Serbian literature ( sr-Cyrl, Српска књижевност), refers to
literature
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
and all other
lands
Land is the solid surface of the Earth that is not covered by water.
Land, lands, The Land, or the Lands may also refer to:
Entertainment and media Film
* ''Land'' (1987 film), a British television film by Barry Collins
* ''Land'' (2018 film), ...
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
Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...
. Serbia gained independence following the
Serbian Revolution
The Serbian Revolution ( sr, Српска револуција / ''Srpska revolucija'') was a national uprising and constitutional change in Serbia that took place between 1804 and 1835, during which this territory evolved from an Ottoman prov ...
(1804–1815) and Serbian literature has since prospered. Several Serbian writers have achieved international fame.
History
Medieval and post-medieval literature
;Medieval
Old Church Slavonic
Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic () was the first Slavic languages, Slavic literary language.
Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with Standard language, standardizing the lan ...
literature was created based on the Byzantine model since the time of
Constantine the Great
Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...
, to be exact. At first, church services and biblical texts were translated into Slavic, and soon afterward other works about Christian life values including works in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
from which they attained necessary knowledge in various fields. Although
Christian literature
Christian literature is the literary aspect of Christian media, and it constitutes a huge body of extremely varied writing.
Scripture
While falling within the strict definition of literature, the Bible is not generally considered literature. Ho ...
educated the Slavs, it did not have an overwhelming influence on original works. Instead, a more narrow aspect, the genres, and poetics with which the
cult of saints
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Orth ...
could be celebrated were used, owing to the Slavic celebration of
Cyril and Methodius
Cyril (born Constantine, 826–869) and Methodius (815–885) were two brothers and Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs, they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs".
They are credited wit ...
and their Slav disciples as saints and those responsible for Slavic literacy. The ritual genres were
hagiographies
A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...
,
homiletics
In religious studies, homiletics ( grc, ὁμιλητικός ''homilētikós'', from ''homilos'', "assembled crowd, throng") is the application of the general principles of rhetoric to the specific art of public preaching. One who practices or ...
and
hymn
A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...
ography, known in Slavic as ''žitije'' (vita), ''pohvala'' (eulogy), ''službe'' (church services), effectively meaning prose, rhetoric, and poetry. The fact that the first Slavic works were in the canonical form of ritual literature, and that the literary language was the ritual Slavic language, defined further development. Medieval Slavic literature, especially Serbian, was modeled on this classical Slavic literature. The new themes in Serbian literature were all created within the classic ritual genres.
Serbian medieval literature is very rich with around 500 separate genres. Medieval works are mostly a mix of history, legal theory, theology, writing, and
philology
Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...
. While there were several works of poetry written in Serbian literature in the Middle Ages, there are only a few dramas; published novels were mostly adaptations and translations. The earliest writings in Serbian were religious works. Religions were historically the first institutions that persisted despite political and military upheavals. They were the first organizations to see the value in recording in writing their history and policies. Serbia's early religious documents date back to the 10th and 11th centuries. In the 12th century,
Saint Sava
Saint Sava ( sr, Свети Сава, Sveti Sava, ; Old Church Slavonic: ; gr, Άγιος Σάββας; 1169 or 1174 – 14 January 1236), known as the Enlightener, was a Serbian prince and Orthodox monk, the first Archbishop of the autocephalou ...
developed the art form of religious writing. He worked to bring about an artistic aspect to these writings, also based on earlier works.
Notable medieval authors include among others:
Saint Sava
Saint Sava ( sr, Свети Сава, Sveti Sava, ; Old Church Slavonic: ; gr, Άγιος Σάββας; 1169 or 1174 – 14 January 1236), known as the Enlightener, was a Serbian prince and Orthodox monk, the first Archbishop of the autocephalou ...
,
Jefimija
Jefimija ( sr-Cyrl, Јефимија, ; 1349–1405), secular name Jelena Mrnjavčević (Serbian Cyrillic: Јелена Мрњавчевић, or ), daughter of Vojihna and widow of Jovan Uglješa Mrnjavčević, is considered the first female Serb ...
,
Stefan Lazarević
Stefan Lazarević ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Лазаревић, 1377 – 19 July 1427), also known as Stefan the Tall ( sr, Стефан Високи / ''Stefan Visoki''), was the ruler of Serbia as prince (1389–1402) and despot (1402–1427), ...
and
Constantine of Kostenets Constantine of Kostenets ( bg, Константин Костенечки, Konstantin Kostenechki; born ca. 1380, died after 1431), also known as Constantine the Philosopher ( sr, Константин Филозоф), was a medieval Bulgarian scholar ...
.
This period has produced several great works by authors which have since become classics of the national literature.
Medieval literature has also influenced a number of modern poets, such as Desanka Maksimović, Miodrag Pavlović, Vasko Popa and Matija Bećković.
;Post-medieval
Folk songs and epics passed from generation to generation orally dominated Post-medieval Serbian literature. Historic events, such as the
Battle of Kosovo
The Battle of Kosovo ( tr, Kosova Savaşı; sr, Косовска битка) took place on 15 June 1389 between an army led by the Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović and an invading army of the Ottoman Empire under the command of Sultan ...
in the 14th century, play a major role in the development of
Serbian epic poetry
Serbian epic poetry ( sr, Српске епске народне песме, Srpske epske narodne pesme) is a form of epic poetry created by Serbs originating in today's Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia. The ...
.
