On the Border of Worlds and on the Periphery of the Canon: The Place of the Dubrovnik Tradition in Serbian Literary History

Abstract

The article attempts to discuss the status of Dubrovnik and its literary and cultural tradition in 19th- and 20th-century discourses in the frame of Serbian literary history. The starting point for the presented considerations will be the opinion of Jovan Deretić, who, perceiving the Dubrovnik tradition as “borderline”, referred to it as “a tradition of secondary importance” for the Serbian culture and literature system. In his opinion, it could not have become for the Serbs what it had become for Croatian literature, that is, “the central national tradition”. The text will discuss different points of view (both “internal” and “external”) on the “location” and importance of the city and its traditions in the context of ongoing discussions on the identity of Dubrovnik. The t exts of the n ineteenth-century authors (Đ. Nikolajević, I. Stojanović, L. Vojnović) and twentieth-century authors (J. Skerlić, P. Popović, M. Pantić) will be analyzed. The framework of the article will be determined by contemporary reflection on this subject (Z. Bojović, I. Arsić, S. Stipčević).