Сербская литература: история и развитие

Literature in the Serbian language

Serbian literature , refers to literature written in Serbian and/or in Serbia and all other lands where Serbs reside. The history of Serbian literature begins with the independent works from the Nemanjić dynasty era, if not before. With the fall of Serbia and neighboring countries in the 15th century, there is a gap in the literary history in the occupied land. Serbian literature, however, continued uninterrupted in Serbian inhabited lands under European rule and saw a revival with Baroque works published in the 18th century in what is today Vojvodina. Serbia gained independence following the Serbian Revolution (1804–1815) and Serbian literature has since prospered. Several Serbian writers have achieved international fame.

Serbian literature in Vojvodina continued building on Medieval tradition, influenced by Old Serbian and Russian baroque, which culminated in the Slavonic Serbian language. Baroque has an important place in Serbian literature which had been interrupted by the Ottoman invasion. It was reestablished and became prominent again. A notable Baroque writer from this period is Gavril Stefanović Venclović, who wrote numerous works in several genres and started an early reform of the language. Other important authors of the time include: Dimitrije Ljubavić, Đorđe Branković, Andrija Zmajević, Vasilije III Petrović Njegoš, Mojsije Putnik, Pavle Julinac, Marko Jelisejić, Joakim Vujić, Luka Milovanov Georgijević, Nikanor Grujić, Jovan Subotić, Jovan Rajić, Zaharije Orfelin, Simeon Piščević, Gerasim Zelić and others. Having no institutions of their own during the foreign occupation, Serbs invited Russian authors and educators to help with the education of the nation. The influx of these authors made poems rather than prose more prominent. Drama and theatre began as well. A gymnasium (school) in modern day Sremski Karlovci was a center of culture for several years in the 18th century headed by Emanuel Kozačinski who wrote a notable Baroque work Traedokomedija in 1734. During the Age of Enlightenment a new cultural model was formed, accompanied by the historical reforms undertaken by Maria Theresa. Authors of the Enlightenment include Dositej Obradović, Atanasije Stojković, Jevstatije Mihajlović and Atanasije Nikolić. The Serbian Enlightenment did not produce a work of note on a European scale for obvious political, cultural and religious reasons, though it spanned every artistic field. The most important work of this period is considered to be Život i priključenija by Dositej Obradović. Classicism was introduced with the poems of Aleksije Vezilić, who also advocated the core values of the Age of Enlightenment. The most notable dramatist of the period was Jovan Sterija Popović, although his works contain elements of Romanticism, while the best known Serbian classicist poet and the founder of the first Serbian poetry movement was Lukijan Mušicki.

