Creative use of idioms and other multi-word lexical units in the works of Mladen Kerstner: possibilities and intentions

Abstract: of Ludbreg, Croatia, with the intention of determining Kerstner’s idiomatic creativity in terms of his use of idioms in context. An analysis using formal criteria determined that 70% of the material consists of everyday idioms that are commonplace in the Croatian language in general, as well as in the Podravina regional dialect, or the Ludbreg local dialect. Only 30% of the material consists of Kerstner’s creative modifications of common idioms and his own innovative multi-word lexical units. A semantic analysis determined that in order to understand as much as 91% of multi-word lexical units (which include idioms), it is necessary to have a stereotypical knowledge about the region of Podravina and general knowledge about the features of Kajkavian dialects. This is because the author wanted, on one hand, to create an authentic picture of the settlements of Upper Podravina and its inhabitants during the 1970s; on the other hand, his intention was also that his works be received by as broad a non-Kajkavian-speaking and non-Podravina readership in Croatia as possible. Balancing between these two tendencies, Kerstner even modified to the level of the Podravina regional stereotype both general Croatian Štokavian idioms and Kajkavian idioms specific to Ludbreg. An analysis of common Ludbreg variants of Podravina idioms revealed that the variation of specific idi-oms occurred mostly due to the adaptation of idioms to the linguistic and cultural-geographical space of which they become a part. The search for Kerstner’s idiomatic creativity revealed that his primary intention was not to be creative, but rather to create authenticity and humor while remaining on a linguistic and idiomatic level that could be understood by a broad readership.