A German-Serb Intellectual Bridge

"Dr. Ulrich Zwiener and I were engaged together for Serbia, convinced that a permanently united Europe is possible only if all its parts, nations and cultures are incorporated, including Serbia and Montenegro. The historical role of the University of Jena in Serbian culture – Vuk Stefanović Karadžić obtained his Ph.D. from this university – served as our motivation and, at the same time, as our obligation", says Dr. Gabriella Schubert in her introduction to the second volume of the book Serbs and Germans.

By Spomenka Jelić
Photo by Milan Melka

Prof. Dr. Gabriella Schubert belongs to that group of scholar-humanists whose works reveal deeply ingrained cosmopolitan principles. Guided by such an objective, she along with Prof. Dr. Ulrich Zwiener and Dr. Zoran Konstantinović published a book entitled Serbs and Germans – Tradition of Togetherness Against Prejudices in 2003. The aim of this work was to emphasise the closeness of the two peoples in the past, before all in the field of culture, actually literature. Three years later, Dr. Gabriella Schubert published a second volume of the book entitled Serbs and Germans – Literary Meetings. On the occasion of presenting this outstanding work, an event that was organised at the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in Berlin late last year, Dr. Schubert received a special "Formal Paper" – a book entitled Crossing Borders: Tradition and Identities In South-East Europe, which her colleagues and students dedicated to her to acknowledge her long-term engagement in overcoming differences and establishing a German-South Slavic dialogue.

In her introduction to the second volume of the book Serbs and Germans, Dr. Gabriella Schubert writes:

"In previous years, during the bloody conflicts in the Balkans, when the perception of Serbia and Serbs in Germany was particularly negative and when it seemed as if the gap between Germans and Serbs was insurmountable, he (Ulrich Zwiener) encouraged me to write and publish the above mentioned bilingual volume that would illustrate some of the numerous and fruitful meetings between Serbs and Germans in the past and in this way initiate the re-establishment of dialogue between our two peoples … Ulrich Zweiner and I were engaged together for Serbia, convinced that a permanently united Europe is possible only if all its parts, nations and cultures are incorporated, including Serbia and Montenegro. The historical role of the University of Jena for Serbian culture – Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, the creator of the modern Serbian literary language, obtained his Ph. D. in philosophy there in 1832 – was our motivation and, at the same time, our obligation."

- How did Dr. Gabriella Schubert, a renowned professor of South-East European Slavic Studies at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, become interested in the Serbian language?

– I came in touch with the Serbian language in a roundabout way: first I learned the Russian language in elementary school, and later in grammar school. Afterward, while at the Slavic and Balkan Studies department at the University of Berlin, along with Russian studies my second subject was South Slavic languages, and within that field I began studying the Serb- Croat language (as it was then called). During further studies, my interest in the languages and cultures of the South Slavs gradually became the focus of my studies, especially when I visited some of the countries in question. I gained many friends in Serbia, and that additionally motivated me to study the language, literature and culture of the Serbs.

– Can you make a short survey of the University of Jena at the time of its founding, when Vuk lived there, and in the present day?

– Since 1558, Jena has been a widely famed university and neighbouring Weimar used to be the seat of a culturally developed court. From the middle of the 18^th century, Jena began to gather the then intellectual elite of Germany, including writer Christoph Martin Wieland, philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder, poets Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller. Lecturers at the University of Jena included renowned professors such as Schiller, Fichte, Schelling, Ocken, Luden, Fries, Döbereiner. Near the faculty at Halle-Wittenberg in Jena was one of the oldest faculties of Protestant theology, and a large number of students from southeast Europe came to Jena to learn new ideas, especially in the fields of theology and philosophy. This interest was additionally intensified by the military-political events in the Balkans i.e. the struggle of South Slavs for liberty against the Ottomans. The Germans exhibited great sympathy for Serbs after the Serbian uprising against the Turks in 1804.

– Unfortunately, the attitude of Germans today, as compared to in Goethe’s time, is the opposite. The relationship between Germans and Serbs is burdened by biased views and prejudices. It is crucial therefore to make efforts to remove these views and to initiate mutual understanding. The openness of Jena University grants continuity in this sense and the Collegium Europaeum of Jenense professors are engaged in efforts to bring peoples closer and to promote a better understanding among Germans for southeast Europe and especially for Serbs.

