The Reception of Female Authors from East and West
European Countries in 19th-century Slovenia: Russian and
Ukrainian authors versus French and English authors
This paper will compare the reception of female authors from East and West European
countries in the 19th-century Slovenian territory which was just between the eastern and
western part of Europe. The research was focused on the reception of English and French
women writers as representatives of the western part and on Ukrainian and Russian women
writers as representatives of the eastern part. We tried to answer how these women writers
were received in the cultural space of a small nation which was under the Habsburg Empire in
the 19th century and thus in direct contact with Austrian and German literatures. We will also
discuss the question of whether the reception of western and eastern authors was direct or
whether it happened through the German leading culture, thus through translations and
records in German newspapers which were published in the Slovenian ethnic territory. We
analysed the following three categories of reception: the periodical press (including mentions,
articles, obituaries, translations and reviews), the public and private library
catalogues/collections and the repertoire of the Slovenian theatres from the 19th century.
The territory in which the Slovenian ethnic group lived in the 19th century was a part of
the Habsburg Empire which was strongly reflected in Slovenian cultural life. On the one
hand, the Slovenians were reserved towards the representatives of German culture due to
restrictions of the use of Slovenian language in public, politics and in schools. However, on
the other hand, the Slovenian intelligentsia followed the activity in the European literary
space mostly through newspapers and translated books from the German speaking territory
due to smallness and underdevelopment of Slovenian literary field. Therefore, especially
Western European women writers were mostly received through a German “filter” like for
example German newspapers and translations which were reachable in the Slovenian territory
especially in the first half of the 19th century. Concerning the library catalogues and private
collections, the received books were mostly in German translation or in the original language
(French or English), some of them also in Italian translation.
The French women writers were the most received in all three categories mentioned
before. One of the reasons for this could also be the fact that the French culture won the
favour of Slovenian scholars during the time of the Illyrian provinces (1809-1813) which
were founded in the Slovenian territory after the defeat of the Austrian army. The majority of
the records were found in German newspapers. At the end of the 19th century the number of
records in Slovenian newspapers increased considerably, among them also the long obituary
of George Sand written by the Slovenian female author Pavlina Pajk in 1876.
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In periodical press: 15 French authors were received (66 records), G. Sand and Mme
de Staël being the most received
In the library catalogues or private collections: 57 different works (by 10 authors)
received; Sand’s novels being the most numerous (about 30 works)
In the repertoire of the Slovenian theatres: 1 adaptation of the French novel was
performed (La petite Fadette) (in 1876 for the first time)
The reception of English women writers was less numerous but still considerable. The
majority of the records were found in the Slovenian newspapers:
-
In periodical press: 8 English authors were received (14 records)
In the library catalogues or private collections: 28 different works (by 21 authors)
received
In the repertoire of the Slovenian theatres: 1 adaptation of the English novel was
performed (Jane Eyre) (in 1876 for the first time)
After the revolution in 1848, the Slovenian language and culture acquired some more
rights and Slovenian people (after centuries of German and also Italian oppression) turned
towards Slavic roots. At the end of the 19th century the Slovenian newspapers wrote more and
more about Slavic nations that they had neglected before. Articles about Russia and Russian
people were very numerous. In the newspaper Slovenka (Slovenian Woman) in 1899, the
journalist Ivan Hoić observes that Russia is becoming more and more popular in the western
countries where they say that “the sun comes from the East” while Slovenian people cannot
even dare to pronounce the word “Russia” without certain fear instead of boasting about our
common roots the way German people do with their Pan-Germanic roots. In Hoić’s opinion
this dividing line between Europe and Russia was due to the Russian Ortodox Church.
However this could be one of the reasons why we cannot find many receptions of the Eastern
women writers in Slovenia till the beginning of the 20th century. Marica Nadlišek Bartol, a
Slovenian author and also the editress of Slovenka (Slovenian woman), was even in favour of
eastern authors and wanted to approach them to Slovenian readers. She wrote an article about
the Ukrainian woman author Mariya Vilinska/Markovych. In 1888 in the newspaper
Slovanski svet (Slavic World) there was an interesting article about the literary activity of the
Ukrainians. The author of the article mentions the annual of Ukrainian women writers where
there were presented a lot of prolific female authors but he exposes only 7 names, 5 of which
we could not find any information. Nevertheless, the journalist wishes that this prolific
production would be possible also among Slovenian women writers. Consequently, a more
numerous reception of the Eastern authors started in the beginning of the 20th century. In
contrast to the reception of Western women writers, the records of Russian and Ukrainian
women writers were found only in Slovenian newspapers.
