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Two Handwritten Songbooks from Donja Dubrava from the Quill of Matija Feletar
Ivan Zvonar
; Varaždin
Sažetak
Songbooks from Donja Dubrava dating from the end of the 19th century are a direct reflection of political situation in that area. 1720 Međimurje was in true and legal sense affiliated to Zala County, i.e. to Hungary. This situation remained unchanged for two hundred years (until the treaty of Trianon was signed in 1920), with one short and unsuccessful attempt of Jelačić (1848 – 1861) to affiliate this area to Croatia. During regime of the emperor Joseph II († 1790) there are no immediate consequences resulting from that action, but they became more prominent after Croatan-Hungarian settlement from 1868. The process of complete hungarisation of Međimurje became expressively aggressive at the turn of the 19th century. All clerical and teaching positions were assigned to Hungarians (with the exception of those Croats who could speak fluent Hungarian). Hungarian was the official language, and classes in schools were also taught in Hungarian. There were no Croatian books, and few people from Međimurje knew Hungarian language that well, that they could read Hungarian books. However, some important circumstances were in favour of Međimurje residents. Firstly, Međimurje remained under the archdiocese of Zagreb and priests were allowed to preach in the Croatian language. Secondly, oral song, both secular and spiritual, was still very vivid. Thirdly, schools paid special attention to beautiful handwriting, which is still visible from older letters, contracts, settlements and family notes. In such circumstances, especially in eastern parts of Međimurje, handwritten songbooks were frequently compiled, but they were primarily of spiritual significance. Several songbooks of that kind would be compiled in thick notebooks professionally bound in leather with imprinted names of compilers on the cover (compilers in Donji Vidovec were: Vegi Valent, Vegi Štefan and Lukša Mihalj). Two handwritten collections from Donja Dubrava from the quill of Matija Feletar are specially marked by beautiful handwriting, homogenous Gaj’s orthography and integrity of poetic records. The first collection is more extensive and it contains seventy-eight songs, which can be divided into four thematic groups: Mary’s songs, pilgrimage songs, lent songs and songs to saints (hagiographic). The first group had the biggest number of songs, whereas songs from the second group were surely the most popular. This is the only group from which besides the lyrics people also remembered the tune. Lent songs are focused on the Holy week, Jesus‘ suffering, death on the cross and suffering of Virgin Mary over horrifying destiny of her only son. Among songs to saints we can single out the Song of Saint Ivan of Nepomuk and exceptionally long Shephard’s song, which would most surely deserve a special literary-historical interpretation. The other songbook was of smaller scope and comprised sixteen songs. It is dominated by prayer-songs, but it also contains texts that point to exceptional antiquity. The afore stated primarily refers to the Song of 10 commandments and Song of Saint Stephen the king. The length of many songs confirms the fact that the compiler had to have written samples (in handwriting or in print), since such long texts could not be preserved merely by oral tradition. It is, therefore, obvious that inhabitants of Međimurje, although it is not visible at first sight, for centuries maintained strong cultural connections with the wider area of Kajkavian dialect. Even in the hardest of times, the language displayed its vigour and expressiveness. It was an insurmountable obstacle not only to complete, but also to partial hungarisation of Međimurje. However, we are faced with the sad fact, that this exceptional language and poetic treasure is nowdays preserved only in manuscripts. Emergence of numerous handwritten songbooks of Međimurje in the last decade of the 19th century is firmly defined by historical and social circumstances specific for that respective geographic area.
Ključne riječi
Međimurje in Zala County; Archdiocese of Zagreb; oral spiritual poetry; handwritten song books; vigorous and expressive Kajkavian dialect from Međimurje; futile centennial hungarisation of Međimurje
Hrčak ID:
204313
URI
Datum izdavanja:
1.6.2018.
Posjeta: 2.034 *