The Literary Legacy of Slovenian Emigrants to Other European Countries

ABSTRACT

Following a brief introduction to the earliest periods of Slovenian émigré literature in other parts of Eu- rope, a short history of Slovenian ethnic periodicals in Western Europe prior to the Second World War is presented, along with the major Slovenian émigré authors of the time. The following section discusses contemporary Slovenian émigré writers in the rest of Europe, while the last part of the article focuses on the questions concerning their literary bilingualism. An important aspect of this study is a comparison of the writers’ position, made on three levels: between different periods of time, between continents and between writers of diverse ethnic-cultural backgrounds.

KEY WORDS: Slovenian literature, Slovenian emigrants, Europe, contemporary literature, literary bilin- gualism

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SUMMARY

THE LITERARY LEGACY OF SLOVENIAN EMIGRANTS TO OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

Janja ŽITNIK SERAFIN

In 2009–2010, the literary creativity of Slovenian emigrants living in other parts of Europe was placed in the spotlight of Slovenian academic and broader public attention on more than one occasion. On 3 December 2009, a Croatian-Slovenian colloquium titled “Cultural Heritage among Migrants in Europe” was held in Ljubljana, and it shed some new light on the subject. In the beginning of September 2010, the Vilenica Festival – the largest international literary festival in Slovenia – also contributed substan- tially to the promotion of this literature in Slovenia. Vilenica accords special place to Slovenian literature originating from beyond Slovenia’s national borders. In recent years, the festival has featured Porabian, Rezijan, Veneto-Slovenian and Croatian-Slovenian literature (among others). The presentation of Slov- enian émigré literature was introduced as part of the program in 2009. The Slovenian community in Argentina, which contributed the largest body of original Slovenian literary works, was chosen to be presented first. In 2010, the Vilenica audience was introduced to the phenomenon of Slovenian writers who live and work in the countries of the European Union. The first part of the presentation took place within the Literary Matinee at Štanjel Castle. The opening address by Lev Detela was followed by literary readings introducing Maruša Krese and Brina Svit. The accompanying program included a roundtable at which Lev Detela discussed the topic with Krese and Svit, Minister of Slovenians Abroad Boštjan Žekš, and the author of this article. Because of the time limitations, all these presentations were compelled to neglect the entire “prehistory” of the contemporary literary opus of Slovenians in other parts of Eu- rope. For this reason, the literary creativity of Slovenian emigrants in other European countries could be misinterpreted as a creative process that started after the Second World War, while in fact it is as old as Slovenian literature itself.

To make up for this shortcoming, the “prehistory” of Slovenian émigré literature in other parts of Europe is outlined in the opening sections of this article. Following a brief introduction of the earliest periods of this process, a short history of Slovenian ethnic periodicals in Western Europe prior to the Second World War is presented, along with the major Slovenian émigré authors of the time. The fol- lowing sections discuss contemporary Slovenian writers in the rest of Europe, while the last part of the article focuses on questions concerning their literary bilingualism. An important aspect of this study is a comparison of the writers’ position, made on three levels: between different periods of time, between continents and between writers of diverse ethnic-cultural backgrounds.