Works of epic poetry are considered the best Serbian folk literature, and are a key component in Serbian
national consciousness
National identity is a person's identity or sense of belonging to one or more states or to one or more nations. It is the sense of "a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language". National identity ...
, identity and mentality. The influence of epic poetry continued even after the poems were written and printed. Among others, noted gusle players and authors of epic poetry are , Old man Raško, Blind Živana,
Tešan Podrugović
Tešan Podrugović ( sr, Тешан Подруговић) (Kazanci, Gacko, Herzegovina, Ottoman Empire 1775 — Sremski Karlovci, Austrian Empire 1815) was Serbian merchant, hayduk, storyteller and gusle player ( sr, guslar) who participated i ...
and Blind Jeca. and others.
The oldest known, entirely fictional poems, make up the "Non-historic Cycle". They are followed by poems inspired by events before, during, and after the Battle of Kosovo. The special cycles are dedicated to Serbian legendary hero, Marko Kraljević, then about
hajduks
A hajduk ( hu, hajdúk, plural of ) is a type of irregular infantry found in Central and parts of Southeast Europe from the late 16th to mid 19th centuries. They have reputations ranging from bandits to freedom fighters depending on time, ...
(infantry) and
uskoks
The Uskoks ( hr, Uskoci, , singular: ; notes on naming) were irregular soldiers in Habsburg Croatia that inhabited areas on the eastern Adriatic coast and surrounding territories during the Ottoman wars in Europe. Bands of Uskoks fought a g ...
(soldiers), and the liberation of Serbia in the 19th century. Some of the best known folk ballads are ''The Death of the Mother of the Jugović Family'' and '' The Mourning Song of the Noble Wife of the Asan Aga'' (1646), translated into European languages by
Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...
,
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...
,
Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...
and Mérimée. One of the most notable tales from Serbian folklore is "
The Nine Peahens and the Golden Apples
"The Nine Peahens and the Golden Apples" (''Zlatna jabuka i devet paunica'') is a work of Serbian epic poetry. It is classified as Aarne-Thompson type 400*, "The Swan Maiden", and ATU 400, "The Quest for the Lost Wife".
It was published for the ...
Crnojević printing house
The Crnojević printing house ( sr, Штампарија Црнојевића, Štamparija Crnojevića) or Cetinje printing house ( sr, Цетињска штампарија, Cetinjska štamparija), was the first printing house in Southeastern Eur ...
,
Vuković printing house
The Vuković printing house ( sr, Вуковићева штампарија) was 16th century printing house established in Venice by Božidar Vuković.
In the first period, when printing was organized by Božidar Vuković, the editors and printer ...
,
Goražde printing house
The Goražde printing house ( sr, Горажданска штампарија or ) was one of the earliest printing houses among the Serbs,Biggins & Crayne 2000, pp. 85–86 and the first in the territory of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina (then ...
and the Belgrade printing house mostly active outside modern-day Serbia and in Venice. These printing houses and individual publishers were the only sources of books in Serbian during the period without the national state.
Baroque, Enlightenment and Classicism
Serbian literature in
Vojvodina
Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...
continued building on Medieval tradition, influenced by Old Serbian and
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
, which culminated in the
Slavonic-Serbian language
Slavonic-Serbian (славяносербскій, ''slavjanoserbskij''), Slavo-Serbian, or Slaveno-Serbian (славено-сербскiй, ''slaveno-serbskij''; sr, славеносрпски''/slavenosrpski'') was a literary language used by ...
. 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 Gavril is a variant of the name Gabriel, may refer to:
*Gavril Atanasov, Macedonian icon painter from Berovo in the 19th century
*Gavril Bănulescu-Bodoni (1746–1821), Romanian clergyman who served as Metropolitan of Moldavia
*Gavril Balint (born ...
, who wrote numerous works in several genres and started an early reform of the language. Other important authors of the time include:
Dimitrije Ljubavić Dimitrije Ljubavić ( sr, Димитрије Љубавић, Dimitrije Ljubavić - Venice, January 1519 – Brașov, 1564) was a Serbian Orthodox deacon, humanist, writer and printer who together with German reformer Philip Melanchthon initiated th ...
,
Đorđe Branković
Đorđe Branković ( sr-Cyrl, Ђорђе Бранковић; anglicized as ''George''; also known as Saint Maksim; b. 1461 – d. 1516) was the last male member of the Branković dynasty, and titular Despot of Serbia from 1486 to 1497. The titl ...
,
Andrija Zmajević
Andrija Zmajević ( cyrl, Андрија Змајевић; 6 June 1628 - 7 September 1694) was a Baroque poet, the Archbishop of Antivari and a theologian.
Biography
Zmajević was born in Perast, in the Bay of Kotor, at the time part of the Repu ...
,
Vasilije III Petrović-Njegoš Vasilije () is a South Slavic masculine given name, a variant of Greek given name ''Vassilios'' ("Basil"). It may refer to:
* Vasilije, Serbian Patriarch (), Serbian cleric born Vasilije Jovanović-Brkić
* Vasilije Calasan (born 1981), French rac ...
,
Mojsije Putnik
Mojsije Putnik ( sr-cyr, Мојсије Путник, ) (1728–1790) was the Metropolitan of Sremski Karlovci between 1781–90, during the reign of Joseph II. He was known for publishing the Toleranzpatent (tolerance patent) meant to ensure equ ...
