DRAMA WITHIN LANGUAGE OR LINGUISTIC DILEMMAS REGARDING FREUDENREICH'S "BORDERMEN"

Abstract

The language in Freudenreich's drama (folk drama) was often characterized as folk. The search for elements of štokavian dialect demonstrates limitations of such a characterization. This is by no means a negative aspect of Freudenreich's style, but a possibility to understand his language use from a viewpoint closer to modern comprehension of literary language. Furthermore speech analysis of individual characters only occasionally demonstrates a more successful language characterization. This needs to be regarded in the context of the period in which this drama came into existence, and the language undoubtedly played a major role in its success.