''Viaggio in Dalmazia'' ("Journey to Dalmatia"), also known by its full title ''Viaggio in Dalmazia dell'abate Alberto Fortis'' ("Journey to Dalmatia by Abbot Alberto Fortis"), is a 1774 book by the Venetian writer

Alberto Fortis Alberto Fortis (1741–1803) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian writer, naturalist and cartographer. Life His real name was Giovanni Battista Fortis (his religious name was ''Alberto'') and he was born in Padua on either 9 or 11 of November 1741 ...

published in the city of

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

. On it, Fortis recounted his journey to

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

, a region now in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. He described the region, its mineral resources and its inhabitants and their way of life, paying great attention to the native

Morlachs Morlachs ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Morlaci, Морлаци or , ; it, Morlacchi; ro, Morlaci) has been an exonym used for a rural Christian community in Herzegovina, Lika and the Dalmatian Hinterland. The term was initially used for a bilingual Vlach p ...

. Fortis' book reached great popularity in Western Europe and increased the interest on Croatia and other South Slavic countries among

ethnologist Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology) ...

s and

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

s. Furthermore, ''Viaggio in Dalmazia'' would start a new movement in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

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 ...

and

Venetian literature Venetian literature is the corpus of literature in Venetian language, Venetian, the vernacular language of the region roughly corresponding to Venice, from the 12th century. Venetian literature, after an initial period of splendour in the sixteenth ...

known as

Morlachism Morlachism or Morlacchism ( it, Morlacchismo; sh, Morlakizam or ) was a movement in Italian, Ragusan and Venetian literature that started in 1774 and lasted until the 1830s or 1840s. It consisted on the portrayal of the Morlachs (Vlachs from the ...

, which consisted on the portrayal of the Morlachs and their customs, traditions and lifestyle by Italian and other Western European writers. This movement started in 1774 and lasted until the 1830s or 1840s. In 1776, the Croatian writer Ivan Lovrić, a native of Dalmatia, published ''Osservazioni di Giovanni Lovrich sopra diversi pezzi del viaggio in Dalmazia del signor abbot Alberto Fortis coll'aggiunta della vita di Soçivizça'' ("Observations of Giovanni Lovrich van Lovrićon several pieces of the journey to Dalmatia of Mr. Abbot Alberto Fortis with the addition of the life of Soçivizça"), in Venice as well, as a response to Fortis' book. Lovrić criticized Fortis' writings and tried to rectify some of his accounts about the people of Dalmatia on it. Furthermore, instead of including folk poems as Fortis had done, Lovrić included in his book the biography of the Serbian

hajduk 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, p ...

(

brigand Brigandage is the life and practice of highway robbery and plunder. It is practiced by a brigand, a person who usually lives in a gang and lives by pillage and robbery.Oxford English Dictionary second edition, 1989. "Brigand.2" first recorded usa ...

) Stanislav Sočivica (Soçivizça in Lovrić's

). Lovrić's book also met criticism from other authors, some of whom may have been Fortis under a

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

References

{{Wikisourcelang, it, Viaggio in Dalmazia, ''Viaggio in Dalmazia'' 1774 books 18th-century Italian literature Italian-language books Dalmatia Morlachs Books about Croatia Geography books Travel books Italian non-fiction books

See also

References