Antun Gustav Matoš and Serbian Culture

Abstract

The paper deals with the contradictory relationship of the Croatian writer Antun Gustav Matoš with Serbs and their culture. On the one hand, there are numerous affirmative notes, images and messages in his writings but, on the other hand, there are quite a few perceptions which turned, in the interplay of prejudices, not clear enough understanding and literary-ideological essays written under the influence of the legacy of Ante Starčević, into stereotypical images of Serbs, of their culture, history, literature and traditional values. It is well documented that Matoš spent an overall period of seven years in Belgrade on two occasions: 1894-1897 and 1904-1908, escaping being conscripted into the army in Croatia, and that he found in Serbia his ideal of personal freedom and his ‘second homeland’. During his stay in Serbia, he acquired an insight into all spheres of the country’s cultural and artistic life, got familiar with and commended the Serbian culture, which was in the full swing of accepting European values at the turn of the 20^th century. However, not all of his texts on the Serbian culture were written in an affirmative tone. On the contrary, there are some extremely negative attitude and stereotypes recorded in his travelogues, feuilletons, essays, arguments and other publications. The paper analyzes some causes and consequences of such an approach.