Kraljevic Marko from Serbian Folk Songs among Poles in the 19th Century

Dejan Ajdacic

Abstract


The paper examines how Prince Marko (Kraljević Marko) gained popularity in 19th-century Europe, largely due to the Serbian folk songs published by Vuk Stefanović Karadžić and their translations into Polish and other languages. The author juxtaposes historical data on Marko Mrnjavcevic (c. 1355–1395), noting his role as a Turkish vassal after 1371, and compares it with the portrayal of Prince Marko in Serbian folk songs. The Polish language’s earliest mention of Prince Marko as a folk hero appears in the 1804 travel diary of Prince A. Sapieha, who journeyed through Dalmatia and Zagorje. The paper discusses the unique translation approaches of August Bielowski and Roman Zmorski. It further analyzes references to Prince Marko in Adam Mickiewicz’s lectures at the Collège de France (1841), Roman Zmorski’s introduction to his 1859 book of 30 song translations about Prince Marko, Kazimierz Władysław Wóycicki’s encyclopedic article (1867), and Bronisław Grabowski’s play about Prince Marko (1880). The author draws on research from Petar Bunjak, Kreshimir Georgijevic, Roman Zmorski, Marian Jakóbiec, Milica Jakobiec Semkowowa, Damian Kubik, Regels Halili and others. The historical review concludes that Polish scholars rarely highlighted the humorous elements in the Serbian songs about Marko or his contentious relationships with women. Additionally, Polish translations were not used as intermediaries for translating these songs into Ukrainian.

Keywords


Serbian folk poetry, oral epic, Marko Kraljević, Poland, 19th century, Polish translations, Polish reception, folkloristics

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References


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|CMP|

Article submitted / Zgłoszony do druku: 26.02.2024 | Reviews completed / Proces recenzyjny zakończony: 24.07.2024 | Accepted for publication / Przyjęty do druku: 23.09.2024 | Screened with iThenticate




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/zcm.2024.13.40-56
Date of publication: 2024-12-19 15:18:52
Date of submission: 2024-02-26 16:49:52


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