- Friulian literature
Friulian literature is the
literature of the autonomous Italian region ofFriuli , written in the localFriulian language .Even if the first poems in Friulian date from the 14th century (anonymous works written in
Cividale such as "Piruç myò doç inculurit" and "Soneto furlan", close to the Italian poetic movementDolce Stil Novo ), the birth of a full flavoured Friulian literature dates back only to the 19th century, whenFriuli , after the congress of Vienna, fell entirely under the control of theAustrian empire . This late flourishing had several causes: first, the language of the culture and administration had never been Friulian, but Latin and partly German under thePatriarchate of Aquileia and Italian, mixed with Venetian under theSerenissima rule. Moreover, Friuli never saw the formation of a literatebourgeoisie that could have fostered the language, in order to have a literary development similar to other European languages. During the 16th century for example, there were only limited poetic forms in Friulian inspired by the works ofFrancesco Petrarca , including the poems ofNicolò Morlupino fromVenzone (1528-1570) andGirolamo Biancone fromTolmezzo (1515-1580). Also, until 1800 there were no printed works in Friulian, so the diffusion of poetry and other works was restricted to a small number of persons.17th century
During this period, the most important Friulian authors were
Eusebi Stele ("Eusebio Stella") ofSpilimbergo (1602-1671), born to a noble family, who composed poems in a playful and ironic style about his life and love adventures; and the countErmes di Colorêt (1622-1692), notable mainly for his use of the "koinè" fromUdine , that would become the most notable literary language and the basis of today's standard Friulian. Ermes was educated atMedici 's court inFlorence , then took part in theThirty Years' War , worked in the service of the Venetian Republic and Leopold I of Habsburg; in the last part of his life he returned to his homeland to focus on writing poetry, most of which centers on the theme of love.18th century
This century was undoubtedly poor in the development of Friulian literature, probably due to the increasing influence of
Venetian language in the city ofUdine . Noteworthy, though, was the publication of the first Friulianalmanac ("strolic" or "lunari" in Friulian) in 1742. The almanac contained short stories, poems and agricultural advice, with an item for each day of the year; these kinds of works would be very popular in the following centuries.19th century
The first half of the century was similar to the previous one. The primary Friulian author of the 19th century, and today probably the best known in all of Friulian literature, was
Pieri Çorut ("Pietro Zorutti", 1792 – 1867). Çorut's poetry was plain, far removed from the popular romanticism of the period; he devoted himself mainly to the almanacs, called "Strolic furlans", published yearly from 1821 until 1867. His most famous work is "Plovisine", composed in 1833. Çorut enjoyed great popularity in Friuli during his life, and many tried to imitate his style. These days he is respected mainly for his usage of Central Friulian, which he sought to elevate to a literary language. Another author of almanacs wasAntoni Broili (1796 – 1876), who achieved better results from the literary point of view.In the second half of the century, the city of
Gorizia was generally more vivacious than that of Udine; there was a different feeling of "Friulanity," and the environment was mitteleuropean, since the city (part of the county ofGorizia and Gradisca ) was under the rule of Austro-Hungarian empire, while Udine was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy in 1866. In Gorizia, many tried to use the Friulian language in different fields, such as the applied sciences, with good results; one example from the period is the almanac "Il me paîs. Strenna popolâr pal 1855" byFederico de Comelli of Gradisca (1826-1892).An important literary event, although very late in comparison to other European languages, was the publication of the first Friulian vocabulary, composed by abbot
Jacopo Pirona and his nephew Giulio Andrea (1871), which is still a valuable language resource today. In 1873,Graziadio Isaia Ascoli published an analysis of Friulian. Ascolo started the so-called "Questione ladina".Also deserving of mention is
Caterina Percoto , who has an important role inItalian literature of this century, but who left only a few works in Friulian, mainly regarding popular traditions.20th century
At the beginning of 1900 Friuli seemed far from the numerous avant-gardes of the period, at least in part due to its difficult historical situation; the regional request for autonomy received no response from the Italian authorities, and in 1933 the fascist regime prohibited any publications in Friulian. The most important authors of this time were
Vittorio Cadel ofFanna (1884-1917), who composed poems with a sensual background, concealing a deep feeling of sadness and discouragement;Ercole Carletti (1877-1946) ofUdine , author of poems in a style close to Italian "crepuscolarismo"; andCelso Cescutti . A rare example of political and civil themes can be found inGiovanni Minut 's "Rimis furlanis" (1921). Minut, born inVisco in 1895, was forced to flee toUruguay when the fascists came to power; he died there in 1967.In the area of
Gorizia ,Delfo Zorzut ofCormons composed various collections of short stories ("La furlane", "Sturiutis furlanis") and gathered many popular legends and traditions, useful to keep alive an interest in the language.But the most important Friulian work of the 20th century was the "Academiuta di lenga furlana", founded by
Pier Paolo Pasolini . Pasolini collected a group of writers in order to go beyond the old poetry inspired byPieri Çorut 's works, which was still imitated, to create a new and modern Friulian poetry. Other noteworthy figures in the movement include Domenico Naldini (Pasolini's cousin) and Riccardo Castellani. Neither, however, reached the poetical heights of their leader. Their works were in the "Concordiese" dialect of Friulian, in polemic with the use of Central Friulian as the only literary standard.Other developments after
World War II included the lyrical works ofFranco de Gironcoli , fromGorizia . Gironcoli studied and analysed poems fromErmes di Colorêt and the Pirona vocabulary, and from 1944 on he composed several short lyrics, dedicated mainly to the flowing of time.Josef Marchet , a priest, began the difficult work of promoting and standardizing the language; he tried to arrange a Friulian grammatic in "Lineamenti di grammatica friulana," with the purpose of developing a standard variant of the language. In 1950 he also published the collection "Risultive," wherein were gathered the works of several interesting Friulian poets of the time (includingNovella Cantarutti fromSpilimbergo ; Dino Virgili, composer of the novel "L'aghe dapit la cleve"; and Lelo Cjanton ("Aurelio Cantoni")).In 1971 it was published a translation with the title "Prime di sere" of the novel "Il vento nel vigneto", written in Italian by the Friulian writer
Carlo Sgorlon , which enjoyed a good success.
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