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The earliest extant examples of the Slovene —
and perhaps of any Slavic — language have
been preserved in the remarkable Brižinski spomeniki
(Freising manuscripts; c. 1000). During the medieval
period there also flourished, as throughout the
Balkans, a rich folk poetry.
The publication of the first
books in the Slovene
language about 450
years ago is regarded
by the Slovenes as one of the most important cultural
events in their history. In the sixteenth century,
the Reformation of the Catholic Church, the establishment
of the Protestant Church in Germany and the new
movement inspired by Martin Luther deeply affected
important Slovene men of letters such as Primož
Trubar, Jurij Dalmatin and Adam Bohorič, who were
students of German universities.
 In
the nineteenth century the key personality of
Slovenian letters was France
Prešeren (1800-1849),
a lawyer and freethinker, a bohemian and an eternally
indomitable spirit. His position as a ‘national
poet’ derives in part from legends about
his good nature and championing of the rights
of the poor, including that he often took no legal
fees from his peasant clients and did not exploit
his position for financial reward. His work occupies
a position of similar significance for the Slovenes
as Dante for the Italians or Shakespeare for the
British. In 1844 he composed Zdravljica
(A Toast), which was adopted in 1994 as the Slovenian
National Anthem.
The 19th century, a great period of novels, provided
the first Slovene example of this literary form
with Josip Jurčič's
(1844-1881) The
Tenth Brother. The
model for this novel and other Jurčič's tales
was English historical novels adapted to the environment
in which they were created: they were set in the
time of Turkish raids, and dealt with imagined
erotic passions in a province where the sharp
division between estate owners and villagers forbade
close links. Jurcic was also the first Slovene
journalist who, together with Fran
Levstik (1831-1887),
created the basis of Slovene literary criticism.
The age of Realism, which was marked in Europe
by great novels from Slovenia, also found expression
in poetry, including the works of the Impressionists
such as Josip Murn
(1879-1901), the symbolist Oton
Zupančič (1878-1949)
and later Expressionist Alojz
Gradnik (1882-1962).
In the late 1970s and early 1980s the development
of literary movements slowed to a stop. In the
beginning of the 1980s the most prominent authors,
whether poets or writers, were the ones who had
attracted public attention as early as the 1960s.
 Hence
Vitomil Zupan
(1914-1987), who had written the cult novels Menuet
za kitaro (The Minuet
for the Guitar) and Igra
s hudicevim repom
(Playing with the Devil's Tail) in the 1970s,
continued with Komedija
cloveskega tkiva
(The Comedy of the Human Tissue) in 1980 and
Levitan (The Leviathan)
in 1982. Zupan had also fallen into disgrace with
the authorities soon after the Second World War
and was sentenced to fifteen years in prison,
of which he served seven.
Modern writers include Tomaž Šalamun, Niko Grafenauer and Aleš Debeljak. Probably the most popular book in recent times is Vladimir Bartol's Alamut, which has just been translated into English in the USA. However, for 'recent', read 'last century', as the original publication date was in 1938: it is only during the last few years that this hugely entertaining novel has gained so many readers.
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