Before the start of a fully established Romanticism concomitant with the Revolutions of 1848, some Romanticist ideas (e. g. the use of national language to rally for national unification of all classes) were developing, especially among monastic clergy in Vojvodina. After winning independence from the Ottoman Empire, the Serbian independence movement sparked the first works of modern Serbian literature. Most notably Petar II Petrović Njegoš and his poem Mountain Wreath of 1847, represent a cornerstone of the Serbian epic, based on the rhythms of the Serbian epic poetry and the works by Homer. Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, an acquaintance of J. W. von Goethe and Leopold von Ranke, became the first person to collect and publish folk songs and epics in book form. Vuk Karadžić is regarded as the premier Serbian philologist, who together with Đuro Daničić, played a major role in reforming the modern Serbian language and alphabet. Following the language reforms made by Karadžić, several authors like Sima Milutinović Sarajlija and Matija Nenadović published their works, which influenced other authors. Branko Radičević was the initiator of Romantic poetry. He rejected the classicist norms, and objectivism, and focused on expressing direct experience and feelings in his art. Poems Đački rastanak and Tuga i opomena are considered his best works. Other noteworthy Romantic authors include Jovan Grčić Milenko, Kosta Trifković, King Nicholas I of Montenegro and Jovan Ilić. Romanticism is of great importance to Serbian literature. The authors of the epoch had begun using the newly reformed Serbian language and wrote several works which are considered masterpieces of the Serbian literature, such as Đulići uveoci and poetry for children by Jovan Jovanović Zmaj, Santa Maria della Salute by Laza Kostić and several poems by Đura Jakšić. Travelogues by Ljubomir Nenadović introduced a new literary form which emerged in the 19th century. The main themes of realists were the country's social groups and classes, the differences between the urban and rural population and exploration of various types of characters. Realism began developing alongside romanticism, as Jakov Ignjatović and Stefan Mitrov Ljubiša published their works. Svetozar Ćorović depicted his native Herzegovina, where the shift in the Moslem population during the Bosnian crisis and after was most acute. Simo Matavulj and Ivo Ćipiko penned a landscape of the south Adriatic, not always sunny and blue. Ćipiko's lyrical writings warned the reader of deteriorating social conditions, especially The Spiders. Notable realistic authors include Janko Veselinović, Laza Lazarević, Milovan Glišić, Stevan Sremac, Radoje Domanović, Svetolik Ranković, Veljko M. Milićević and Borisav Stanković with his major works, Nečista krv (Impure Blood) and Koštana (drama). Impure Blood is now considered one of the most powerful Serbian novels of the period. Based in the world of the town of Vranje, this place of merchants and landowners was on its way out together with the Turks retreating from the region, after the long struggle for Old Serbia from 1903 to 1911 and the Balkan Wars. Petar Kočić is well known for highly lyrical prose and the quest for the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its unification with Serbia. In Kočić's play The Badger Before the Court, the Austro Hungarian authorities are mocked for their proclivity to rule over other nations. The legacy of Ragusan literature influenced Serbian literature, especially thanks to the members of the Serb Catholic movement in Dubrovnik, such as Matija Ban, Vid Vuletić Vukasović and Ivo Vojnović. The only notable poet of the period was Vojislav Ilić. His poems are not purely realistic but mostly post romantic, although they share several important elements with other realist works. Chief comedy and drama author was Branislav Nušić, who enjoyed popularity in Serbia and the wider region. New literary genres were explored during this period. Lazar Komarčić became a pioneer SF writer.

