Archive Collection description: KAR
Karadžić Collection (1832)
Vuk Stefanovic Karadžić (1787-1864), Serbian language reformer, was born
in Trsic, Serbia, then under Turkish rule. In 1813 after a brief period
of independence, Serbia was reconquered by the Ottoman Empire and
Karadzic was one of many refugees to flee to Vienna. It was here that he
met Jernej Kopitar who became an influence on his thinking. Kopitar was a
Slovene working as the Austrian Imperial consor of Slavonic subjects.
Karadzic's goal became to make the Serb language spoken by peasants under
Turkish rule the literary norm in place of the classical style. He also
wanted to establish a uniform orthography with a revised and simplified
alphabet. In 1815 Prince Miloš Obrenović succeeded in overthowing Turkish
rule. From 1829 to 1832 Karadžić served the newly independent state in
various ways.
In 1832 Karadžić returned to Vienna after his newly published alphabet
was banned by Obrenović as a result of opposition from the Orthodox
Church. Karadžić protested at Obrenović's policy in his published letter
"Letter to Miloš Obrenović". A copy of the original letter (now probably
in the National Library of Slovenia) is part of this collection, For much
of the period 1832-1859, Karadžić was barred from Serbia (from 1842 to
1859 the Obrenovic family were also in exile). He continued his battle
against the old Serb alphabet and for the use of popular language.
Karadžić also wrote works on Serbian history and the life and customs of
Serbian peasants and published collections of folk songs. He died having
largely succeeded in his linguistic aims.
Ref: Wilson, D, "The life and times of Vuk Stefanovic Karadžić 1787-1864:
literary, literature and national independence in Serbia (London, 1970)
Contents
Copies of Karadžić's letter to Prince Miloš Obrenović and of his accompanying letter to Jernej Kopitar.1832
1 envelope
(Language) Serbian
Unrestricted access
A record for this collection is also available on the UCL Archives web site. To see it, please type KAR into the search field.
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This page last modified Wednesday 28 April 2010.