Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.22210/ur.2025.069.1/03
The plain of Pharsalus: Notes on Kravar's "Svjetovi Osmana"
Milovan Tatarin
orcid.org/0000-0001-7327-4158
; Filozofski fakultet Osijek
Abstract
The starting point of this paper is Zoran Kravar’s study Svjetovi Osmana (The Worlds of Osman), in which he proposed that the theme of intra-Turkish conflict in Gundulić’s epic Osman was inspired by the Dubrovnik conteporary realities. The Pharsalus episode expresses strong aversion towards civil war, and it is not the only instance in the epic in which this sentiment iss expressed. To assess the originality and autonomy of Kravar’s thesis about the “plain of Pharsalus”, the paper broadly reconstructs the state of literary-historical and historiographic scholarship from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s. The analysis leads to the conclusion that, at a certain point in both disciplines, Osman began to be interpreted as a metaphorical correlate of Dubrovnik’s socio-political reality in the early 17th century. Since the 2000s, historiographic research on the Velika zavjera (Great Conspiracy) has cited Kravar’s literary scholarship, confirming that his propositions have moved beyond the realm of hypothesis.
Keywords
Zoran Kravar, Ivan Gundulić, Osman, Pharsalus, baroque
Hrčak ID:
333812
URI
Publication date:
15.7.2025.
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