Nikanor Grujić
Nikanor Grujić (Serbian Cyrillic: Никанор Грујић; December 12, 1810 – April 20, 1887) was the Serbian Orthodox bishop of Pakrac, the ''locum tenens'' Serbian Patriarch, the Austro–Hungarian emperor's Privy Councilor, knight of th ...
,
Jovan Subotić
Jovan Subotić (1817–1886) was a Serbian lawyer, writer, politician and academic.
Biography
Jovan Subotić was born at Dobrinci in Srem on 30 January 1817. After completing his high school (gymnasium) education in Sremski Karlovci and Segedin ...
,
Jovan Rajić
Jovan Rajić ( sr-cyr, Јован Рајић; September 21, 1726 – December 22, 1801) was a Serbian writer, historian, theologian, and pedagogue, considered one of the greatest Serbian academics of the 18th century. He was one of the most notab ...
,
Zaharije Orfelin
Zaharije Orfelin ( sr-Cyrl, Захаријe Орфелин; 1726 – 19 January 1785) was a Serbian polymath who lived and worked in the Austrian Monarchy and Venice.
Works
*''Pesan novosadelanuje za gradjanku gospodicnu Femku'', between ...
,
Simeon Piščević
Simeon Piščević (Šid, 4 September 1731 Imperial Russia, November 1798) was a Serbian memoirist and imperial Russian general.
Biography
Originally from the famed Serbian Paštrovići tribe, the Piščević family took their name from their o ...
,
Gerasim Zelić
Gerasim Zelić ( sr, Герасим Зелић; 1752–1828) was a Serbian Orthodox Church archimandrite, traveller and writer. His chief work is ''Žitije'' (Lives), in three volumes. They are memoirs of his travels throughout western Europe, ...
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
Sremski Karlovci ( sr-cyrl, Сремски Карловци, ; hu, Karlóca; tr, Karlofça) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is situated on the banks of the Danub ...
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
The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...
a new cultural model was formed, accompanied by the historical reforms undertaken by
Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position ''suo jure'' (in her own right). ...
. Authors of the Enlightenment include
Dositej Obradović
Dositej Obradović ( sr-Cyrl, Доситеј Обрадовић; 17 February 1739 – 7 April 1811) was a Serbian writer, biographer, diarist, philosopher, pedagogue, educational reformer, linguist, polyglot and the first minister of education ...
,
Atanasije Stojković
Atanasije Stojković (September 20, 1773 in Ruma, Austrian Empire – September 25, 1832 in Kharkov, Imperial Russia) was a Serbian, Austrian and Russian writer, pedagogue, scholar, physicist, mathematician and astronomer of Serb origin. He is con ...
, 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
Dositej Obradović ( sr-Cyrl, Доситеј Обрадовић; 17 February 1739 – 7 April 1811) was a Serbian writer, biographer, diarist, philosopher, pedagogue, educational reformer, linguist, polyglot and the first minister of education ...
.
Classicism
Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aestheti ...
was introduced with the poems of
Aleksije Vezilić Aleksije Vezilić (17 March 1753, in Stari Ker, now Zmajevo – 12 January 1792, in Novi Sad) was a Serbian lyric poet who introduced the German version of the Enlightenment to the Serbs.
Biography
Vezilić was born in a Serbian village called Sta ...
, who also advocated the core values of the Age of Enlightenment. The most notable dramatist of the period was
Jovan Sterija Popović
Jovan Sterija Popović (; sr-cyr, Јован Стерија Поповић; 13 January 1806 – 10 March 1856) was a Serbian playwright, poet, lawyer, philosopher and pedagogue who taught at the Belgrade Higher School. Sterija was recognized by ...
, 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
Lukijan Mušicki ( sr-cyr, Лукијан Мушицки, ; 27 January 1777 – 15 March 1837) was a Serbian Orthodox bishop, writer and poet. From 1828 he was bishop of Karlovac
Karlovac () is a city in central Croatia. According to the 2011 ...
.
Romanticism and Realism
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
Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...
.
After winning independence from the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, 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
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
J. W. von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treati ...
and
Leopold von Ranke
Leopold von Ranke (; 21 December 1795 – 23 May 1886) was a German historian and a founder of modern source-based history. He was able to implement the seminar teaching method in his classroom and focused on archival research and the analysis of ...
, became the first person to collect and publish folk songs and epics in book form.
Vuk Karadžić
Vuk Stefanović Karadžić ( sr-Cyrl, Вук Стефановић Караџић, ; 6 November 1787 (26 October OS)7 February 1864) was a Serbian philologist, anthropologist and linguist. He was one of the most important reformers of the moder ...
is regarded as the premier Serbian
philologist
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...
, who together with
Đuro Daničić
Đuro Daničić ( sr-Cyrl, Ђуро Даничић, ; 4 April 1825 – 17 November 1882), born Đorđe Popović ( sr-cyr, Ђорђе Поповић) and also known as Đura Daničić ( sr-Cyrl, Ђура Даничић), was a Serbian philologist, ...
