Priča koja čeka skoro tri decenije
U proljeće 1992. godine, kada je počelo izvještavanje o ratu u Bosni i Hercegovini, Dina Greenberg nije mogla skloniti pogled. Gledala je vijesti i bilježila dešavanja, odlučna da pronađe način da ispriča priču o ratnim zločinima u Bosni i Hercegovini. Priča koju je htjela pripovijedati se stvarala od samog početka rata, a skoro tri decenije kasnije, imamo roman, Nerminina šansa , sa 29. oktobrom kao zvaničnim datumom izdavanja. “Jednostavno nisam mogao podnijeti da budem samo posmatrač svega što se dešava. Gledala sam vijesti i zapisivala, zaprepaštena onim čemu sam svjedočila preko TV ekrana. Znala sam da ću kasnije nešto učiniti sa svim svojim bilješkama. Na kraju sam napisala kratku priču i pročitala je svojim kolegama u Rittenhouse Writers’ Group, jednom zaista odličnom društvu pisaca u Filadelfiji. Kad sam pročitala svoju priču, većina komentari je odzvanjala sljedećom porukom: ‘ovo je sjajna priča, ali zaista moraš napisati knjigu!’ Tako sam odlučila dalje razvijati svoju priču i napisati roman,” na ovaj način Dina objašnjava šta ju je inspirisalo da napiše Nermininu šansu .
Nikad više!
Glavna junakinja Dinine knjige je Nermina, mlada žena, studentkinja medicine, porijeklom iz sekularne muslimanske porodice. “Kad sam saznala da postoji veliki broj Bošnjaka koji su sekularno orijentisani – posebno u glavnom gradu Sarajevu – shvatila sam koliko je Nerminino životno iskustvo slično životima mnogih američkih Jevreja. Također, najvažnija je ideja da je jevrejsko iskustvo obilježeno porukom ‘Nikad više!’ nakon holokausta, a ipak vidimo da se slične vrste zločina čine iznova i iznova, kao što se to dešavalo i u BiH. Teško mi je odvojiti istoriju moje porodice i naše jevrejstvo od moje perspektive na priču koju pripovijedam u knjizi, ” objašnjava Greenberg.
Nerminino putovanje iz opkoljenog Sarajeva u SAD
Dina je željela da glavni lik njenog romana bude jednostavno razumljiv širokoj američkoj publici, ali da je istovremeno ukorijenjen u bosanskohercegovačkoj stvarnosti. “U vrijeme dok sam se pripremala za pisanje svoje knjige, radila sam na Univerzitetu u Pennsylvaniji i imala sam pristup mnogim akademskim, recenziranim člancima i drugim izvorima koji su vjerodostojno dokumentovali rat u BiH. Sprovela sam opsežno istraživanje, ali, nažalost, još uvijek nisam imala priliku posjetiti Bosnu. Zrinka Bralo, bivša novinarka iz Sarajeva, a sada izvršna direktorica nevladine organizacije Migrants Organize , pomogla je kako bi priča zadržala sve svoje autentične elemente. Zrinka je bila tako velikodušna u objašnjavanju detalja o tome šta se zapravo događalo i kakav je rat zaista bio za obične građane Sarajeva. Ona je pomogla da meni postane potpuno jasno ko je moja protagonistkinja,” objašnjava Dina. Priča o Nermini počinje u ratnom Sarajevu i prati njeno putovanje u Sjedinjene Države. “U romanu su oba Nerminina roditelja ljekari, a ona je student druge godine medicine. Oni žive u Sarajevu u jednom društvenom okruženju koje bismo mi u Americi nazvali višom srednjom klasom. Tokom rata Nermina gubi sve. Prvo joj ubijaju brata, a zatim i ona sama doživi silovanje. Nakon tog događaja, Nerminin otac koristi sve svoje veze kako bi Nerminu izveo iz opkoljenog Sarajeva – prvo u Ankonu, a zatim u Rim. Ključni trenutak u priči je kada Nermina naiđe na dječaka u Sarajevu, kome na kraju pomogne da dođe do tetke u Rimu. Susret sa ovim dječakom ulijeva u Nermini snažnu želju da ima svoje dijete. “U ovom dijelu priče se kod Nermine rađa želja da na svijet donese dijete, čije bi rođenje na neki način nadoknadilo sav gubitak, sve to što je izgubila tokom rata”, objašnjava Dina.