– The Serbian folk songs that Vuk gathered were quite popular reading in intellectual circles of the 19-century Germany. It is interesting that Goethe himself promoted their reading. In short, what can be said about the atmosphere in salons of that time? What is the importance of cooperation between Goethe and Vuk or indeed the Grimm brothers in introducing Serbian poetry to Germans?

– The interest of Germans in Serbs is closely connected with Herder and his idea of folk poetry as the symbol of collective eminence and authenticity. For him, the poetry of a nation was the "maternal language of mankind" and the most important expression of national character. So it happened that the great German names eagerly turned to Balkan Slavs, and especially Serbs. Along with Herder and Goethe, there were Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, especially Jacob, then Wilhelm von Humboldt, Clemens Brentano, Ludwig Uhland, Jacob Burckhardt, Leopold von Ranke and many others. They discovered that among Balkan peoples there flourished something that had long ago disappeared among Germans – a vivid narrative community and culture of poetry. This appeared to German readers of the time as simple and genuine and, at the same time, strange, archaic and enigmatic, which to a large extent corresponded to the literary taste of Germans at that time. The archaic search for sources in the Homeric spirit created a situation in which German writers and creators of culture at that time, either consciously or unconsciously, admired the folk poetry of the Balkan peoples, especially that of the Serbs.

– That period was undoubtedly the happiest time of the German-South Slavic, and especially the German-Serb, cultural relationship and it was also a time of mutual cultural exchange. Never before and never afterwards would writers and philologists collaborate so closely and successfully, crossing their countries’ borders as a matter of routine. Vuk Stefanović Karadžić on the Slav side and the brothers Grimm (Jacob primarily), Herder, Therese Albertine Louise von Jakob (alias Talfj) and Goethe on the German side – were constantly corresponding, exchanging materials for translation, giving advice and paying visits. The link between Herder, i.e. his ideas about folk poetry and Vuk Karadžić was Jernej Kopitar, the court librarian and censor who lived and worked at the Viennese court and highly appreciated Herder’s work. Herder supported Vuk Karadžić, instructed and introduced him to the many secrets of literary work, to the majority of Herder’s mentioned views on folk poetry and language as well as to the ideas of Ludwig von Schlözer. Kopitar introduced Serbian folk poetry and roused Wilhelm von Humboldt’s interest in Slavic themes. Serbian songs were read at evening parties held in the salons of Berlin and Potsdam. These parties were attended by the most renowned figures of the time. Goethe’s translation of the Hasanaginica opened for Serbian folk poetry the door to world literature. The Hasanaginica was rendered into many languages, European as well as other languages. At that time, the pentametre trochee became a common feature of German poetry. The theme of the Hasanaginica also inspired Goethe.

– In your first book you highlight translations of Serbian folk songs by Talfj. How did this interesting woman develop such an interest for Serbian poetry?

– Special merit for presenting the culture of the Balkan Slavs, especially Serb culture to Germans, must certainly go to an author from Halle, Therese Albertine Louise Robinson, born von Jakob, alias Talfj. She also came in touch with Serbian poetry in a roundabout way, via Russia. From the ages of 10 to 18 she lived with her family in Russia. That is where she developed her first interest for the Slavs. Upon her family’s return to Halle, Therese studied German literature. She also wrote novels and stories. In the spirit of the current literary fashion, she was interested in folk literature as well.

– She met Vuk Karadžić in 1823/24, in Halle. Later on, when she had acquired Leipzig’s edition of Serbian folk songs, she began to study these songs intensively. On April 12^th, 1824, she wrote to Goethe and sent him her translations of songs from the Kosovo Cycle and some other non-historical songs. Goethe was fascinated and encouraged her to continue translating. Talfj published her translations in 1824 and in 1825. She dedicated them to Goethe, whom she loved dearly. These linguistically excellent poetic renditions, close both to their original and aimed cultures, were highly admired in Germany and quite trendy literature of the time. Talfj became a model for German translators of Serbian folk songs, among others for Eugen Wesely, Wilhelm Gerhard and his adviser Sima Milutinović, Siegfried Kapper and Ludwig August Frankl.

