Slovene historical fiction

Slovene historical fiction in form of historical tale (zgodovinska povest) or historical novel () is besides rural story the central national constitutive genre.

Slovene historical narratives started with the 500-line epic poem The Baptism on the Savica (Krst pri Savici) by France Prešeren in 1836, dealing with the defeat of the pagan Slovenes by the Christian Slovenes in the Bohinj valley in 772. Only the leader Črtomir remains alive. He finds out his betrothed Bogomila has been baptized and has gone to convent – she just kept the promise to St. Mary if her beloved Črtomir would survive the battle. Now Črtomir is easily persuaded to receive baptism at the Savica waterfall and becomes a Christian priest. Črtomir thematizes the basic Slovene national dilemma whether to stick to their own cultural identity or to accept and adopt the best from more industrious and successful neighbours. Jožef Žemlja’s Sedem sinov followed 1843, printed in the newly introduced Illyric alphabet with hacheks, to more clearly demonstrate the inclusion of Slovene national epic into the South Slavic and Pan-Slavic movement. Later, narrative in verse was sporadic. In epic poetry, Anton Aškerc (Primož Trubar: Zgodovinska pesnitev, 1905, Mučeniki: Slike iz naše protireformacije, 1906) is known for persistent interweaving of historical topics into his epic.

The historical tragedies by Friedrich Schiller were being translated from 1848 on, the original dramas by Josip Jurčič (Tugomer: Historična tragedija iz dobe bojev polabskih Slovenov s Franki, 1876, Veronika Deseniška, 1886) and Anton Medved (Viljem Ostrovrhar, 1894, Kacijanar, 1895, Za pravdo in srce, 1896) followed. Historical topic was essential for the first Slovene singspiel (spevoigra) Jamska Ivanka (1850) by Miroslav Vilhar, as well as for the first Slovene operas (Teharski plemiči by Anton Funtek and Benjamin Ipavec, 1890; Urh, grof celjski by Funtek and Viktor Parma, 1895). Some more historical dramas: Ana Wambrechtsamer, Za staro pravdo (1938), Ivan Mrak, Marija Tudor (1966), Metod Turnšek, Krst karantanskih knezov (1968), Jože Javoršek, Življenje in smrt Primoža Trubarja (1988), Miloš Mikeln, Knez Ulrik in husit ali Zvezde so mrzle (2006), Andrej Rozman Roza, Passion de Pressheren (2010).

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