At Crossroads of Serbian Literature Periodization

Abstract

The author examines the terminological and literary history dilemmas in terms of the periodization of Serbian literature, indicates the shift from the older (chronological-philological) benchmarks to the newer, typological ones, which more clearly mark the processes where the poetic focus of one period is superseded by the focus of another one. The downside of periodization lies in the fixity of boundaries between the periods, unalterable classifications of works and unsubstantiated modernization. The author perceives the relations between the literary periods as a dotty intersection of sets. With regard to the history and models of the periodization of Serbian literature, the author points out to the writers’ oeuvres (such as J. S. Popović’s, P. P. Njegoš’, Đ. Jaksić’s etc) as a dynamic blend of evolving poetic norms. The starting point of any periodization has to take into account the antinomies of equivalence, commonalities and differences, (quasi) synchrony and real diachrony. The classification of works within one period assumes the minimal level of their key common features; every period/epoch is seen through the perpetual metamorphosis between two boundaries (the prevailing norms of the previous and the upcoming period).