Europen echoes and original traits in Croatian Renaissance literature

Abstract

One of the most prominent features of the older Croatian literature is its openness to European influences, but at the same time its great adherence to its own national heritage. Consequently, the author points out some forms of humanistic actions on the Croatian side of the Adriatic that were a direct reflection of the events in the neighbouring Italy (adoption of the classical forms of life, promoting rhetoric, universal latinization, etc). But those phenomena could not have existed on this soil if It had not been for the developed economic, social and cultural conditions as manifestations of the ever more developed middle-class. Being sensitive to the native problems, the Croatian humanists especially developed certain literary forms (e. g. speeches against the Turks). Croatian Renaissance poets, representatives of humanistic education, and writing in the Croatian language, developed all the spiritual values typical for the European Renaissance literature (emphasizing creative personality, victory of the individual over the universe, giving prominence to the individual, paying attention to the problems of this world, new poetic structures, etc.). But besides accepting poetic patterns of the European, mainly Italian poets, Croatian Renaissance poets also distinguished themselves in some other charactaristics. viz. they cherished specific rhythmic structures, adherad to the native poetic heritage and kept a characteristic continuity of genre, style and theme. Poets of some importance, in spite of the foreign models and influ- ences, writing under special circumstances, dealt with some characteristic sub- ject-matters and created original forms with great artistic value, By way of example the author analyses characteristic elaboration of comic elements in Držić's works, special structure of the Renaissance drama by Lučić and Hektorović’s complex poetic work (elements of travel-books, ecloques and epistles). All the elements mentioned come from a very deep feeling of experience of the native reality.