Year of Marko Marulić: NSK hosts conference spotlighting the legacy of “the father of Croatian literature”
On 21 and 22 November 2024, the National and University Library in Zagreb (NSK) hosted a scientific conference commemorating the 500th anniversary of the passing of Marko Marulić (1450-1524), “the father of Croatian literature” and a distinguished European humanist.
Jointly organised by NSK and the Croatian Language and Linguistics Institute with the support of the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Youth and Croatian Ministry of Culture and Media, the conference was held as part of the Year of Marko Marulić, Croatia’s nationwide programme marking the great anniversary under the auspices of the Government of the Republic of Croatia.
After a welcome address by the NSK Director General Dr Ivanka Stričević and subsequent addresses by the Head of the Institute Dr Željko Jozić and President of the conference’s Programme and Organising Committee and also the Head of the Institute’s Department of the History of Croatian Dr Marijana Horvat, the conference was opened by the Croatian Minister of Culture and Media Dr Nina Obuljen Koržinek.
Young academics giving new life to the verses of “the Croatian Dante”
The conference kicked off with the reading of Marulić’s verses given by the students of the Zagreb University’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Lara Ramić, Eva Horvat and Iva Buljević. Reading “the Croatian Dante’s” verses in Croatian, Latin and Italian, they symbolically linked the very origins of the Croatian language and literature and younger generations, whose interest in Croatia’s written heritage is vital for keeping this invaluable legacy alive.
The conference programme featured presentations by distinguished experts on Croatian language, literature, culture and heritage who covered a wide range of themes and presented Marulić’s heritage from the point of view of the development throughout history of the Croatian language, significance of Marulić’s works in the context of female writing and Croatian musical heritage, even as the source of Croatian military terminology, etc.
Marulić’s Judita – one of the cornerstones of Croatian language and literature
The focus of a larger part of the conference presentations was Marulić’s 1521 epic poem Judita, the work which earned him his central place in the history of the Croatian language and literature and whose 1522 edition NSK preserves as one of the greatest treasures of its Manuscripts and Old Books Collection, which this year celebrates the 130th anniversary of its founding.
In six cantos written in Chakavian, one of three major dialects of the Croatian language (along with Shtokavian and Kajkavian), Marulić reached for the biblical story of Judita (Judith), a brave Jewish widow who saved her people from the Assyrian general Holofernes, to poignantly address the threat that his native town, Split, was facing from the Ottoman invasion.
Analysing the unique verse characteristic of Croatian cultural space which Marulić used, along with a complex versification scheme and the lexis that he employed, the conference participants also looked at the impact which Marulić’s legacy has had on the development of the Croatian language and presented the projects and initiatives in this context relying on digital technologies.
The conference participants had the opportunity to see Judita’s original 1522 copy, along with other major works by Marulić held by NSK, such as the world-famous De institutione bene vivendi per exempla sanctorum (1507), and Evangelistarium (1516), both written in the late 15th century.
Also, they were presented with the Institute’s 2024 three-tome edition (De imitatione Christi na trima stilizacijama hrvatskoga književnog jezika) featuring the translation by Marulić of De imitatione Christi (Imitation of Christ), the hugely popular 15th century devotional book, into Chakavian, one of the three major dialects of the Croatian language.
The closing of Croatia’s Year of Marko Marulić programme
The Library’s and Institute’s Marko Marulić conference was held as one of the events closing the rich Year of Marko Marulić programme, which included several previous conferences and various events organised in schools and libraries.
Closing the part of the Year’s programme featuring exhibitions and musical and theatrical performances will be the staging in December of the opera rendering of Judita, composed by the Croatian composer Frano Parać, at the Prince Regent Theatre in Munich (Prinz Regent Theater).
Learn more about Marko Marulić.
