---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I look up some old friends, journalists…"
description: "\"“I look up some old friends, journalists. One is a senior editor at L’Express, and he complains to me that he has in his hands extensive documentation ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdd/nina-ivan-evi-96353_children_i-look-up-some-old-friends-journalists-o_335782.jpg"
---

#  I look up some old friends, journalists. One is a senior…

![“I look up some old friends, journalists. One is a senior editor at L’Express, and he complains to me that he has in his hands extensive documentation of war crimes in Yugoslavia but no one, including his own magazine, will print it. He asks me if I would translate it into English. With the…” quote by Nina Živančević](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdd/nina-ivan-evi-96353_children_i-look-up-some-old-friends-journalists-o_335782.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdd/nina-ivan-evi-96353_children_i-look-up-some-old-friends-journalists-o_335782.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdd/nina-ivan-evi-96353_children_i-look-up-some-old-friends-journalists-o_335782.jpg)

> ““I look up some old friends, journalists. One is a senior editor at L’Express, and he complains to me that he has in his hands extensive documentation of war crimes in Yugoslavia but no one, including his own magazine, will print it. He asks me if I would translate it into English. With the documents are photographs of hundreds of Yugoslav children brutally murdered in villages from all over the country. The documents detail the facts about the massacres of Serbs in Glina, then at the Gracanica bridge. There are murky stories about prisoners and death camps. Looking through those photographs I realize that no language would ever be adequate to convey the horror - but how will I be able to write poetry again?””

Nina Živančević

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Describes the horror of Yugoslav war crimes documentation, the inadequacy of language, and the challenge of returning to poetry

**In simple terms:** Confronting atrocity can cripple creative expression, yet art seeks to process trauma

Key Takeaway

Find ways to translate trauma into art responsibly

Themes

war memory art trauma

Mood

somber determined

Type

Children:1 Death camps:1 Old friends:0 Poetry:1 War:1 War crimes:1 Crimes Yugoslavia:0 Murdered Villages:0 Facts Massacres:0 Yugoslavia Including:0

When to use this quote

- journalism
- poetry workshops
- therapy groups

Key Concepts

ethical journalism historical documentation creative processing

Questions to Reflect On

- How can art honor victims without exploitation?
- What responsibilities do writers have when depicting atrocities?

A Different Perspective

May understate the difficulty of representing trauma accurately

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Death camps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death-camps/) [Old friends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-friends/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [War crimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war-crimes/)

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