, played a major role in reforming the modern
Serbian language
Serbian (, ) is the standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Serbs. It is the official and national language of Serbia, one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina and co-official in Montenegro and Kos ...
and alphabet. Following the language reforms made by Karadžić, several authors like
Sima Milutinović Sarajlija
Simeon "Sima" Milutinović "Sarajlija" ( sr-cyr, Симеон "Сима" Милутиновић "Сарајлија", ; 3 October 1791 – 30 December 1847) was a poet, hajduk, translator, historian and adventurer. Literary critic Jovan Skerlić ...
and
Matija Nenadović
Matija Nenadović ( sr-cyrl, Матија Ненадовић, or Mateja Nenadović sr-cyr, Матеја Ненадовић; 26 February 1777 – 11 December 1854), also known as Prota Mateja, was a Serbian archpriest, writer, and politician who ...
published their works, which influenced other authors.
Branko Radičević
Aleksije "Branko" Radičević ( sr-Cyrl, Алексије Бранко Радичевић, ; 28 March 1824 – 1 July 1853) was a Serbian poet who wrote in the period of Romanticism.
Biography
Branko Radičević was born in Slavonski Brod on 1 ...
was the initiator of
Romantic poetry
Romantic poetry is the poetry of the Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. It involved a reaction against prevailing Enlightenment ideas of the 18t ...
. 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
Jovan Grčić Milenko ( sr-cyr, Јован Грчић Миленко; 15 November 1846 – 25 May 1875) was a Serbs, Serbian poet, writer and a physician. The freshness of his lyrical poetry places him in the succession of Branko Radičević and ...
, 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
Jovan Jovanović Zmaj ( sr-cyr, Јован Јовановић Змаj, pronounced ; 24 November 1833 – 1 June 1904) was a Serbian poet.
Jovanović worked as a physician; he wrote in many poetry genres, including love, lyric, patriotic, poli ...
, ''Santa Maria della Salute'' by
Laza Kostić
Lazar "Laza" Kostić ( sr-Cyrl, Лазар "Лаза" Костић; 12 February 1841 – 27 November 1910) was a Serbian poet, prose writer, lawyer, aesthetician, journalist, publicist, and politician who is considered to be one of the greatest ...
and several poems by
Đura Jakšić
Georgije "Đura" Jakšić ( sr-Cyrl, Георгије Ђура Јакшић; 27 July 1832 – 16 November 1878) was a Serbian poet, painter, writer, dramatist and bohemian.
Biography
Đura Jakšić was born as Georgije Jakšić in Srpska Crnja, ...
.
Travelogues
Travelogue may refer to:
Genres
* Travel literature, a record of the experiences of an author travelling
* Travel documentary
A travel documentary is a documentary film, television program, or online series that describes travel in general or t ...
by
Ljubomir Nenadović
Ljubomir Nenadović (14 September 1826 — 21 January 1895) was Serbian writer, poet, translator, diplomat, minister of education and member of the Serbian Royal Academy.
Family
Ljubomir was born in Brankovina, Valjevo, Principality of Serbia ...
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
Jakov Ignjatović ( sr-cyr, Јаков Игњатовић, 8 December 1822 – 5 July 1889) was a novelist and prose writer, who primarily wrote in Serbian but also in Hungarian. He was also an active member of Matica Srpska.
Biography
Jakov Ig ...
Svetozar Ćorović
Svetozar Ćorović (29 May 1875 – 17 April 1919) was a Bosnia and Herzegovina novelist.
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
Lazar "Laza" Lazarević ( sr-cyr, Лазаp Лаза Лазаревић, 13 May 1851 – 10 January 1891) was a Serbian writer, psychiatrist, and neurologist.
Medical career
Lazarević was born in Šabac in 1851. He studied medicine at the U ...
,
Milovan Glišić
Milovan Glišić (6 January 1847 – 20 January 1908) was a Serbian writer, dramatist, translator, and literary theorist. He is sometimes referred to as ''the Serbian Gogol''.
Legacy
Glišić is considered to be one of the best translator ...
,
Stevan Sremac
Stevan Sremac ( sr-cyr, Стеван Сремац, ; 11 November 1855 – 13 August 1906) was a Serbian realist and comedy writer. He is considered one of the best truly humorous Serbian writers.
Biography
Stevan Sremac was born in Senta in ...
,
Radoje Domanović
Radoje Domanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Радоје Домановић; February 16, 1873 – August 17, 1908) was a Serbian writer and teacher, most famous for his satirical short stories. His adult years were a constant fight against tuberculosis. ...
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
Vranje ( sr-Cyrl, Врање, ) is a city in Southern Serbia and the administrative center of the Pčinja District. The municipality of Vranje has a population of 83,524 and its urban area has 60,485 inhabitants.
Vranje is the economical, polit ...
, 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
Old Serbia ( sr, Стара Србија, Stara Srbija) is a Serbian historiographical term that is used to describe the territory that according to the dominant school of Serbian historiography in the late 19th century formed the core of the ...
from 1903 to 1911 and the
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...
.
Petar Kočić
Petar Kočić ( sr-Cyrl, Петар Кочић; 29 June 1877 – 27 August 1916) was a Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Serb writer, activist and politician. Born in rural northwestern Bosnia (region), Bosnia in the final days of Ot ...
is well known for highly lyrical prose and the quest for the independence of
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
and its unification with Serbia. In Kočić's play ''The Badger Before the Court'', the
Austro-Hungarian
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
authorities are mocked for their proclivity to rule over other nations.
The legacy of
Ragusan Ragusan may refer to:
* citizen of the Republic of Ragusa
hr, Sloboda se ne prodaje za sve zlato svijeta it, La libertà non si vende nemmeno per tutto l'oro del mondo"Liberty is not sold for all the gold in the world"
, population_estimate ...
literature influenced Serbian literature, especially thanks to the members of the Serb-Catholic movement in
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...
