The Illyrian movement and the construction of the South Slav-Croatian identity The study of construction, deconstruction and reconstruction of South Slav-Croatian identity based on the literary works of Vraz, Preradović and Mažuranić by Barbara Klen B.A. 0299502 Thesis in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Presented to Prof. Dr. J. Th. Leerssen University of Amsterdam International School for Humanities and Social Sciences European Studies Amsterdam May 2008 Illustration on the previous page shows the painting of Croatian artist Vlaho Bukovac ‘Slava Njima’ (Glory to them) from 1898. The artwork depicts an imaginary scene created to glorify the exponents of the Illyrian movement. The painting was made to decorate the festive scene curtain of Zagreb’s Croatian National Theater. ii Index Introduction................................................................................................................................................1 1. The Illyrian movement in Croatian history.........................................................................................5 1.1 The history of Croatian statehood – from independence to the Hungarian-Croatian Kingdom........................................................................5 1.1.1 Habsburgs on the Hungarian-Croatian throne ............................................................................6 1.1.2 Fragmentation of the Croatian Kingdom – 16th and 17th century................................................7 1.1.3 18th century – between Austrian and Hungarian centralization.................................................8 1.1.4 The 19th century .......................................................................................................................15 1.2 Croatian National Revival and Illyrian movement ..........................................................................16 1.2.1 The Illyrian movement’s impetus and leaders..........................................................................18 1.2.2 Cultural and political basis of the movement – Gaj and Drašković .........................................20 1.2.3 Ilirske narodne novine – official beginning of the Illyrian movement .....................................24 1.2.4 From 1843 till 1848 – The Illyrian movement during the suppression of the Illyrian name.................................................27 1.2.5 1848 and 1849 – The impact of the Illyrian movement on Croat and Serb political cooperation and Slavic unity......29 1.2.6 1850 – The impact of the Illyrian movement on Croatian and Serbian language unity ...........31 1.3 Evaluation of the Illyrian movement – gains and accomplishments ...........................................33 2. Croatian and Illyrian character in the works of Vraz, Preradović and Mažuranić......................35 2.1 Stanko Vraz – from Slovenia to the Illyrian movement ..................................................................35 2.1.1 Vraz – his auto-image of country and fellow countrymen .......................................................38 2.2 Petar Preradović – General and Poet ...............................................................................................43 2.2.1 Preradović – His vision of country and fellow countrymen .....................................................45 2.3 Ivan Mažuranić – Poet, politician and Ban......................................................................................52 2.3.1 Mažuranić – Croatia, South Slavs and Illyrians........................................................................53 2.4 Evaluation of the work of Vraz, Preradović and Mažuranić ...........................................................56 3. The Illyrian movement in Croatian literature ..................................................................................60 3.1 The Illyrian movement in books published before 1991 – periodization and definition.................60 3.1.1 The literary work of Vraz, Mažuranić and Preradović in anthologies and schoolbooks..........61 3.1.2 South Slav cooperation and unification in pre-1991 books......................................................64 3.2 The Illyrian movement in books published after 1991 ....................................................................65 3.2.1 Vraz, Mažuranić and Preradović in post-1991 anthologies and schoolbooks ..........................66 3.2.2 South Slav cooperation and unification in post-1991 history books ........................................69 3.3 Evaluation of the presentation of the Illyrian movement in Croatian books and schoolbooks .......72 4. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................74 Appendix...................................................................................................................................................78 For further references:........................................................................................................................80 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................................81 Introduction The concept of national identity as an important factor in international politics has been promoted by the Constructivist theory of International Relations. Since the 1980s there have been many studies attempting to demonstrate the impact of both political and cultural elites and the interaction with the ‘other’ in the construction of that same national identity. This paper is not the first work addressing identity formation in the former Yugoslavia and the forces which played a role in it. What distinguishes this work is the fact that it owes its existence to several spheres of interest: international politics, history and literature. Therefore it is a true product of interdisciplinary research. The Illyrian movement began in Croatia in the 1830s. Its center was Zagreb. The movement was inspired by preaching of Slovak poet Kollár about Slav unity and his ideas about Slav solidarity. Those thoughts, combined with the pressures of Habsburg political leadership wanting to put an end to an already very limited Croatian independence, resulted in the formation of the Illyrian movement. The name “Illyrian” was chosen to accentuate the bond between the 19th century South Slav inhabitants of the Western Balkans and the ancient Illyrian tribe which inhabited the Western Balkan region during the Classical Era. Thus the proponents and leaders of the Illyrian movement wanted to express both continuity of tradition and the bond between different South Slavs through their common Illyrian background. Sources written during the 20th century claim that during the timeframe of the Illyrian movement – from 1835 through the 1850s – the Croatian national consciousness was awakened and formed. The 19th century was a period of national identity formation in many European states which makes the Croatian Illyrian movement unexceptional in this context in European history. However, what makes the Illyrian movement unique is its dual nature. The national identity which was formed was not purely Croatian but rather a mixture of South Slav (Illyrian) and Croatian identity. This fact on its own is remarkable and becomes even more curious when one starts to observe Yugoslav and Croatian identity formation. What can be noticed is that the same Illyrian writers have been (and continue to be) used to make Croats believe in the two very different identities: their Yugoslavian identity and their exclusively Croatian identity. The central argument of this work is the following: The twentieth century has seen two separate Croatian identity orientations: the South Slav (Yugoslav) and the Croatian. It is not 1 accurate that the literary works circulating at the time of the Illyrian movement were the principal influence on the formation of today’s Croatian identity. The work of the Illyrian writers and the exponents of the movement – which is today being presented as the cornerstone in the formation of Croatian self-consciousness – cannot be defined as the source of an exclusively Croatian identity. Illyrian authors have rather constructed the South Slav-Croatian identity and orientation. The analyses conducted in this thesis shows that the purely Croatian identity was not constructed by Illyrian writers but rather by a cultural elite who later defined and analyzed the canon of the Illyrian authors. The goal of this thesis is to show how it is possible to promote two opposite issues, two opposite identities, while using the same discourse. This thesis will show how in the case of Croatian identity formation the context became more important than the original text. In addition, it will be shown how literary works can be misrepresented in order to support ideas which they may or may not have initially promoted. In order to support this idea, the thesis is divided into three chapters. They can also be read separately because they deal with three different phenomena but when combined they support the central statement of this work. The first chapter is devoted to the introduction of the Illyrian movement and to the context in which it fits into the broader frame of Croatian history. In order to explain the reasons behind the development of the Illyrian movement, it is necessary to show the position that the Croatian state found itself in. The Croatian state had