The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andrić
"The Bridge on the Drina" by Ivo Andrić is a historical novel set in the town of Višegrad, Bosnia, that explores the complex interplay of culture, history, and human experience through the life of a bridge over the Drina River. The bridge, commissioned by Mehmed Pasha Sokolli, serves as a symbol of both Ottoman power and the tragic history of the people affected by centuries of occupation. Construction begins in the 16th century, involving the forced labor of local Serbian villagers, who perceive the bridge as a manifestation of their subjugation. Over the years, the bridge witnesses significant events, including acts of rebellion and personal tragedies, reflecting the lives of Muslims, Christians, and Jews who inhabit the region.
As time passes, the bridge becomes a central element of life in Višegrad, enduring the trials of war, disease, and political change. It stands resilient through various historical upheavals, including the influence of Austrian rule and the onset of World War I, while remaining a pivotal gathering place for the townspeople. The novel intricately weaves themes of memory, identity, and the passage of time as the bridge observes the transformations of the community around it, ultimately highlighting the enduring nature of cultural legacies amidst human conflict. "The Bridge on the Drina" invites readers to reflect on the broader implications of history and the significance of place in shaping human experiences.
On this Page
The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andrić
First published:Na Drini ćuprija, 1945 (English translation, 1959)
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Historical realism
Time of plot: 1516-1914
Locale: Višegrad, Bosnia
Principal characters
Mehmed Pasha Sokolli , a grand vizierAbidaga , the first builder of the bridgeAlihodja Muteveli Ć, hodja and shopkeeperLotte Zahler , an innkeeperSalko Corkan , a Roma (Gypsy)
The Story:
The “blood tribute” is a most cruel practice of the Turkish rulers during the several hundred years of their occupation of the Balkans. It means taking young boys away from their parents and rearing them as the sultan’s obedient servants, called janissaries. One of the boys, taken from a Serbian village called Sokolovici in Bosnia in 1516 when he is only ten years old, will later become Mehmed Pasha Sokolli and rise to the office of the grand vizier, the highest position a non-Turk can reach in the Ottoman Empire. In memory of his childhood, he decides to build a bridge across the Drina River by the town of Višegrad, the last place where he saw his mother when he was taken away and where he feels a sharp pain in his breast as the last memory of his home.
The building of the bridge begins in 1566. The first builder, Abidaga, is famous for his efficiency and the strict, at times cruel, methods of accomplishing his tasks. The bridge is built by slave labor conscripted from the nearby Serbian villages. The peasants resent having to work as slaves, and they see in the building of the bridge a sinister symbol of Turkish might. For that reason, they sabotage the bridge’s progress, often destroying at night what is built during the day. To frighten the distrusting and rebellious populace into submission and obedience, Abidaga catches one of them, Radisav, and has him impaled on the site of the bridge. The excruciatingly painful process of his death lasts several days.
The bridge is finally completed in 1571, a beautiful structure of eleven arches rising above the turbulent Drina, with the kapia, an elevated fixture in the middle of the bridge where people can sit, as a focal point. A caravansary is also built next to the bridge for tired travelers. Thus begins the bridge’s long influence on every aspect of life for the people on the shores as they finally resign themselves to the bridge, learning to like it because of its usefulness and its uncommon beauty. Mehmed Pasha is stabbed to death by a deranged dervish only a few years after the construction, without having seen the object of his dreams fully completed. As he is dying, he feels again a sharp pain in his breast. Although he accomplishes many other things as a vezir, his name in Bosnia will forever be remembered by this bridge.
Years and decades pass, life keeps changing, the floods come, and the Muslims, the Christians, and the Jews mingle, but the bridge survives everything, shining “clean, young and unalterable, strong and lovely in its perfection, stronger than all that time might bring and men imagine to do.” As Serbia begins to rise against the Turks at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the bridge witnesses the beheading of two Serbs, Jelisije and Mile, at the kapia as a warning to the rebels—the first of many acts of intimidation and revenge. However, the bridge remains unchanged and unchangeable. The Turks withdraw gradually from Serbia between 1825 and 1850, cholera and plague visit the inhabitants on the shores, and the unquiet waters keep passing beneath the bridge’s smooth and perfect arches, but nothing changes the bridge itself. It becomes a focal point of life in the town and surrounding villages. A beautiful young girl named Fata jumps from the kapia to her death during her wedding procession because her father is about to force her to marry a man whom she does not love. When Bosnia is placed under the Austrian protectorate, Alihodja Mutevelić, a shopkeeper, is nailed by his ear at the kapia by his town rival because he does not believe that the Austrians would come or that the people of Višegrad should resist them if they did.