, such as
Matija Ban
Matija Ban ( sr-Cyrl, Матија Бан; 6 December 1818 – 14 March 1903) was a Serbo- Croatian poet, dramatist, and playwright. He is known as one of the earliest proponents of the Serb-Catholic movement in Dubrovnik.
Ban was born in near ...
,
Vid Vuletić Vukasović
Vid Vuletić Vukasović ( sr-Cyrl, Вид Вулетић Вукасовић; 16 December 1853 - 10 July 1933) was a writer and early ethnographer from Dubrovnik. He was part of the Serb-Catholic movement in Dubrovnik.
Biography
Born in 1853 in B ...
and
Ivo Vojnović
Ivo Vojnović (9 October 1857 – 30 August 1929) was a writer from Dubrovnik.
Biography
Vojnović was born in Dubrovnik as the first son of Count Konstantin Vojnović (1832–1903) and Maria de Serragli (1836–1922) on 9 October 1857 in Du ...
.
The only notable poet of the period was
Vojislav Ilić
Vojislav Ilić (Serbian Cyrillic: Војислав Илић; 14 April 1860 – 21 January 1894) was a Serbian poet, known for his finely chiseled verse. His poetry exemplifies a classic example of modern Serbian language and features the standar ...
. 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
Branislav Nušić ( sr-cyr, Бранислав Нушић, ; – 19 January 1938) was a Serbian playwright, satirist, essayist, novelist and founder of modern rhetoric in Serbia. He also worked as a journalist and a civil servant.
Life
Bra ...
, who enjoyed popularity in Serbia and the wider region. New literary genres were explored during this period. Lazar Komarčić became a pioneer SF writer.
Modern literature
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
Symbolism or symbolist may refer to:
Arts
* Symbolism (arts), a 19th-century movement rejecting Realism
** Symbolist movement in Romania, symbolist literature and visual arts in Romania during the late 19th and early 20th centuries
** Russian sy ...
and the
psychological novel
In literature, psychological fiction (also psychological realism) is a narrative genre that emphasizes interior characterization and motivation to explore the spiritual, emotional, and mental lives of the characters. The mode of narration examin ...
, but more through mood and aesthetic components rather than of literary craftsmanship. This was manifested in the works of
Jovan Dučić
Jovan Dučić ( sr-cyr, Јован Дучић, ; 17 February 1871 – 7 April 1943) was a Herzegovinian Serb poet-diplomat and academic.
He is one of the most influential Serbian lyricists and modernist poets. Dučić published his first collec ...
and
Milan Rakić
Milan Rakić (Serbian Cyrillic: Милан Ракић; 18 September 1876 – 30 June 1938) was a Serbian poet-diplomat and academic.
He focused on dodecasyllable and hendecasyllable verse, which allowed him to achieve beautiful rhythm and rhyme ...
, the two
poet-diplomat
Poet-diplomats are poets who have also served their countries as diplomats. The best known poet-diplomats are perhaps Geoffrey Chaucer and Thomas Wyatt; the category also includes recipients of the Nobel Prize in Literature: Ivo Andrić, Gabriel ...
s. The third leading poet at the time was
Aleksa Šantić
Aleksa Šantić ( sr-Cyrl, Алекса Шантић, (); 27 May 1868 – 2 February 1924) was a poet from Bosnia and Herzegovina. His poetry reflecting both the urban culture of the region. The most common themes of his poems are social injus ...
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
Vladislav Petković Dis ( sr-cyr, Владислав Петковић Дис; 10 March 1880 – 30 May 1917) was a Serbian impressionist poet. He died in 1917 on a boat on the Ionian Sea after being hit by a German torpedo making him also remembe ...
, Jovan Dučić, Milan Rakić,
Sima Pandurović
Sima Pandurović ( sr-cyr, Сима Пандуровић; 14 April 1883 – 27 August 1960) was a Serbian poet, part of the Symbolist movement in European poetry at the time. He died in Belgrade on 27 August 1960.
Works
;Selected works
*, 190 ...
and the first half of
Milutin Bojić
Milutin Bojić ( sr-Cyrl, Милутин Бојић; – ) was a Serbian war poet, theatre critic, playwright, and soldier.
A native of Belgrade, he began writing poetry at an early age and published a number of literary reviews under a p ...
Veljko Petrović
Veljko Petrović ( sr-cyr, Вељко Петровић, ; c. 1780 – 1813), known simply as Hajduk Veljko (Хајдук Вељко, ǎjduːk v̞ɛ̌ːʎkɔ, was one of the '' vojvodas'' (military commanders) of the Serbian Revolutionary force ...
Danica Marković
Danica Marković (Serbian Cyrillic: Даница Марковић; 1 October 1879 – 9 July 1932) was the first modern Serbian woman lyric poet. She was also important for her feminist writings. Her pseudonym was Zvezdanka.
Biography
The fate of ...
,
Velimir Rajić
Velimir Rajić ( sr, Велимир Рајић; 20 January 1879 – 9 October 1915) was a Serbian lyric poet.
Biography
Velimir Rajić was born at Aleksinac, Principality of Serbia, on 20 January 1879. He finished elementary school, gymnasium and ...
, 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
Old Serbia ( sr, Стара Србија, Stara Srbija) is a Serbian historiographical term that is used to describe the territory that according to the dominant school of Serbian historiography in the late 19th century formed the core of the ...
