Chair of Comparative History of South Slavonic Languages and Literatures

When Department of Croatian Language and Literature and Department of South Slavonic Languages and Literatures were established, it has been of our most primary interest to develop methodology for comparative Slavonic languages and literature studies, with special attention to comparative history and grammar of the South Slavonic languages, and South Slavonic comparative (intercultural) literature. This resulted in adoption of new teaching plans and programs, and in 2005 Chair of Comparative History of the South Slavonic Languages and Literatures was established, the head of which has been full professor Zvonko Kovač, PhD. since its establishment. Chair’s research program consists of continuous assessment of up-to-date comparative-scientific research methodology, along with a creative adaptation and application of it to specific South Slavonic conditions, both in terms of Slavonic linguistics and Slavonic literary history. The Chair members in particular wish to put great emphasis in their work to conduct of systematic research of comparative-intercultural relations between Croatian and South Slavonic literatures and languages, which bilateral South Slavonic comparative research often tends to overlook. Therefore it is of crucial importance to study problems of Bosnian language and Bosnian (Bosnian-Herzegovinian, Bosnian) literature, Croatian-Serbian literature and culture relations, questions of literary production of South Slavonic national minorities in Croatia, etc. Besides Zvonko Kovač (the methodology of literary history, comparative literary analyses) other members of the teaching staff also contribute to this Chair’s research – Anita Peti-Stantić (comparative history of South Slavonic languages) and junior researcher Ivan Majić (introduction to the study of South Slavonic literatures, Bosnian-Herzegovinian literature).