Serbian literature

Serbian literature refers to literature written in Serbian of Prince Miroslav of Hum, the brother of Grand Prince
and/or in Serbia.
Stefan Nemanja (r. 11661196). Miroslavs Gospel explains the origin of the Cyrillic script, the letters in it are
The history of Serbian literature begins with theological
works from the 10th- and 11th centuries, developing in a masterpiece of calligraphy and illustrations are daring
and magnicent miniatures, vignettes and initials. For
the 13th century by Saint Sava and his disciples. With
the fall of Serbia and neighbouring countries in the 15th centuries Miroslavs Gospel has been kept in the Hilandar
monastery of the Serbian Orthodox Church, on Mount
century, there is a gap in the literary history, it is briey
revived in the 18th century by writers in Vojvodina, then Athos, Greece. In 2005 Miroslavs Gospel was entered
under Austro-Hungarian rule. Serbia gains independence onto the UNESCO Memory of the World List.
following the Serbian Revolution (18041815) and Ser- Rastko Nemanji, the youngest son of Stefan Nemanja,
bian literature has since prospered.
was the author of several of the more important medieval
works. He founded the Serbian Orthodox Church, at the
same time writing several theological works, the rst biography (of his father) and the Zakonopravilo, the rst
1 Periodization
constitution of Serbia.

1.1

The Oktoih from 1494 is a Serbian Orthodox Christian

Psalter and one of the rst Serbian books to be published.

Medieval literature

See also: List of medieval Serbian literature

1.2 Oral literature

The oldest Slavic script, Glagolitic, seems to have been
developed in from cursive Greek in Macedonia by the
early South Slavs. Saint Cyril formalized and expanded
the script in the 860s, amid the Christianization of Slavs.
Cyrillic may have been a creation of Cyrils disciples,
perhaps at the Preslav Literary School in the 890s. This
marks the beginning of the literary Slavic language, Old
Church Slavonic.

See also: Oral literature

Medieval Serbian literature was dominated by folk songs
and epics passed orally from generation to generation.
Historic events, such as the "Battle of Kosovo" (Serbian:
/ Boj na Kosovu) in the 14th century play a
major role in the development of the Serbian epic poetry.

The Serbian recension of Old Slavic, Old Serbian, marks

the rst norm of Serbian literary language. From the
11th century, if not earlier, Bosnia was one of Serbian
states, same as Hum (Herzegovina of today), then Zeta
(Montenegro), and Raka (Serbia). The oldest known
works are the Codex Marianus from the 10th century, and
the Grakovi- and Mihanovi fragment from the 11th
century, all written in the Glagolitic script. The oldest
surviving monuments of Serbian literacy are Temnic inscription and Humac tablet dating to the 10th century.
1.1.1

1.3 Baroque
See also: Baroque
Serbian literature in Vojvodina continued building onto
Medieval tradition, inuenced by Russian baroque, which
culminated in the Slavonic-Serbian language. Most important authors of the time are ore Brankovi, Gavril
Stefanovi Venclovi, Jovan Raji and Zaharije Orfelin.

Nemanjic era

The Nemanjic era marks the beginning of extensive 1.4 Pre-Romanticism

works of theology, biography and law (civil, church, constitutions).
See also: Romantism
The oldest Cyrillic work is the Miroslav Gospels from the
late 12th century, one of the most precious and signicant Before the start of a fully established Romanticism condocuments of Serbian cultural heritage. The Gospel Book comitant with the Revolutions of 1848, some Romantiwas written in Hum, by Gligorije the Pupil, in the name cist ideas (e.g. the usage of national language to rally for
1

national unication of all classes) were developing, especially among monastic clergy in Vojvodina. The most
prominent representative of that is Dositej Obradovi,
who gave up his monastic vows and left for decades
of wandering, occasionally studying, teaching, or working in the cultural eld in countries as variegated as
Russia, England, Germany, Albania, Ottoman Turkey
and Italy, and ending up as a Minister of Education in
the Principality of Serbia.
One of the rst countries to win independence from the
Ottoman Empire, the Serbian independence movement
sparked the rst works of modern Serbian literature.
Most notably Petar II Petrovi Njego and his Mountain
Wreath of 1847, represent a cornerstone of the Serbian
epic, which was based on the rhythms of the folk songs.
Furthermore, Vuk Stefanovi Karadi, a friend of J. W.
von Goethe, became the rst person to collect folk songs
and epics and to publish them in a book. Vuk Karadi is
regarded as the premier Serbian philologist, who together
with uro Danii played a major role in reforming the
modern Serbian language.