, the Balkan Wars, and World War I. These writers were backed by Serbian critics educated in the West. For example,
Bogdan Popović
Bogdan Popović (Serbian Cyrillic: Богдан Поповић; 20 December 1863 – 7 November 1944) was one of the most important literary critics and university professors in Serbia and later Yugoslavia and an academic. He was the brother of ...
,
Pavle Popović
Pavle Popović ( sr-cyr, Павле Поповић; 16 April 1868 – 4 June 1939) was a Serbian literary critic and historian, a professor and rector at the University of Belgrade. He is the brother of Bogdan Popović, also a well-known and equa ...
,
Ljubomir Nedić
Ljubomir Nedić ( sr, Љубомир Недић; 25 April 1858 – 29 July 1902) was a Serbian philosopher and literary critic.
Having received academic training in philosophy at the University of Leipzig, Nedić taught at the Belgrade Higher Sc ...
,
Slobodan Jovanović
Slobodan Jovanović ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Јовановић; 3 December 1869 – 12 December 1958) was a Serbian and Yugoslav writer, historian, lawyer, philosopher, literary critic, diplomat, politician and one of the most prominent int ...
,
Branko Lazarević
Branko Lazarević (Serbian Cyrillic: Бранко Лазаревић; born 14 May 1984) is a Serbian former professional footballer who played as a defender.
Club career
Born in Gračanica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lazarević played in the you ...
,
Vojislav Jovanović Marambo Vojislav M. Jovanović Marambo (October 12, 1884 - June 20, 1968) was a Serbian drama critic, playwright, historian, university professor, diplomat and research scholar. He first made a name for himself as a drama critic, playwright, and historian o ...
and
Jovan Skerlić
Jovan Skerlić (, ; 20 August 1877 – 15 May 1914) was a Serbian writer and literary critic.''Jovan Skerlić u srpskoj književnosti 1877–1977: Zbornik radova''. Posebna izdanja, Institut za knjizevnost i umetnost, Belgrade. He is seen as on ...
. 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.
Sinficant 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
Jelena Dimitrijević (27 March 1862 – 10 April 1945) was a Serbian short story writer, novelist, poet, traveller, social worker, feminist, and a polyglot. She is considered to be the first woman in modern Serbian history to publish a work ...
and
Isidora Sekulić
Isidora Sekulić ( sr-cyr, Исидора Секулић, 16 February 1877 – 5 April 1958) was a Serbian writer, novelist, essayist, polyglot and art critic. She was "the first woman academic in the history of Serbia".
Biography
Sekulić was b ...
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
In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...
a number of new literary movements, styles and ideas emerged. Miloš Crnjanski led the movement called Sumatraism,
Rade Drainac
Rade Drainac ( sr-Cyrl, Раде Драинац; 26 August 1899 – 1 May 1943) was a Serbian poet.
Biography
He was born on 26 August 1899 as Radojko Jovanović in Trbunje, a village in the municipality of Blace. He studied in Serbia and live ...
headed Hypnotism, and
Ljubomir Micić
Ljubomir Micić ( sr-cyr, Љубомир Мицић, 15 November 1895 – 14 June 1971) was a Serbs, Serbian poet, writer, critic, editor and actor. He was the founder of the avant-garde movement Zenitism and its magazine ''Zenit''. Both he and his ...
began the international movement,
Zenitism
Zenitism ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Zenitizam, Зенитизам) was an avant-garde art movement in Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia that lasted from 1921 until 1926, first appearing in Zagreb from 1921 to 1924 and from 1924 in Belgrade ...
.
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
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
Konstantin "Koča" Popović ( sr-cyrl, Константин "Коча" Поповић; 14 March 1908 – 20 October 1992) was a Yugoslav politician and communist volunteer in the Spanish Civil War, 1937–1939 and Divisional Commander of the Fir ...
.
Stanislav Vinaver
Stanislav Vinaver ( sr-Cyrl, Станислав Винавер; 1 March 1891 – 1 August 1955) was a Serbian writer, poet, translator and journalist. Vinaver was born to affluent Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish parents that had immigrated to Se ...
was a noted journalist, polyhistor and author of the avant-garde.
Rastko Petrović
Rastko Petrović (1898-1949) was a Serbian poet and writer.
After serving in the Serbian Army in World War I, he studied law in Paris and became a diplomat. Based at the Yugoslav embassy in Washington, D.C. during World War II, he remained in ...
and
Momčilo Nastasijević
Momčilo Nastasijević (23 September 1894 – 13 February 1938) was a Serbian poet, novelist and dramatist born in Gornji Milanovac in Serbia, and whose work was issued during the interwar period. He spent most of his adult life, however, teachi ...
are considered to be the most notable avant-garde authors.
The most well known authors are:
Ivo Andrić
Ivo Andrić ( sr-Cyrl, Иво Андрић, ; born Ivan Andrić; 9 October 1892 – 13 March 1975) was a Yugoslav novelist, poet and short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961. His writings dealt mainly with life in ...
(he was awarded the
Nobel Prize in Literature
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, caption =
, awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature
, presenter = Swedish Academy
, holder = Annie Ernaux (2022)
, location = Stockholm, Sweden
, year = 1901
, ...
in 1961),
Miloš Crnjanski
Miloš Crnjanski ( sr-cyr, Милош Црњански, ; 26 October 1893 – 30 November 1977) was a Serbian writer and poet of the expressionist wing of Serbian modernism, author, and a diplomat.
