljivih Skitnji Matka Peića. U profinjenu kovitlacu Peićevih misli i filigranskim zapažanjima vezanima uz panonski prostor, upečatljivo se javlja jedna konstanta: nedjeljivost čovjeka i prirodnoga svijeta. Iz ranjive pozicije tek prolaznika na ovom planetu, autor jednakom oštrinom i pronicavošću kojom promatra ljude i krajeve, promatra i autohtone životinje. Iz Peićevih zapisa izvire sva raskoš divlje i domaće turopoljske i slavonske faune, i to u posve ravnopravnom odnosu s opisima krajolika, arhitekture ili tradicija i običaja. Peićev stav prema ljudsko-životinjskim odnosima nikako nije šegedinovski pesimističan, naprotiv, život i smrt za njega su trajan izvor fascinacije i on ih prihvaća i poštuje kao nepromjenjive činjenice. U jednom kasnijem Peićevu zapisu čitamo: “Pišući u čast Čovjeka, ne treba zaboraviti poštovanje prema Prirodi.” Stoga nećemo pogriješiti ustvrdimo li da nam se upravo putem animalističkih motiva autor otkriva kao vrstan znalac biologije te iskreni, biocentrični promicatelj animalističke – ili, još šire, ekološke – korektnosti, po čemu je 1967. godine, kada su objavljene Skitnje, bio daleko ispred svojega vremena.The aim of this paper is to offer a new interpretation of Skitnje (Wanderings) – a unique work written by Matko Peić – from the viewpoint of animal studies, a relatively young scientific discipline that emerged in the 1970s. In the delicate whirl of Peić’s thoughts and filigree observations related to the Pannonian area, one constant is prominent: the inseparability of man and the natural world. From a vulnerable position of being only a passer-by in this world, the author observes native animals with the same sagacity and scrutiny with which he observes people and landscapes. All the splendor of the wild and domestic fauna of Turopolje and Slavonia springs from Peić’s writings, positioned equally with descriptions of landscapes, architecture, traditions and customs. Peić’s attitude towards human-animal relationships is by no means pessimistic as in, for example, some works by Petar Šegedin – on the contrary, life and death are a permanent source of fascination for him, and he accepts and respects them as invariable facts. In one of his later works, he wrote: “When writing in the honour of Man, we should not forget to show respect to Nature.” Therefore, we will not make a mistake claiming that precisely through animalistic motifs, the author reveals himself as a competent connoisseur of biology and a sincere, biocentric promoter of animalistic – or, even wider, ecological – correctness, which brings us to the conclusion that in 1967, when he published Skitnje, Matko Peić was ahead of his time