The Literature of the South Slavs
Among the peoples of Yugoslavia geography has been a prime factor in shaping the course of history, and history has shaped the course of literature. Leaving out of account, for the moment, the literature of the Slovenes and oral folk literature, there have been at least four distinct written literatures among speakers of the Serbo-Croatian language: the medieval literature of the Serbs, the Renaissance literature of Dubrovnik and other Dalmatian cities, and the modern literatures of the Serbs and of the Croatians. What small literary unity has existed among the different Serbo-Croatian groups has depended on the oral folk literature and on a certain number of modern authors, beginning with the last quarter of the eighteenth century. Among the Serbo-Croatian and Slovene writers few have won international fame. A brief sketch like the present can do no more than define the general characteristics of the different branches of South Slavic literature and mention some of the most important authors.
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