1.5

Andric, Ivo, The Days of the Consuls, translated by

Celia Hawkesworth, Dereta, 2008.
Bajac, Vladislav. Hamam Balkania, translated by
Randall A. Major, Geopoetica Publishing, 2009.
Kis, Danilo, A Tomb for Boris Davidovich, translated by Duska Mikic-Mitchell, Penguin Books,
1980.
Pekic, Borislav, The Time of Miracles, translated
by Lovett F. Edwards, Houghton Miin Harcourt,
1976.
Pekic, Borislav, The Houses of Belgrade, translated
by Bernard Johnson, Houghton Miin Harcourt,
1978.
Pekic, Borislav, How to Quiet a Vampir: A Sotie
(Writings from an Unbound Europe),translated by
Stephen M. Dickey and Bogdan Rakic, Northwestern University Press, 2005
Selimovic, Mesa, Death and the Dervish, translated
by Bogdan Rakic and Stephen M. Dickey, Northwestern University Press, 1996.

Modern

In the 20th century, Serbian literature ourished and a

myriad of young and talented writers appeared.
The most well known authors are Ivo Andri, Milo
Crnjanski, Mea Selimovi, Borislav Peki, Branko
Miljkovi, Danilo Ki, Milorad Pavi, David Albahari, Miodrag Bulatovi, Dobrica osi, Zoran ivkovi,
Vladimir Arsenijevi, Vladislav Bajac and many others. Jelena Dimitrijevi and Isidora Sekuli are two
early twentieth century women writers. Svetlana VelmarJankovi and Gordana Kui are the best known female
novelists in Serbia today.
Milorad Pavi is perhaps the most widely acclaimed Serbian author today, most notably for his Dictionary of the
Khazars ( / Hazarski renik), which has
been translated into 24 languages.

1.6

EXTERNAL LINKS

English translations of some of the important pieces of modern Serbian literature

Andric, Ivo, The Bridge on the Drina, The University

of Chicago Press, 1977.
Andric, Ivo, Damned Yard and Other Stories , edited
and translated by Celia Hawkesworth, Dufour Editions, 1992.
Andric, Ivo, The Slave Girl and Other Stories, edited
and translated by Radmila Gorup, Central European
University Press, 2009.

2 See also
Bulgarian literature
Croatian literature

3 External links
Selected Literatures and Authors Page - Serbian,
Montenegrin, and Yugoslav Literature
A brief overview of Serbian Literature
Slavic Literature Resources from the Slavic Reference Service, University of Illinois, UrbanaChampaign
Istorijska biblioteka: Serbian Medieval Literature
A Quick Guide to Serbian Literature (in English)

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

4.1

Text

Serbian literature Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbian%20literature?oldid=658777655 Contributors: Nikola Smolenski, Joy,

Millosh, Hippojazz, Djordjes, Man vyi, Hadija, Woohookitty, Ninam~enwiki, BD2412, , Victormalt, Ajdebre,
SmackBot, McGeddon, Antidote, Buck O'Nollege, Zvonko, Clicketyclack, Vitriden, Biblbroks, Plantago, BokicaK, BigChicken, Luzzifer,
Mashamash, Lsamurai, McM.bot, EmxBot, StAnselm, Ivan tambuk, VVVladimir, JL-Bot, BOTarate, Klako, Addbot, Mike Babic,
Lightbot, Luckas-bot, Yobot, Nslazstc, AnomieBOT, ArthurBot, Hfsulliv, Wstenfuchs, J04n, FE Freak does the Power 5, Anna Roy,
Annabelleigh, Vojvodaes, Er-vet-en, Martijnk, Pavic, Zoupan, Rekonstruh, Anthrophilos, ChrisGualtieri, Robertbol, Epicgenius and
Anonymous: 30

4.2

Images

File:Commons-logo.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: ? Contributors: ? Original

artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Serbia.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Flag_of_Serbia.svg License: Public domain Contributors: From http://www.parlament.gov.rs/content/cir/o_skupstini/simboli/simboli.asp. Original artist: sodipodi.com
File:Question_book-new.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/99/Question_book-new.svg License: Cc-by-sa-3.0
Contributors:
Created from scratch in Adobe Illustrator. Based on Image:Question book.png created by User:Equazcion Original artist:
Tkgd2007
File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg License:
CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors:
Wiki_letter_w.svg Original artist: Wiki_letter_w.svg: Jarkko Piiroinen
File:Wikisource-logo.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0
Contributors: Rei-artur Original artist: Nicholas Moreau

4.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0