Literature in Bosnia and Hercegovina till 19th Century in South Slav Context

Mr. Gajevic traced the development of literacy and literature in Bosnia and Herzegovina from the 12th to the 19th in relation to other south Slavic literatures and civilisations, studying their interrelations, links and influences. From the 12th to the 15th centuries, literature in this area developed under strong influence from the neighbouring South Slavic countries, which were directly connected with more developed foreign cultures and civilisations. The literatures of these countries had differing religious and cultural backgrounds, some developing under Byzantine and Orthodox influence and others as a part of Latin civilisation and the Catholic religion. This led to different and sometimes contradictory literary, religious and other influences on Bosnia and Herzegovina, making spiritual and religious unity for the country virtually impossible. Under the influence of the Bosnian state and church, however, there were signs of a search for compromise, leading to some mixing of the difference traditions. Following the Turkish conquest, however, three denominational communities (Orthodox, Catholic and Muslim) developed in Bosnia and Herzegovina and this became the general framework for life, including literature. This led to three separate literary traditions - Serb-Orthodox, Croat-Catholic and Bosniac-Islamic. This internal disintegration of Bosnian literature did however facilitate the process of integration of some of its denominational traditions with similar traditions in other countries. The third aspect considered in the research was the genesis and expansion of vernacular and folk literature from Bosnia and Herzegovina throughout the South Slavic areas and its contribution to the language and literature integration of four peoples - Serbs, Croats, Bosniacs and Montenegrins. Of special interest here were the aspirations of the Catholic church to establish the Bosnian language as the common South Slavic literary language for its religious and propaganda activities, and the contribution of Vuk Stefanovic Karadzic to the effort to establish the "Bosnian language" as the common literary language of the South Slavic peoples.

Muslim Literature in Serbo-Croat in Relation to the Serbian and Croatian Literatures

Mr. Tutnjevic set out to define the position of the Muslim community within the overall framework of literature in Serbo-Croat, particularly in terms of its relation to the Serbian and Croatian Literatures, on the basis of an extensive comparative study of primary and secondary sources relating to the most important Muslim writers in Serbo-Croat. Carried out against the background of an unprecedented civil war between these national groups, his research focused rather on the encounters between them on the historical and literary stages. He concludes that the Muslim national community was established and developed on a foundation of Slavic self-consciousness and oriental influences. The constantly changing relative weights of the influence of these two factors on the community shaped the specific nature of its literature as well as its place in the cultural environment of its neighbouring national communities, and Muslim literary traditions are inseparably linked with the total literature in Serbo-Croat. A real Muslim literature first emerged at the end of the nineteenth century and virtually all authors writing about this at the time emphasised its educational character and its importance for the process of national identification. At the same time there were visible results of the self-awareness process in which Muslim authors affiliated with Serbian or Croatian literary tradition, sometimes even substituting one with another. During the period between the two world wars Muslim literature reached maturity and while Muslim authors generally focused on their national milieu in terms of subject matter, their forms of expression and their understanding of the function of literature showed the same preoccupation as other Yugoslav authors of the period. When the ideological and class-related concept of society replaced the national character of literature after 1945, Muslim writers found themselves in the same position as writers from other ethnic groups. As in earlier times, writers sought to present themselves to as wide a market as possible and would provide grounds for consideration as Serbian or Croatian writers, sometimes even explicitly presenting themselves as such. Most of the writers of this period are described at times as Yugoslav, at others as Bosnian-Herzegovina, and at still others as Serbian, Croatian or Muslim. Mr. Tutnjevic quotes, for example, the case of Camil Sijaric, a Muslim from Sandzak who also wrote in Sarajevo and falls within the boundaries of Bosnian-Herzegovnian literature, but is also described as a Muslim, Montenegrin and Serbian writer, together with a number of other such examples. An understanding of this process provides the basis for a completely new perception of the intertwining of Serbian, Croatian and Muslim literary traditions, without the earlier visible prejudice on all three sides.