Složen odnos majke i kćerke
Iz Italije, Nermina putuje u SAD gdje odlučuje zatrudnjeti, ne obraćajući mnogo pažnje na aspekt emotivne relacije sa ocem svog budućeg djeteta. Ona zatrudni sa Carlom Ingramom, čovjekom kojeg jedva poznaje, a koji i ne zna za svoju kćer. Kada Nermina zatrudni, ona je potpuno određena u svojoj namjera, a želi samo jedno – dijete, koje će postati temelj njenog budućeg života. Kroz roman Dina Greenberg vješto razvija odnos između Nermine i njezine kćerke Atike. “Nermina se potpuno usredotočuje na svoju kćer, na gotovo nezdrav način. Čak kada izuzmemo i njenu najveću traumu silovanja, Nermina prolazi kroz veliku tugu zbog gubitka članova svoje porodice, a istovremeno se pokušava izboriti sa traumom koju donosi raseljenost i dolazak u potpuno novu sredinu gdje ne poznaje nikoga. Iz svih tih razloga, u velikoj mjeri se izmijene uloge između Atike i Nermina. Atika se često mora brinuti za svoju majku, jer Nermina pati od napada depresije i anksioznosti. “Čak i kao desetogodišnje dijete, Atika je prisiljena na roditeljsku ulogu i to postaje jedna od glavnih karakteristika njihovog odnosa,” pojašnjava Greenberg.
Univerzalne teme ratne traume i porodičnih odnosa
Radnja Nerminine šanse dobiva nagli zaokret kada u priču ulazi lik američkog ratnog veterana. Otprilike u vrijeme kada Atika puni svoju šesnaestu godinu, Nermina je medicinska sestra na psihijatrijskom odjelu bolnice za ratne veterane u Portlandu, u državi Oregon. Dok Nermina pregleda medicinski karton svog novog pacijenta shvati da je vojnik koji je upravo primljen Carlov brat, Jeff Ingram. “U svojoj profesionalnoj ulozi, Nermina će pružati psihijatrijsku njegu ovom vojniku koji se vratio sa svoje misije u Afganistanu, amputirane noge, sa teškom ozljedom mozga i sa PTSP -om. Ovo je važan tematski element Nerminine šanse ”, objašnjava Dina. Nermina, koja je i sama patila od ratnih trauma, počinje da brine o drugoj osobi sličnih iskustava, sa kojom također dijeli i porodične veze. U tom trenutku u romanu Nermina odlučuje ispričati Carlu da ima kćer Atiku i reći Atiki o njenom ocu Carlu.
Pričanje priče da se izliječe traume
Iako se roman ne završava sa velikim mašnom privezanom na vrhu i sa svim dijelovima mozaika koji se lijepo uklapaju, ipak je osnovna poruka vrlo jasna. Moć pripovijedanja je u tome što liječi naše rane. „Ono što sam otkrila jeste da se ključ iscjeljenja od bilo koje vrste traume krije u našoj mogućnosti da podijelimo naše priče sa drugima. Najvažnije od svega je stvoriti siguran prostor, gdje se priča svake osobe može ispričati uz čast i poštovanje koje joj pripadaju. Sa ovim idejama sam se upoznavala i o njima učila u mnogim različitim okruženjima. Naravno, ja nisam profesionalna psihoterapeutkinja, ali imam sposobnost da slušam, dijelim suosjećanje i pružim podršku ljudima da prođu kroz svoj narativni proces. To je ono što me je dovelo do pisanja mog romana,” zaključuje Dina.
Dina Greenberg
Nominirana je za nagrade The Pushcart Prize, Best Small Fictions, i The Millions, a poezija, beletristika, eseji i članci Dine Greenberg objavljivani su u književnim časopisima, antologijama i recenziranim časopisima u SAD-u i u Velikoj Britaniji. Nerminina šansa će biti objavljena 29. oktobra 2021. s Atmosphere Pressom, a knjiga se može naručiti putem Book Depository-a, sa distribucijom širom svijeta i besplatnom dostavom. Pri pisanju romana, Dini su u velikoj mjeri pomagale radionice kreativnog pisanja, koje je ona vodila sa vojnim veteranima i njihovim porodicama. Dinin neposredni cilj je da iskoristi platformu svoje knjige da inspiriše dublje razgovore o međugeneracijskim traumama koje su posljedica rata i raseljavanja – ne samo u Bosni i Hercegovini, već i širom dijaspore. Više o radu Dine Greenberg možete pronaći na njenom website-u.
Nermina’s Chance – A novel by Dina Greenberg
A story waiting to be told for close to three decades
In the spring of 1992, when the news started reporting on warfare in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dina Greenberg could not look away. She was watching the news and keeping notes, determined to find a way of telling the story of wartime atrocities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The story she wanted to tell was brewing inside her ever since the war began and close to three decades later, we have the novel, Nermina’s Chance, with the official publication date set to October 29, 2021. “I just could not stand being a bystander to what was going on. I was watching the news and keeping notes, appalled at what I was witnessing over the TV screen. I knew I was going to do something with all my notes later on. Eventually, I wrote a short story and brought it to Rittenhouse Writers’ Group, an excellent writing workshop in Philadelphia. When I read my story, the feedback I received was – ‘this is a great story, but you really need to write the book!’ This is how I decided to develop my story further and write a novel,” is how Dina explains what set her in motion to write Nermina’s Chance.
Never again!
