Investigations into Literary History, Literary Theory and Methodology

In this program, we approach the subject from two main perspectives: on the one hand, we are concerned with the fundamental characteristics of literature, its mode of existence, its genres and forms, functions, reception and value; on the other, the focus is on Slovenian literature and literary criticism/scholarship, and on their aesthetic, cultural and historical contexts.

The study of the older Slovenian literature is oriented towards ciritical editions of literary texts and documentary material. Through these studies we check the findings of previous researchers and open new possibilities for further, multidisciplinary research. In addition to the work on S. Zois' correspondence, other works at the forefront will be M. Pohlin's literary and philological opus (18th C.) and the Škofjeloški pasijon (The Passion of Škofja Loka, early 18th C.), the central piece of the older Slovenian dramatic opus.

As regards recent Slovenian literature, our principal subjects will be those phenomena that have not yet been presented in a suitable manner or that need to be illuminated from a different perspective i.e. reevaluated. The focus is planned to fall on love poetry, autobiographical texts and memoirs, and youth literature.

The focus of comparative literary history will be on the romantic period (with special attention paid to the self-referential aspects of poetry, self-understanding of poetic vocation and the shaping of the author's function), and modernism (with emphasis on its reception within the literary criticism and scholarship in Slovenia, and its penetration of Slovenian poetry and fiction); in addition, it will include several additional, more narrowly defined research studies.

In the field of literary theory, we plan a systematic overview of several subject areas of more recent dates. The results of our critical inspection of the main problems (e.g. literariness, the function of literature, literature and media systems, textual theory, genres, topics, style etc.) will be presented from the perspective of literary discourse.

Studies in epistemology and methodology will be concerned with the main conceptions characterizing the literay scholarship in Slovenia. These will be explained in the order of their historical appearance and in relation to corresponding developments in Europe as a whole. In addition, the study of literary evaluation in Slovenian literature will be concluded, with its final phase covering the period between the end of the 18th and the mid 19th century. The subjects under consideration will be the empirical and systemic-theoretical methods in the science of literature; the possibilities of their application will be tested on selected examples taken from literary-cultural life in Slovenia.

The set of methods used in these studies has been harmonized with the characteristics of the selected subject areas and planned goals.

In preparing critical editions, we use philological-historical and textual-critical methods. In addition, computer technologies require the elaboration of new methods and their harmonization with traditional ones, as well as a general reflection on the essence and function of literature in the light of modern theoretical understandings. Research of a predominantly literary historical character stems from empirical research of material and aims to reconstruct development processes. The study of older, functional literary works has to be conducted in cooperation with other philological-historical sciences; the study of recent artistic literature predominantly leans on literary theoretical, aesthetic and comparative historical methods. Research of a predominantly literary theoretical character includes the analysis and the interpretation of the subject, motif, style, genre and reception of these topics. Research of an epistemological-methodological character employs terminological and concept analysis, philosophical-logical and ideological-critical discussion.