Serbian Autobiographical Studies: a Survey

Monica Fin Serbian Autobiographical Studies: A Survey Autobiography has a prominent be incidental, with the majority place in the history of Serbian of contributions being articles literature as one of its most about individual authors or prevalent and practised genres, works. This applies not only to especially in modern and con- Serbian literary theoreticians temporary times. Throughout and historians but also to other different ages, Serbian autobio- European scholars. Some schol- graphical literature has encom- ars have gone so far as to speak passed a wide variety of sub- of a ‘lack of criticism’ regarding genres and literary approaches. Serbian autobiographical writ- Given the popularity of autobio- ings (Vaglio, 2004). Personally, I graphical genres in Serbian liter- think the problem is not a lack ature, one would expect there to of critical concern regarding this be a great interest in the subject particular genre but rather a and an equal abundance of criti- need to open a serious discus- cal studies. Indeed, autobiog- sion on this matter that should raphy has been an object of re- involve both literary theoreti- search for scholars of Serbian cians and historians. literature for quite some time. As I will try to illustrate in this One of the first studies in the paper, scholars of Serbian litera- field, entitled Memoari, mono- ture have so far adopted two dif- grafije, biografije (Memoirs, ferent approaches to autobio- Monographs, Biographies; see graphical material: theoreticians Ignjatović, 1988), was written have been more interested in towards the end of the 19th cen- narrative theory and intertextu- tury by the Serbian writer Jakov ality, while historians have fo- Ignjatović, whose memoirs are cused mainly on analysing vari- among the finest products of au- ous examples of this genre tobiographical writing in the throughout history. It is high history of Serbian literature as a time that scholars joined forces whole. to find some common ground. Although literary criticism on But while some efforts in this di- Serbian autobiography can be rection have been made in re- traced back to the 19th century, cent years, what is still lacking is the general approach towards a systematic and thorough gen- this particular field still tends to eral overview of the develop- AvtobiografiЯ - Number 4/2015 DOI: 10.25430/2281-6992/v4-367-382 367 distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Materials and Discussions ment of autobiographical gen- an autobiography. I should start re(s) throughout the different by saying, however, that my re- ages of Serbian literary history, search was not based on all the as well as a comprehensive an- extant criticism but on what I thology of Serbian autobio- believe to be an adequate num- graphical writings1. ber of the most representative The aim of this paper is to pre- and significant samples pro- sent a survey of the most signifi- duced by Serbian scholarship2. cant studies pertaining to Serbi- In examining the literature pro- duced so far by Serbian scholars 1 Over the last three decades, autobiog- of autobiography, I came to real- raphy has also been a frequent topic of ise that criticism on this subject discussions among Croatian scholars. is beset by several difficulties, of The first significant steps to address the which I would like to point out question of autobiographical writing in Croatia were taken in the 1990s by Mir- three: the problem of periodiza- na Velčić (Otisak priče: intertekstualno tion; the problem of defining a proučavanje autobiografije, 1991) and literary canon of Serbian autobi- Vinko Brešić (Autobiografije hrvatskih ography; and, finally, the diffi- pisaca, 1997), whose works are still con- culty of merging theoretical and sidered milestones. In recent years, the two foremost experts are without a historical studies in this field. doubt Andrea Zlatar-Violić (University Accordingly, I have decided to of Zagreb) and Helena Sablić-Tomić divide this paper into three parts (University of Osijek), who have pub- in which I will sum up the find- lished numerous articles and books on the topic. Zlatar-Violić’s Autobiografija ings of my research. u Hrvatskoj (1998), in particular, pro- vides a historical analysis of autobiographies in Croatia from the 14th to the 2 I am deeply grateful to the staff of the 19th century. Keeping in mind the most Matica Srpska Library of Novi Sad for recent theoretical findings in the field, the support they gave me during my Zlatar-Violić focuses on the most repre- research, particularly to Ms. Jelena Ko- sentative authors and illustrates the vaček-Svetličić, who provided me with a major autobiographical narrative forms bibliography of autobiographical texts in contemporary Croatian literature. held at the Rukopisno odeljenje Matice Helena Sablić-Tomić’s more recent Srpske (Manuscript Department of the work, Hrvatska autobiografska proza Matica Srpksa Library). The bibliog- (2008), is a collection of lectures deliv- raphy, which was drawn up by Professor ered by the author at the University of Božidar Kovaček towards the end of the Osijek since 2002 as part of