Projects / Programmes
The leading humanists in the Slovenian territory between the 16th and mid-19th centuries and their social and cultural environment
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 6.01.00 |
Humanities |
Historiography |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| H230 |
Humanities |
Modern history (up to circa 1800) |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 6.01 |
Humanities |
History and Archaeology |
leading humanists, Slovenian territory, 16th–19th century, social and cultural environment, historiography, cultural history, identities
Researchers (10)
Organisations (3)
Abstract
Problem presentation:
Culture and language being the basic constitutive elements of many numerically small nations such as Slovenian, proper understanding of the history of their territories crucially depends on the knowledge of the role of prominent humanists who in any way dealt with the present-day national territory during the “pre-national period” and whose activities were very much in line with broader European trends.
The leading humanists of the period spanning more than three hundred years, from the 16th to mid-19th century, will be examined from various perspectives. What they all (but one representing an exception in points 4–6) share in common is that: 1) they played a crucial role in co-creating the spiritual, intellectual, scientific, cultural, and political currents in the Slovenian territory, 2) hence, they were also important protagonists in the developments that took place in a broader context, 3) they worked outside the Slovenian provinces for longer periods of time, 4) they had a significant influence on the development of thought and science, respectively, in a broader Central European context, 5) they already achieved recognition in their lifetime, and 6) today they are present in not only Slovenian national but broader collective consciousness. As such, they symbolise all major historical or cultural historical periods (Reformation, Counter-Reformation, Baroque, Enlightenment, and Romanticism) and represent the development arc from the beginnings of empiricism to modern science, and from the early ethno-linguistic integrations to modern nations.
Research goals:
The most important humanists in the Slovenian territory of a “(Central) European” range will be subject to a consolidated interdisciplinary investigation under one project for the first time. The main focus will not be on their personalities but their interaction with the environment, which will be analysed under several thematic areas. Each thematic area will focus on problems and problem clusters that have so far proved to be the most deficient in efforts to provide a comprehensive overview of the period, personalities under examination and sustainable results of their work. The project will include the following thematic areas: 1) biographic-historical, 2) literary-historical, and 3) cultural-political. The project groups will therefore not be composed exclusively of historians but researchers from the following four fields of science: historiography, literary sciences, linguistics and history of art.
In addition to the traditional form of publishing, all publications will be also available in electronic version on a specially designated website and accompanied by comprehensive abstracts in foreign languages. The website will be primarily intended to regularly disseminate the latest findings whose timely publication in the traditional print form is not possible, and allow direct interaction with the scientific and professional community.
The members of the project group will present partial results of their research at scientific meetings and invited lectures both at home and abroad. After the completion of the project, the entire production of the project and the most important results will be presented at a scientific consultation. Given the significance of the personalities under discussion for the Slovenian territory, the presented achievements are expected to receive a significant response from the media and the professional public. The final goal of the project is to initiate (preliminary) preparations to compose a synthetic presentation of the personalities under examination, their work and their time.
Relevance and potential impact of the results: Original results, as well as comparative and interdisciplinary approach, should warrant a sufficiently far-reaching and particularly long-term impact on the development of national sciences.
Significance for science
In the last decades during which humanities too have begun to reflect the growing importance of interdisciplinary research, especially in the production of syntheses (the history of the Slovenian territory, literary history, language history), the lack of research has been recognised as a result of partial studies excessively limited to individual personalities, phenomena and periods, and as a result of synthetic presentations that could not rely on previous basic research, but their message has nevertheless been continuously cited as a reference from one generation to another. The aim of the proposed project was to make up for the shortcomings by enabling the members of the research group to coordinate their efforts and thus fill the major gaps in research and contribute to a synthetic presentation of language, cultural, ethnic and political integration of the Slovenian territory into the European territorial context. Combining scientific sciences in the field of humanities and IT technologies, the proposed project was of interdisciplinary nature and could as such also contribute to further integrations of different scientific fields and provide a model for such cooperation. Based on research methods employed, the project group also had access to international knowledge and cultural heritage outside Slovenia’s borders (library databases, library and archival materials) and improved the knowledge on the Slovenian territory abroad. The education of researchers was performed in two ways: 1) The project included researchers of several generations who had already cooperated during the graduation or postgraduation studies in a mentor/student relationship and shall continue to closely cooperate in the future; 2) As mentors and co-mentors, the researchers transferred their experience, knowledge and methods to their early stage researchers and guided them towards further research on the problem examined under the proposed project; the project also included two early stage researchers – 1) a linguist and historian and 2) a linguist and literary historian – whose doctoral dissertations covered the same problem as the proposed project. The opportunities to use new knowledge and conclusions are plentiful and of far-reaching impact. The project work among others strengthened the contacts of Slovenian scientists with their colleagues abroad. The results of the research into the life and work of Zois and Kopitar will, for instance, have relevant implications for historiography, cultural history and Slavic studies of Central Europe, Russia and the Balkans.
Significance for the country
Culture and language being the basic constitutive elements of many numerically small nations such as Slovenian, proper understanding of the history of their territories crucially depends on the knowledge of the role of prominent humanists who in any way dealt with the present-day national territory during the “pre-national period” and whose activities were very much in line with broader European trends. The scientific results of the project, which explicitly dealt with the field of cultural history, have – and will continue to have – direct significance for the cultural development of the Slovenian territory and the implication of new knowledge in educational and pedagogical processes, as the vast majority of participating researchers also teach at three Slovenian universities (Ljubljana, Koper and Nova Gorica), and one is a guest lecturer abroad. The results enhanced and will continue to enhance the knowledge of material and non-material cultural heritage, as well as consolidate the awareness of its importance. Two specific examples: 1) The use and evaluation of archival fonds of some families in Slovenian and foreign archives directly contributed to the knowledge of the importance of (these) materials for the cultural history of the Slovenian and broader territory, and thus to the protection of archival materials as material cultural heritage. 2) The popularisation of new findings has contributed and will continue to contribute to a proper acknowledgement and protection (declaration of cultural monuments) of two buildings – the newly discovered birth house of Primož Trubar and the newly discovered last residence of Janez Vajkard Valvasor, as well as to the creation of a new museum collection in the Bogenšperk Castle. The research on the leading humanists of the Slovenian territory and their social and cultural environment during the three crucial centuries before the formation of the modern Slovenian nation and articulation of the idea(s) of Slovenian statehood provided the basis for the promotion of the Slovenian state and its culture within the European and broader area. Bearing in mind that, apart from its language and culture, Slovenia’s main “cultural trademark” are its prominent figures of European recognition, the new findings and synthetic presentations of some fundamental questions concerning Slovenian past will also contribute to long-term promotion – just as e.g. Trubar and Valvasor were used in Slovenia’s promotion during its EU presidency.
Most important scientific results
Annual report
2011,
2012,
2013,
final report,
complete report on dLib.si
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Annual report
2011,
2012,
2013,
final report,
complete report on dLib.si