The chief protagonist of her book is a young, secular woman, a medical student. Nermina and her family practice their Muslim religion similarly to how secular Jews practice Judaism, without the strict adherence to religious ritual, but more of an emphasis on cultural connections. “When I learned that there was a subset of Bosniaks who were secular—especially in a large city like Sarajevo—I realized how similar Nermina was to many American Jews. “Most important,” Dina notes, “the Jewish experience has been marked with the message of ‘Never again!’ after the Holocaust, yet we see similar types of atrocities happen again and again and again, as it happened in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is difficult for me to separate my own family’s history and our Jewishness from my outlook on the story I narrate in the book,” she explains.
Nermina’s journey from besieged Sarajevo to the United States
Dina wanted the main character to be relatable to a wide American audience, but also based in the reality of Bosnia and Herzegovina. “At the time that I was preparing to write my book, I was working for the University of Pennsylvania and I had access to many academic, peer-reviewed sources documenting the war in BiH. I conducted extensive research, but, unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to visit Bosnia. Zrinka Bralo, a former journalist from Sarajevo and now CEO of the NGO Migrants Organise, helped with the authentic elements of the story. Zrinka was so generous in explaining the details of what actually happened and what the war was really like for ordinary citizens of Sarajevo. She helped me crystalize who my protagonist was,” Dina explains. The story of Nermina starts in wartime Sarajevo and follows her journey to the United States. “In the novel, both Nermina’s parents are physicians and she is a second-year medical student. They live in, what we would consider, an upper-middle class setting in Sarajevo. During the war, Nermina loses everything. First her brother is killed and then Nermina is raped, while walking through the mortared site of the then destroyed “Momo and Uzeir” twin towers. After that event, Nermina’s father uses his connections to get her out of Sarajevo – first to Ancona and then to Rome in Italy. A key moment in the story is when Nermina comes across a little boy in Sarajevo. She helps the child to reconnect with his aunt in Rome. This encounter instills in Nermina a strong desire to have her own child. “This is the impetus to conceive a child that would replace everyone and everything she had lost during the war,” Dina explains how Nermina leaves besieged Sarajevo.
Complex mother and daughter relationship
From Italy, Nermina travels to the U.S. where she decides to get pregnant, while not caring about the relationship aspect of her pregnancy. She ends up conceiving a child with Carl Ingram, a man she hardly knows and who does not know about his daughter. When Nermina sets herself on the path of having a child, she is single-minded. She just wants that one child, who becomes the bedrock of her life. Throughout the novel Dina Greenberg skillfully develops the relationship between Nermina and her daughter, Atika. “Nermina becomes completely focused on her daughter, cloying, in an almost unhealthy way. Even extracting the rape, Nermina is traumatized, grieving for the loss of her family members and coping with the trauma of displacement, of coming to a completely new place where she does not know a single person. For all those reasons, Nermina parentifies her daughter and Atika finds herself having to care for her mother, as Nermina suffers through bouts of depression and anxiety. “Even as a ten-year-old child, Atika is forced into a parental role and that becomes one of the main characteristics of their relationship,” Dina explains.
Universal themes of war trauma and family relations
The story of Nermina’s Chance takes a sudden turn when a U.S. war veteran enters the storyline. Around the time Atika turns sixteen, Nermina is an advanced practice psychiatric nurse working in a VA (Veterans Affairs) hospital in Portland, Oregon and a new twist in the story takes place. Nermina examines a medical chart and realizes that the soldier who has just been admitted is Carl’s brother, Jeff Ingram. “In her professional role, Nermina will provide psychiatric care for this soldier who has returned from a mission in Afghanistan with a leg amputation, severe brain injury, and PTSD. This is an important thematic element of Nermina’s Chance,” Dina explains. Nermina, a sufferer of wartime trauma herself, finds herself caring for another person with similar experiences with whom she also shares familial bonds. It is at that point in the novel that Nermina decides to tell, Carl that he has a daughter, Atika, and to tell Atika about her father, Carl.
Telling the story to heal from trauma
The novel does not end with a big bow tied at the top and all the moving pieces neatly fitting together. However, the main message is clear. The power of storytelling is that it heals our wounds. “What I have found is that a key to healing from any type of trauma is sharing our stories. Providing a safe space for this, where each person’s story is held with honor and respect, this is an important first step. I have learned this again and again in so many different settings. I do not have the credentials of a psychotherapist, but I do have the ability to listen, share compassion and guide people through that narrative process. That is what led to writing the novel,” Dina concludes.
Dina Greenberg
Nominated for The Pushcart Prize, Best Small Fictions, and The Millions, Dina Greenberg’s poetry, fiction, essays, and articles have appeared widely in literary journals, anthologies, and peer-reviewed journals, both in the U.S. and the U.K. Her work facilitating creative writing workshops for combat veterans and military families precipitated Nermina’s Chance, her forthcoming novel. Her immediate goal is to use her book’s platform to inspire discussions on intergenerational trauma resulting from war and displacement—not only in the Balkans but across the diaspora. Nermina’s Chance will be released October 29, 2021 with Atmosphere Press. The book is available for pre-orders now and world-wide distribution (free shipping) via Book Depository. Find more of Dina Greenberg’s work on her website: https://dinagreenberg.com.