Biography
Crnjanski was born in Csongrád (mode ...
,
Meša Selimović
Mehmed "Meša" Selimović (; ; 26 April 1910 – 11 July 1982) was a Yugoslav writer, whose novel '' Death and the Dervish'' is one of the most important literary works in post-World War II Yugoslavia. Some of the main themes in his works are the ...
,
Vladan Desnica
Vladan Desnica ( sr-cyr, Владан Десница; 17 September 1905 – 4 March 1967) was a Yugoslav writer and translator.
Life
He was born in Zadar, Austria-Hungary to Uroš Desnica (von Desnica), a politician from the noble Orthodox Serbia ...
,
Oskar Davičo
Oskar Davičo ( sr-cyr, Оскар Давичо; 18 January 1909 — 30 September 1989) was a Serbian and Yugoslavian novelist and poet. A leading literary figure of his generation, he was one of the most acclaimed Serbian surrealist writers, but ...
,
Borislav Pekić
Borislav Pekić ( sr-cyr, Борислав Пекић, ; 4 February 1930 – 2 July 1992) was a Serbian and Yugoslav writer and political activist.
He was born in 1930, to a prominent family in Montenegro, at that time part of the Kingdom of Yugo ...
Danilo Kiš
Danilo Kiš (; born Dániel Kiss; 22 February 1935 – 15 October 1989) was a Yugoslav novelist, short story writer, essayist and translator. His best known works include ''Hourglass'', ''A Tomb for Boris Davidovich'' and '' The Encyclopedia of ...
,
Milorad Pavić
Milorad Pavić ( sr-Cyrl, Милорад Павић, ; 15 October 1929 – 30 November 2009) was a Serbian novelist, poet, short story writer, and literary historian. Born in Belgrade in 1929, he published a number of poems, short stories ...
,
David Albahari
David Albahari (, ; born 15 March 1948)Biography at
,
Miodrag Bulatović
Miodrag Bulatović ( cnr-Cyrl, Миодраг Булатовић; 20 February 1930 – 15 March 1991), was a writer, novelist, journalist and playwright. He is considered to be one of the best Montenegrin novelists and remains the most translated M ...
,
Radomir Konstantinović
Radomir Konstantinović ( sr-cyr, Радомир Константиновић; 1928−2011) was Serbian writer and philosopher. His most famous work is a philosophical treatise ''"Filosofija palanke"'' (''The small town philosophy''). He won the pr ...
,
Mihailo Lalić
Mihailo Lalić ( sr-cyr, Михаило Лалић, ; 7 October 1914 – 30 December 1992) was a Montenegrin and Serbian writer.
Biography
He was born in Trepča (Andrijevica municipality) village in north-eastern Montenegro in 1914. His most im ...
,
Branko Ćopić
Branko Ćopić ( sr-cyrl, Бранко Ћопић, ; 1 January 1915 – 26 March 1984) was a Serbian, Bosnian and Yugoslavian writer. He wrote poetry, short stories and novels, and became famous for his stories for children and young adults, oft ...
,
Igor Marojević
Igor Marojević (born 1968) is a Serbian writer.
Biography
Marojević was born in Vrbas, Serbia in 1968.
Igor Marojević graduated from the Department of Serbian language and Literature, at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Philology. He ...
Dobrica Ćosić
Dobrica Ćosić ( sr, Добрица Ћосић, ; 29 December 1921 – 18 May 2014) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician, writer, and political theorist.
Ćosić was twice awarded the prestigious NIN award for literature and Medal of Pushkin f ...
, 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
Desanka Maksimović ( sr-Cyrl, Десанка Максимовић; 16 May 1898 – 11 February 1993) was a Serbian poet, writer and translator. Her first works were published in the literary journal ''Misao'' in 1920, while she was studying at th ...
, 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
Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...
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
Antonije Isaković (Serbian Cyrillic: Антоније Исаковић; 6 November 1923 – 13 January 2002) was a Serbian writer and member of the Serbian Academy of Science and Arts. He won the NIN Prize in 1982 for his novel ''Tren 2''.
He ...
, Mihailo Lalić, Meša Selimović,
Milovan Đilas
Milovan Djilas (; , ; 12 June 1911 – 30 April 1995) was a Yugoslav communist politician, theorist and author. He was a key figure in the Partisan movement during World War II, as well as in the post-war government. A self-identified democrat ...
, 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
Slobodan Selenić (Serbian Cyrillic: Слободан Селенић; 7 June 1933 – 27 October 1995) was a Serbian writer, literary critic, dramatist, academic and university professor of 20th century literature.
One of the main themes in his w ...
,
Svetislav Basara
Svetislav Basara ( sr-cyr, Светислав Басара; born 21 December 1953) is a Serbian writer and columnist.
Biography
Basara grew up in Užice, attended the Gymnasium (school), Gymnasium of the town and graduated with maturity diploma, t ...
, 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
Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...
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
Dragoslav Mihailović (Serbian Cyrillic: Драгослав Михаиловић; born 17 November 1930) is a Serbian writer.
Life
He graduated in Yugoslav literature from the University of Belgrade in 1957 and is a member of the Serbian Academy ...
were the prominent works dealing with the topic of Goli otok, which was previously deemed undesirable and controversial as a theme.
