Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.21857/9xn31cvwry
ORAL LITERATURE IN KUKULJEVIĆ’S ARKIV ZA POVJESTNICU JUGOSLAVENSKU
Ivan Zvonar
; Varaždin
Abstract
Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski holds an honourable place among scientists as he was the first
to have gathered materials in wider Croatian area, in Međimurje, which was then legally
and realistically in Hungary, and among Burgenland Croats in Austria, whereas in 1847 he
published an extensive collection of oral folk songs in all three dialects. At the same time, the
collection reveals his extraordinary interest for ethnography and folk tradition that sometimes
contains fairy tale elements.
Therefore, it does not come as a surprise that oral literature and ethnography hold a prominent
place in his Arkiv za povjestnicu jugoslavensku (Eng. Archive for South-Slavic Historical
Book).
Already in the first issue, Kukuljević looked for a broader associate cycle, to whom he
addressed twenty-six questions, six of which concerned ethnography and oral literature.
A great number of scientists from various regions in the South-Slavic region replied to
him so that he received a couple of interesting answers to each of his questions. Many of them
represent complete short stories which he then entirely published as well.
At least some of his associates are worth mentioning. They are: Antun Branko Pavić from
Požega region, Mijat Stojanović from Slavonija and Syrmia, bishop Simeon Milinović from
Lovreć in Dalmatia, Franciscan Petar Kačić Peko from „kotar makarski“, Đuro Stjepan Deželić
from Ivanić-Grad, Matija Valjavec Kračmanov from Varaždin and surrounding areas, Davor
Modrušić Lonjanac from Slovenia, Luka Zora from Dubrovnik region, Vlatko Lorković from
Karlovac region, Gašpar Križnik from Motnik (Slovenia), and also associates from Bulgaria.
The received notes contain a couple of thematically connected groups dealing with fairies,
witches, werewolves (sometimes with vampire features), a wolf shepherd, Mora, Kuga, Parcals,
ghosts, spooks, death, night candles, a snake in human form, including also a number of very successful
writings containing songs, proverbs, sayings, and riddles.
The songs can be divided into wedding songs, carols or St John’s Day songs, Christmas
songs, mythological songs, humorous or mocking songs and laments or dirges. One must emphasise the writings with mythological songs about Mary and Nedjelja that
in the course of oral transmission underwent larger changes and in the end it became a song
of passion or Mary’s cry over her son, to be more precise.
Among mocking songs, the first place should also go to Lorković’s writing Ignac kralj
(Eng. Ignac, the king). It is a story in verses about an unfaithful wife who meets her lover
when her husband is away. Due to a large number of its versions written in the South-Slavic
regions alone, an extensive collection could be compiled.
One would expect that in the end Kukuljević would present a synthesis of the gathered
ethnographic and oral literature material. However, such a text was omitted and the editor
bids farewell to the readers with few sentences in the 12h (the last) Book of Archive.
This synthesis was carried out some thirty years later by Friedrih Solomon Kraus in an
extensive study named Slavische Volkforschungen. The book was published in Leipzig in 1908.
Having been provided financial help by Archduke Rudolph, he travelled throughout South-
Slavic regions and gathered immense ethnologic and ethnographic materials. He also read the
twelve books of Archive, from which he took over and implemented all the relevant texts, but
translated into German. All of his translations were extremely successful.
What we could not or did not want to do by ourselves, others did for us, luckily, these
texts have often been written more proficiently than the ones in our regions.
Keywords
ethnography; oral literature; fairy tales and legends; fabulate and memorate; mythological creatures; beliefs and reality; national spirit
Hrčak ID:
191524
URI
Publication date:
29.12.2017.
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