Svetozár Hurban Vajanský (1847 – 1916) had some contact with the Croatian environment and reflected on Croatian issues in his newspaper articles and literary texts several times. However, the book of his substantial correspondence only seldom features the contact with Croatian partners. The fact that Vajanský´s works were well-received in Croatia at that time can be proved by e.g. translations and reviews in the Information-overview section Listak of the magazine Vienac (1869 – 1903), which was Croatia´s most significant literary magazine in the 19th century. The subject of the paper is the contribution of the magazine Vienac to Vajanský´s reception by Croatian readers. The magazine mainly deserves credit for reassessment of his literary work, especially the prosaic part, which later resulted in publishing many translations of his proses in other Croatian literary magazines. Vajanský´s opus primarily earned praise for its aesthetic criteria and principles, which in contrast to young Croatian intellectuals was adhered to by the older, more conservative generation of Croatian writers, who in the late 19th century turned the magazine Vienac into their platform.
The article is a contribution to the research of Slovak-Croatian literary and cultural relations. It focuses at the reception of Andrej Sládkovič (1820 – 1872) in the Croatian context. The second half of the 19th century is investigated through the analysis of contributions to Croatian literary magazines and newspapers such as Danica, Dragoljub, Vienac, Slavonac and Nada. The analysis of the 20th century and contemporary reception looks at texts published in various magazines, books and anthologies which contain translations by Luko Paljetak, Dubravka Dorotić Sesar and others. Since Sládkovič did not have any personal contacts with Croatian intellectuals of the time, the presence of his work in the 19th century Croatian cultural space was scarce. Wider recognition of his oeuvre came much later and in the late of the 20th century, it was intensified by the establishment of a Slovak studies programme at the University of Zagreb (as part of Czech studies in 1994 and as a separate programme in 1997). While in the 19th century, period magazines and newspapers – albeit sporadically – do mention Sládkovič, but do not contain any translations of his work, nowadays, translations are available, but are usually only known in the narrow academic circles of (mainly) Slavic studies experts.
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