courses in nineties, consists of 353 entries and is ‘New Croatian literature’ and ‘Contem- still unpublished. I am also grateful to porary autobiographical prose’. In a Professor Nikola Grdinić and Dr. Nataša sense, this work takes up where Zlatar- Polovina of the University of Novi Sad Violić’s stopped, as it deals with Croa- for their much appreciated advice and tian autobiographies of the 19th and 20th for introducing me to some of the most century. recent critical works on the matter. AvtobiografiЯ - Number 4/2015 368 HilanDarska osnivačka povelja 1. The question of perioDization (Charter of HilanDar), King Mi- lutin’s Ulijarska povelja (Charter The first thing I noticed when I of Ulijarska), Jefimija’s Tuga za started to investigate Serbian jeDinčetom (Lament for an Only autobiography was the lack of Son) and the preface to Stefan agreement among scholars re- Dušan’s Zakonik (CoDe of Laws) garding chronological bounda- – have been described as ‘auto- ries. In order to compile a final biographical works’ and have systematic canon of Serbian au- even been designated as ‘real autobiographical literature it tobiographies’. However fasci- should first be determined, as nating, in some cases such at- accurately as possible, how far tributions have proved to be back into history the modern disputable, if not completely un- autobiographical mode extends. justified. Unfortunately, as in some other Autobiography is not always an literary traditions, historians immediately recognizable ob- have yet to agree as to when au- ject, and this is especially true of tobiographical writings first ap- autobiography in medieval cul- peared in Serbian literature and, ture when individuality was con- most importantly, how they may sidered almost a ‘sin of vanity’ be recognized. In this first sec- and authors were expected to tion I will try to draw some follow earlier established tradi- broad lines regarding the matter tions according to the literary of periodization. genre they practised. Such writ- Scholars of autobiography usual- ings as letters, wills, official ly agree that in ancient and me- proclamations and any other dieval literature the ‘autobio- medieval texts that contain graphical impulse’ emerges only fragments of personal infor- in a fragmentary way, so that it mation (and in which medieval is difficult, if not impossible, to Serbian literature is particularly find real autobiographies. Nev- rich) are thus qualitatively dif- ertheless, Serbian medievalists ferent from modern autobiog- have been eager to trace the first raphy. In such documents, auto- examples of autobiographical biographical elements are usual- writing as far back as the age of ly incidental and no more than ancient literature (since the 12th fragmentary, because these century). Some of the most rep- works were not meant to be read resentative works of the time – as ‘writings of the self’. In Serbi- most notably Simeon Nemanja’s an medieval literature, as in AvtobiografiЯ - Number 4/2015 369 Materials and Discussions many other traditions, autobiog- The last decades of the 18th cen- raphy was still instrumental to tury and the first half of the 19th other ends, usually political3. constitute what Jovan Deretić Consequently, most Serbian lit- defines as the “great era of Ser- erary historians are eager to nar- bian autobiography” (Deretić row the chronological bounda- 1981: 27–28). Dositej Obradović’s ries we mentioned before and Život i priključenija (Life anD Ad- converge in ascribing the begin- ventures), published in Leipzig nings of Serbian autobiograph- between 1783 and 1788, is usually ical writing to the 18th century. considered the first and most Early materials are scarce and popular example of Serbian their purpose is very often hor- modern autobiography. Dositej’s tatory; nevertheless, we may re- eclectic works and modern gard the Baroque era (ca. 1690– thought have deeply influenced 1770) as the ‘seed-time’ of Serbi- Serbian cultural history, not on- an autobiography. The first in- ly the age in which he lived but tellectuals to include clearly au- also in later years. This influence tobiographical portions of writ- is seen in literature, too: echoes ing of any length in their works of Dositej’s work are manifold are Partenije Pavlović and Jovan throughout 19th and 20th century Rajić: these two authors thus Serbian literature, especially in constitute the forerunners of narrative prose. Dositej’s auto- Serbian modern autobiography, biography, in particular, is usu- which was ultimately to flourish ally described as a turning point in the age of the Enlighten- in the development of modern ment4. Serbian literature, marking the transition from medieval hagio- 3 Among the ‘autobiographical frag- graphical writings (Žitije) to ments’ scattered throughout Serbian modern secular autobiographies. th medieval literature, those which have The first decades of the 19 cen- the most resemblance to the modern tury saw a steady succession of genre are probably Jefimija’s (Jelena memoirs, autobiographies, dia- Mrnjavčević) writings, primarily on ac- count of their highly emotional tone.

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