SRPSKA KNjIŽEVNOST I NjENA ISTORIOGRAFIJA

Abstract

The paper examines the initial circle of historical coverage of Serbian literature from the oldest written testimonies to the middle of the 19th century. It is a period of seven decades. The formation of literary historiography among Serbs began, namely, with Dositej Obradović (1803) and ended with the History of Serbian Literature by Stojan Novaković (1871). It is about the movement of national historiographical thought from initial needs and ideas to the construction of a framework that transforms this concept into a science. On the one hand, the paper determines and describes the turning (decisive) points of the founding of Serbian literary historiography. On the other hand, certain personal moments that characterized its establishment and further development are presented. To that extent, research attention is focused first on the problem of transition, i.e. transformation of old Serbian literature into the new one, and then on traces and factors of extra-literary, ideological influence on the direction and outcomes of literary-historical and national-cultural endeavours of Lukijan Mušicki, Lazar Bojić, Jovan Subotić, Jovan Ristić, Stojan Novaković.