The literary trend of the first and second decade of the 20th century is referred to as Moderna in Serbian. Its influences came from leading literature movements in Europe, particularly that of symbolism and the psychological novel, but more through mood and aesthetic components rather than of literary craftsmanship. This was manifested in the works of Jovan Dučić and Milan Rakić, the two poet diplomats. The third leading poet at the time was Aleksa Šantić whose poetry was less subtle but filled with pathos, emotion, and sincerity. They were popular for their patriotic, romantic and social overtones. According to literary historian Petar Milošević, Serbian Moderna has produced several masterful poems, chiefly authored by Vladislav Petković Dis, Jovan Dučić, Milan Rakić, Sima Pandurović and the first half of Milutin Bojić's Ode to a Blue Sea Tomb. Other poets such as Veljko Petrović, Milutin Bojić, Milutin Uskoković, Sima Pandurović, Vladislav Petković Dis, Milorad Mitrović, Vladimir Stanimirović, Danica Marković, Velimir Rajić, Milorad Pavlović Krpa, Milan Ćurčin and Milorad Petrović Seljančica each took different paths and showed great sophistication and advancement not only in their craft but in their world view as well. Most of them were pessimistic in their outlook, while at the same time patriotic in the wake of turbulent events that were then culminating in the struggle for Old Serbia, the Balkan Wars, and World War I. These writers were backed by Serbian critics educated in the West. For example, Bogdan Popović, Pavle Popović, Ljubomir Nedić, Slobodan Jovanović, Branko Lazarević, Vojislav Jovanović Marambo and Jovan Skerlić. Skerlić with his chef d'oeuvre, the historical survey of Serbian literature, and Bogdan Popović, with his refined, Western schooled aestheticism, not only weighed the writers' achievements but also pointed out the directions of modern world literature to them. Significant poetry anthologies in Serbian literature which became canonical are: Antologija novije srpske lirike (1911) by Bogdan Popović, Antologija srpske poezije (1956) by Zoran Mišić, and Antologija srpskog pesništva (1964) by Miodrag Pavlović. In the 20th  century, Serbian literature flourished and a myriad of young and talented writers appeared. Jelena Dimitrijević and Isidora Sekulić are two early twentieth century woman writers. Sekulić mostly wrote essays, which were the best in Serbian literature of the time. During the Interwar period a number of new literary movements, styles and ideas emerged. Miloš Crnjanski led the movement called Sumatraism, Rade Drainac headed Hypnotism, and Ljubomir Micić began the international movement, Zenitism. Surrealism lasted for 10 years in Serbian literature with the "Belgrade group" being the leading literary group of the period, headed by Marko Ristić and Koča Popović. Stanislav Vinaver was a noted journalist, polyhistor and author of the avant garde. Rastko Petrović and Momčilo Nastasijević are considered to be the most notable avant garde authors. The most well known authors are: Ivo Andrić (he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961), Miloš Crnjanski, Meša Selimović, Vladan Desnica, Oskar Davičo, Borislav Pekić, Branko Miljković, Danilo Kiš, Milorad Pavić, David Albahari, Miodrag Bulatović, Radomir Konstantinović, Mihailo Lalić, Branko Ćopić, Igor Marojević, Miroslav Josić Višnjić and Dobrica Ćosić, among others. Ivo Andrić created a great opus with works set mostly in his native Bosnia and Herzegovina. Crnjanski was an accomplished poet and prose writer. His works like Lament Over Belgrade, Migrations, A novel of London are considered to be the crowning achievements of the Serbian XX century literature. The most beloved face of Serbian literature was Desanka Maksimović, who for seven decades remained "the leading lady of Yugoslav poetry". Socialist realism was dominant in the period between 1945 and 1948. In comparison with other communist states, Yugoslavia's dogmatic form of Socialist realism was short lived. Several authors of Serbian literature dealt with the more complex life and society and its morals during the Communist period. Some of the notable authors include: Antonije Isaković, Mihailo Lalić, Meša Selimović, Milovan Đilas, Branko Ćopić and Dobrica Ćosić. Starting with the 1970s there was a wave of experimental works, "trick novels" and "found manuscripts". Milorad Pavić, Borislav Pekić, Danilo Kiš, Slobodan Selenić, Svetislav Basara, Boško Petrović (writer), Dragan Velikić and Dobrica Ćosić wrote these works. Miodrag Pavlović was one of the most prominent authors of World literature in the 20th century. After the death of Josip Broz Tito and the start of a crisis in Yugoslavia, the island of Goli Otok became a new subject in literature. Vanredna linija by Čedo Vulević (1990) and Goli Otok by Dragoslav Mihailović were the prominent works dealing with the topic of Goli otok, which was previously deemed undesirable and controversial as a theme. Milorad Pavić is one of the most widely acclaimed Serbian authors, most notably for his Dictionary of the Khazars (Хазарски речник / Hazarski rečnik), which has been translated into 38 languages.

Dušan Kovačević and Biljana Srbljanović are noted contemporary dramatists. Ljubomir Simović is one of the chief poets of the second half of the 20th century and early 21st century. Svetlana Velmar Janković, Grozdana Olujić and Gordana Kuić are the best known female writers in Serbia today. Some of the most notable authors include Zoran Živković, Vladimir Arsenijević, Vladislav Bajac, Igor Marojević and Svetislav Basara. Živković's works have been translated into 20 languages and he was awarded World Fantasy Award. Authors writing in Serbian who have won the European Union Prize for Literature include Jelena Lengold, Uglješa Šajtinac, Darko Tuševljaković, Tanja Stupar Trifunović and Lana Bastašić.