“A Muse of the Salon”. A rediscovered poem from Laza Kostić and Serbian entertainment in the era of Romanticism

Tömöry, Miklós Tamás (2025) “A Muse of the Salon”. A rediscovered poem from Laza Kostić and Serbian entertainment in the era of Romanticism. STUDIA SLAVICA ACADEMIAE SCIENTIARUM HUNGARICAE, 70 (1). pp. 99-108. ISSN 0039-3363

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Abstract

The present article aims to analyse and contextualise a poem by Laza Kostić, published in 1865 in the magazine Srbski letopis [Serbian Chronicle] under the title Beseda . Both its title and the definition of its genre – an “allegorical drama without dialogues” – were seen as unusual by its contemporaries, provoking a lively debate in the press. This article attempts to analyse the poem in the context of the ambitions of young Serbian intellectuals to reform radically Serbian self-representation and entertainment in the age of national Romanticism. The paper relates the structure and topics of the poem Beseda to the so-called Serbian beseda [srpske besede] festivities, continuously organised since 1862. These events included music, choral performances, recitations, and dances, their ticket proceeds were donated to charitable goals. This study traces how this genre arrived from Prague through Vienna to Pest and travelled onward to Novi Sad, and other cities within the Habsburg Empire with sizeable Serbian populations.

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