Abstract
The accidental discovery of an 1847 manuscript in the Local History and Special Collections Department at Maribor University Library in Slovenia (shelfmark: Kreps, 1847; UKM Ms 563), which contains, among other things, a song about cholera, was the basis for its contextual interpretation and comparison with related recorded songs. This new discovery is important because the song refers to the first wave of cholera on Slovene territory in 1836, whereas other songs describing the disease were written later. The text of the song resembles a collection of frightening news about the disease circulating among the people. The questions of whether the information in the song is real or fictional, genuine or exaggerated are discussed in light of the memory of cholera outbreaks found in other songs of the same genre and historical data.
Highlights
The history of cholera and epidemic diseases from a cultural-historical point of view has been dealt with by two historians in Slovenia, Katarina Keber and Urška Bratož, both of whom wrote their dissertations1 on the subject and published them in monographs.2 Writing about cholera would not have been a priority for me had I not accidentally discovered a manuscript from 1847 in February 2017 in the Maribor University Library
The questions of whether the information in the song is real or fictional, genuine or exaggerated are discussed in light of the memory of cholera outbreaks found in other songs of the same genre and historical data
Since the song about cholera was written in the bohoričica or Bohorič alphabet, I was not able to read it fluently
Summary
The history of cholera and epidemic diseases from a cultural-historical point of view has been dealt with by two historians in Slovenia, Katarina Keber and Urška Bratož, both of whom wrote their dissertations on the subject and published them in monographs. Writing about cholera would not have been a priority for me had I not accidentally discovered a manuscript from 1847 in February 2017 in the Maribor University Library. The manuscript contained three songs, one of which was dedicated to cholera. Found in a settlement a few kilometres away from the city centre of Maribor and the library, the only information about the song says nothing about its origin or causes. First, I retyped the song to make it easier for me to read it aloud, which explained some but not all of the previously unintelligible parts. It was increasingly on my mind because I had read the song so many times, transcribed it, and tried to understand it, but put it aside again.
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