Politics in Literature: The Atmosphere and Responses of the Governed Peoples of Yugoslavia in the Oral and Written Literature

Abstract

This paper examines the historical and political aspects of the South Slavs from the perspective of ‘dominated’ and ‘subjugated’ based on the framework of oral literature. In addition, by examining the development of oral literature of Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina, the characteristics of oral literature history of each nation were also examined. In terms of the preservation and development of oral literature, the most important factor is the ‘ethnic characteristics’ of an individual nation as well as ‘religion’ and ‘whether or not to accept the written word’. Of course, as considered in this study, it is very natural for national resistance to arise from the ruling peoples of the Ottoman Empire, including Serbia, who were directly the target of exploitation and oppression. On the other hand, it is also understandable that the sense of national resistance was not as great as in the case of regions and peoples where the domination of the Ottoman Empire was not direct, such as Croatia and Slovenia. The common characteristics and differences were examined through the historical background of the peoples of Yugoslavia and the historical characteristics of oral literature. And in Chapter 3, through the analysis of specific oral literature works, we grasped the various responses and emotions of the ruled people against the oppression and injustice of the Ottoman Turk Empire. In conclusion, it can be understood that the peoples of Yugoslavia tried to show the indomitable national spirit as the ruled people who did not give in to the dominant people through oral literature. However, from this perspective, it can be seen that the Croatian and Slovenian peoples did not have individual national resistance through oral literature works.