Southern Scum go Home!

What you need to know before your trail

Vojnović’s novel acts as an encyclopaedia in its creation of urban environment scenery, where the smell of “sarma” (rolled leaf of sour cabbage stuffed with rice and minced meat) and the dictating beats of Southern folk songs penetrate through the walls of overcrowded apartments. A mix of football and Southern talk is an obligatory part of the atmosphere. Ljubljana “ghetto” Fužine is revealed to the reader via a colourful “Čefur” slang, with which the author describes Marko’s adolescence and his skirmish with his own identity, parents, surrounding stereotypes, etc. The fate of a Fužine resident, a cobweb of causes and outcomes, where the burden of responsibility is justly divided, arises from the bitter-sweet humour of Marko’s tale.