Prešeren and the Notion of Anti-Petrarchianism

Abstract

Anti-Petrarchianism is a notion which incorporates “resistances and oppositions” (Graf) against the Petrarchian movement, an important movement of European poetry between the 16^th and 19^th centuries. However, a typical feature of anti-Petrarchian oppositions is that they occurred within the Petrarchian movement itself, without actually completely destroying its composition and creating another. – A considerable part of poetry by France Prešeren (1800–1849) can be placed within the framework of this symptomatic notion and, consequently, made more evident. The article deals with three of Prešeren’s poems dating from 1830 to 1833: “Ljubeznjeni soneti” (“Love Sonnets”), “Prva ljubezen” (“First Love”) and “Gazele” (“Ghazals”). The author has shown that in these poems “resistances and oppositions” within the poet’s Petrarchianism are strong and structured enough in both theme and style to warrant discussing Prešeren’s anti-Petrarchianism as a fairly significant phenomenon. – This is not surprising. Prešeren’s reception and adoption of other representative models of European poetry was also not passive. He always accepted them by introducing into them his own personal inversions – “resistances and oppositions”.