– You are a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. After your recent lecture at SASA, when do you plan to come again to Belgrade?

– In the course of 2009, there is a plan for promoting the book Talfj and Serbian Literature and Culture at the Vuk Foundation and the Matica Srpska in Novi Sad. This book was published in Belgrade in 2008 and I am editor of this publication together with Vesna Matić, the director at the Belgrade Institute of Literature and Art. The book presents works from German dissertations about Talfj, which I published in Jena in 2001.

– In September of this year I plan to visit Belgrade again to take part in the scholarly meeting of Slavists during Vuk’s days organised by the International Slavic Centre at the Faculty of Philology. In October I am taking part in the International Scholarly Meeting on the theme of Kosovo and Metohia in the civilisational streams in Kosovska Mitrovica. My paper is entitled Reflecting on the Epic Song the Sister of Leka the Captain. I am glad I will once again see my Serbian friends.

– Unfortunately, some of your Serbian friends are not among us. What are your memories of them?

– Yes, among scholars who have departed, some of them were dear friends. First of all Prof. Miljan Mojašević and Prof. Zoran Konstantinović, for whom I always had a deep respect and will forever remember him. They dedicated themselves to the culture and literature of Germans without prejudice and with enthusiasm, even in the darkest phase of the Serb-German relationship. The void that they left behind in the world of Serbian as well as in the world of German studies, and in the Serb-German relationship, will be hard to fill.

– They were genuine mediators between cultures – not only in scholarly work, but as public figures as well. When Belgrade was bombed (1999) and when the West demonised his co-patriots, Zoran Konstantinović did everything he could to change this image, especially in the German-speaking world. In Berlin, in 1997, his plea was published entitled German-Serb Meetings: Reflections on the History of Mutual Relationships of Two Peoples. I met Zoran as a young assistant in the 1970s of the last century, when he had already become an authority in scholarly circles, but he was always ready to talk with young scholars, without any professorial aloofness or superiority. I was among these young scholars, at the beginning of my career. After that, my contact with Zoran became constant. From 1995, when at the beginning of my career I was professor at the University in Jenna, our connection became more intense in connection with the founding of the Chair for South-Slavic studies as well as Studies of the South-Eastern Europe. Zoran frequently visited Jena, where he lectured and took part in international symposiums. Thus in 1998, on the occasion of the opening of the Jenna Department of the Südosteurope-Gesellschaft, he delivered a formal speech entitled Jena and the South East-European space. Relation filled with Tradition. On this occasion he became a corresponding member of the Collegium Europaeum Jenense. Within the activities of the Collegium, Zoran was constantly in contact with us. Together with Prof. Ulrich Zweiner, the lead curator of the Collegium, and with me, he created the concept of the bilingual anthology entitled Serbs and Germans – Tradition of Togetherness Against Prejudices with the aim of motivating the re-establishment of dialogue between two peoples. After its publication in October 2003, we presented the book together in Belgrade’s Goethe Institute in the presence of a numerous and highly interested public. At the same place in 2007, we presented the second volume of the book Serbs and Germans with the subtitle Literary Meetings. This second volume, published in Jena in 2006, followed the sudden death of Ulrich Zwiеner in 2004, and we had to, unfortunately, continue without Prof. Zwiеner, but in his name.

– Do you think that the role of intellectuals is important in establishing cooperation between peoples and connecting European space or are such activities reserved for politicians? Actually, if the political standpoint regarding a country or people is negative in the world, how much can the voice of intellectuals change it?

– The interest of intellectuals and politicians, unfortunately, differs very much. Politicians, even when they claim they are making efforts to bring peoples closer, actually follow the leading political interest and Trans-Atlantic guidelines. The voice of intellectuals matters little to them. Unfortunately, the public is also inclined to accept such views. An absolutely different view of Serbia was expressed in 1996 by Peter Handke in his travel books. This was an exception that resulted in bitter protests among German writers. Their views exemplify the echo of that image of the Balkans as created in the West and the attempt of writers in the Balkans to change such an image. No doubt that it will take time until this attempt brings results, but we must continue to do our best on this mission to achieve mutual understanding in Europe.