Milorad Pavić
Milorad Pavić ( sr-Cyrl, Милорад Павић, ; 15 October 1929 – 30 November 2009) was a Serbian novelist, poet, short story writer, and literary historian. Born in Belgrade in 1929, he published a number of poems, short stories ...
is one of the most widely acclaimed Serbian authors, most notably for his ''
Dictionary of the Khazars
''Dictionary of the Khazars: A Lexicon Novel'' ( sr-cyrl, Хазарски речник, rtl=yes, ) is the first novel by Serbian writer Milorad Pavić, published in 1984. Originally written in Serbian, the novel has been translated into many ...
'' (Хазарски речник / Hazarski rečnik), which has been translated into 38 languages.
Contemporary
Dušan Kovačević
Dušan Kovačević ( sr-Cyrl, Душан Ковачевић, ; born 12 July 1948) is a Serbian playwright, scriptwriter, film director and academic best known for his theatre plays and movie scripts. He also served as the ambassador of Serbia in L ...
and
Biljana Srbljanović
Biljana Srbljanović ( sr-cyr, Биљана Србљановић, ; born 15 October 1970) is a Serbian playwright and university professor.
She has written eleven theater plays and screenplay for '' Otvorena vrata'' television series that aired ...
are noted contemporary dramatists.
Ljubomir Simović
Ljubomir Simović ( sr-Cyrl, Љубомир Симовић; born 2 December 1935) is a Serbian poet, short story writer, playwright, and scriptwriter of TV dramas and movies. He is a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. His works ha ...
is one of the chief poets of the second half of the 20th century and early 21st century.
Svetlana Velmar-Janković Svetlana Velmar-Janković ( sr-cyr, Светлана Велмар-Јанковић, , 1 February 1933 – 9 April 2014) was a Serbs, Serbian novelist, essayist, chronicler of Belgrade, and first female laureate of the Isidora Sekulić Award. She was ...
Gordana Kuić
Gordana Kuić ( sr-cyr, Гордана Куић, ; 29 August 1942 – January 2023) was a Serbian novelist.
Biography
Kuić was born on 29 August 1942.''Style''Miris kiše na Balkanu (11 May 2009) She was the winner of numerous literature award ...
are the best known female writers in Serbia today.
Some of the most notable authors include Zoran Živković,
Vladimir Arsenijević
Vladimir Arsenijević ( sr-cyr, Владимир Арсенијевић, born 1965) is a Serbian novelist, columnist, translator, editor, musician, and publisher. He lives and works in Belgrade. Arsenijević won the prestigious NIN Award for the Y ...
,
Vladislav Bajac
Vladislav Bajac ( sr-Cyrl, Владислав Бајац, born 2 June 1954) is Serbian writer, poet, journalist and publisher.
Biography
He was born in Belgrade in 1954 and later studied philology at the University of Belgrade. In 1993, he ...
,
Igor Marojević
Igor Marojević (born 1968) is a Serbian writer.
Biography
Marojević was born in Vrbas, Serbia in 1968.
Igor Marojević graduated from the Department of Serbian language and Literature, at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Philology. He ...
and Svetislav Basara. Žiković's works have been translated into 20 languages and he was awarded
World Fantasy Award
The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy literature, fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year a ...
.
Authors writing in Serbian who have won the
European Union Prize for Literature
The European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL), established in 2009, is a European Union literary award. Its aim is to recognise outstanding new literary talents from all over Europe, to promote the circulation and translation of literature among ...
Uglješa Šajtinac
Uglješa Šajtinac (Serbian Cyrillic: Угљеша Шајтинац; born 1 October 1971 in Zrenjanin, Yugoslavia) is a Serbian writer and playwright.
Biography
Šajtinac grew up in an artistic parents home, his mother Mirjana is an actress, his ...
; English translations:
*Pekić, Borislav, ''The Time of Miracles'', translated by Lovett F. Edwards, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1976
*Andrić, Ivo, ''The Bridge on the Drina'', The University of Chicago Press, 1977
*Pekić, Borislav, ''The Houses of Belgrade'', translated by Bernard Johnson, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1978
*Kiš, Danilo, ''A Tomb for Boris Davidovich'', translated by Duska Mikic-Mitchell, Penguin Books, 1980
*Kiš, Danilo, ''The Encyclopedia of the Dead'', translated by Michael Henry Heim, 1983
*Andrić, Ivo, ''Damned Yard and Other Stories '', edited and translated by Celia Hawkesworth, Dufour Editions, 1992
*Selimović, Meša, ''Death and the Dervish'', translated by Bogdan Rakic and Stephen M. Dickey, Northwestern University Press, 1996
*Pekić, 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
*Andrić, Ivo, ''The Days of the Consuls'', translated by Celia Hawkesworth, Dereta, 2008
*Bajac, Vladislav. ''Hamam Balkania'', translated by Randall A. Major, Geopoetica Publishing, 2009
*Andrić, Ivo, ''The Slave Girl and Other Stories'', edited and translated by Radmila Gorup, Central European University Press, 2009
See also
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Christian state
A Christian state is a country that recognizes a form of Christianity as its official religion and often has a state church (also called an established church), which is a Christian denomination that supports the government and is supported by ...
Medieval Serbian literature
Medieval Serbian literature or Old Serbian literature ( sr, Стара српска књижевност) refers to the literature written in medieval forms of Serbian language, up to the end of the 15th century, with its traditions extending in ...
Literature
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...