The Austrian presence brings important changes in Višegrad and to the bridge as the new begins to replace the old. Trees are cut down and new ones planted, streets are repaired, drainage canals are dug, public buildings are constructed, permanent lighting is installed, and a railway is built. The caravansary is rebuilt into an army barracks, and the bridge itself seems to be forgotten. The kapia, however, continues to witness interesting events. For the first time, women are allowed to sit on it. Milan Glasicanin, an inveterate gambler, is cured of his vice by being challenged to gamble for his life by a mysterious gambling partner. Gregor Fedun, a young sentry from Galicia, commits suicide after having been tricked by two Serbian rebels, one of them a beautiful girl, into allowing them to cross the bridge. Salko Corkan, a powerful young Roma, dances precariously on the bridge railing and almost falls to his death after a drinking bout and the unsuccessful wooing of a girl. Lotte, a Galician Ashkenazi, builds a hotel next to the bridge, bringing a new aspect to life around the bridge.
The Austrian annexation of Bosnia in 1908 ushers in yet another new age and more changes. The bridge is mined in case a war with neighboring Serbia begins. The Serbian triumphs in the Balkan Wars bring new hopes for the Serbian population and fears for the Muslims. Most important, the new generation of young people gathers regularly around the kapia and holds endless discussions about the current events, reflecting a sharp rise in nationalistic feelings, as they defend their nationalist points of view. As Lotte’s fortunes decline and the young Serbian teachers Zorka and Glasicanin dream of emigrating to America, the first bombs of World War I fall on the bridge. However, the bridge still stands between the two warring sides. When it is finally destroyed, it takes along Alihodja as a witness of the centuries-old history of the town, the people, and the bridge itself.
Bibliography
Bergman, Gun. Turkisms in Ivo Andrić’s “Na Drini ćuprija” Examined from the Point of View of Literary Style. Uppsala, Sweden: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1969. The author examines the use of Turkisms in The Bridge on the Drina from both the linguistic and the literary point of view.
Goy, E. D. “The Work of Ivo Andrić.” Slavonic and East European Review 41 (1963): 301-326. One of the best introductions to Andrić in English. Goy dwells on the main points in Andrić’s life and creativity, specifying in each work its most important characteristics. In The Bridge on the Drina, for example, Andrić has solved the dilemma of existence through the beauty of creation.
Hawkesworth, Celia. Ivo Andrić: Bridge Between East and West. London: Athlone Press, 1984. An excellent overall portrait of Andrić the man and the writer. The author discusses in detail every important feature of his works, underlining the importance of The Bridge on the Drina as his seminal work.
Mihailovich, Vasa D. “The Reception of the Works of Ivo Andrić in the English-Speaking World.” Southeastern Europe 9 (1982): 41-52. A survey of articles and reviews on Andrić in English through 1980. Useful for both beginners and established scholars.
Mukerji, Vanita Singh. Ivo Andrić: A Critical Biography. New York: McFarland, 1990. Another general introduction to Andrić. Not as significant and exhaustive as Hawkesworth’s volume but still useful for finding out about the basic features of Andrić’s works.
Vucinich, Wayne S., ed. Ivo Andrić Revisited: The Bridge Still Stands. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995. Essays on Andrić and his times, his short stories, his view of Yugoslavia and of history, Bosnian identity in his work, and his handling of grief and shame, women, the folk tradition, and narrative voice. Includes notes and index but no bibliography. Vucinich’s introduction is the place to begin a study of Andrić’s role in the history of Yugoslavia and its literary traditions.
Wachtel, Andrew B. “Ivan Meštovič, Ivo Andrič, and the Synthetic Yugoslav Culture of the Interwar Period.” In Yugoslavism: Histories of a Failed Idea, 1918-1992, edited by Dejan Djokič. London: Hurst, 2003. The essay about Andrić is part of an examination of Yugoslavian history, from the country’s creation in 1918 to its dissolution in the early 1990’s. The book demonstrates how the concept of “Yugoslavia” differed at various times and was interpreted differently among the various Yugoslavian nations, leaders, and social groups.