Slovak Literary History in Marxist and Western Interpretations

Abstract

Slovak literature has never achieved such prominence as some other western Slavic literatures, but it is an interesting topic for academic research. Until the era of Romanticism, literature in Slovakia is not represented by the verse romance and lyrics of courtly love which are characteristic of the mediaeval literatures of the West. The aristocracy was assimilated with Hungarians, and the use of Latin for literary purposes remained predominant not only among the Catholics but also among some Protestants until the end of the eighteenth century. Humanism found an early entry into Slovakia through the University of Bratislava (Academia Istropolitana, founded in 1465) and through students and professors studying or teaching abroad (Bologna, Padua, Prague, Cracow). It did not, however, give any meaningful impulse to literary production in verse or prose except in homiletic writings. The second university on Slovak territory, Trnava, founded in 1635, gave a strong impetus to cultural life, both in Latin and in Slovak, but activities were mostly restricted to religion, history, geography, mathematics, and jurisprudence, and only occasionally ventured into poetry and drama.