The reception of Russian women writers:
-
In periodical press: 2 authors were received (3 records)
In the library catalogues or private collections: 0 works received
In the repertoire of the Slovenian theatres: 0 productions in theatre
The reception of Ukrainian women writers:
-
In periodical press: 3 authors were received (+5 unknown authors), (10 records)
In the library catalogues or private collections: 0 works received
In the repertoire of the Slovenian theatres: 0 productions in theatre
In conclusion, we presume that among the four groups of foreign authors, French women
writers (especially George Sand) had the biggest impact on Slovenian cultural and literary
activity in the 19th century. Their influence on Slovenian authors was considerable, because
Slovenian female and male authors such as Pavlina Pajk and Josip Jurčič seem to have known
very well their work so that we can find a lot of intertextuality in their own work even though
they managed to transform with great skill the similar topoi and motifs remodelling them
according to the contemporary Slovenian culture and society.
1. Women writers received in the German and Slovenian periodical
press in the 19th -century Slovenian territory:
FRANCE (15 authors)
Woman author (in
chronological order)
Candeille, Julie
Staël, Germaine de
Deffand, Marie du
Lespinasse, Julie de
Sévigné, Marie de
Sand, George
Gournay, Marie
Colet Louise
Genlis, Félicité de
L’Enclos, Ninon de
Lapauze, Jeanne
Sansom, Henrietta
Consuela
Adam, Juliette
Durand, Alice
Gautier, Judith
M = mention /
O = obituary/
A=article/
T=translation/
R=review
M
22 M
M
M
M
27 M, 2 O
M
2M
M
2M
M
M
Firstly mentioned in
M
M
M
1899
1899
1899
1812
1817
1830
1830
1830
1840/1841
1870
1876
1886
1886
1898
1898
ENGLAND (8 authors)
Woman author (in
chronological order)
M = mention / O = obituary/
A=article/ T=translation/
R=review
Firstly mentioned in
Montagu, Mary
Radcliffe, Ann
Brontë, Charlotte
Braddon, Mary Elisabeth
Ouida
Wollstonecraft, Mary
Browning, Elizabeth
Eliot, George
M
M
2M
R, M
2M, T
3M
M
M
1824
1870
1876
1880
1890
1897
1899
1899
Woman author (in
chronological order)
M = mention / O = obituary/
A=article/ T=translation/
R= review
Firstly mentioned in
Mariya Vilinska/Markovych
Kravchenko Uliana
Pchilka Olena
3M, 2T, A, 2R,
M
M
1860
1888
1888
UKRAINE (3 authors, +5?)
*5 more authors are
mentioned in the article,
namely Jerina, Kobrinska,
Raskovicheva, Navrocka,
Barvinska but no information
about them was found
M
1888
Woman author (in
chronological order)
M = mention / O = obituary/
A=article/ T=translation/
R= review
Firstly mentioned in
Kowalewska, Zofja
Alexandrovna Lokhvitskaya,
Maria
2M
M
1897
1899
RUSSIA (2 authors)
2. The repertoire of Slovenian theatres (1867–1967)
Slovenian National Theatre Drama Ljubljana:
 The adaptation of the novel La petite Fadette (George Sand) by Birch-Pfeiffer was
performed (in Slovenian language) in the Slovenian National Theatre Drama
Ljubljana. It was performed seven times from 1876 to 1897.
 The adaptation of the novel Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë) by Birch-Pfeiffer was
performed (in Slovenian language) in the Slovenian National Theatre Drama
Ljubljana. It was performed six times from 1876 to 1901.
 Zero productions in theatre of works written by Ukrainian/Russian authors
3. The 3 library catalogues
Janez Giontini’s catalogues (1846–1865): 53 different works received in total
(Janez Giontini was a bookseller who in 1846 also established a lending library in Ljubljana)
 47 works by 8 French authors
 10 works by 9 English authors
 Zero works by Ukrainian/Russian authors
Hedwig von Radics’ catalogue (1898): 23 different works received in total
(The Austrian woman writer Hedwig von Radics-Kaltenbrunner established in 1886 the first
private library in Ljubljana)
 6 works by 3 French authors
 17 works by 12 English authors
 Zero works by Ukrainian/Russian authors
Janez Kersnik’s private collection (end of 19th century): 8 different works received in total
(Janko Kersnik (1852-1897) was a Slovenian writer. He had a very big library used also by
his family)
 6 works by 3 French authors
 2 works by 2 English authors
 Zero works by Ukrainian/Russian authors