Morlachism or Morlacchism (; or ) was a movement in Italian, Ragusan and Venetian literature that started in 1774 and lasted until the 1830s or 1840s. It consisted on the portrayal of the Morlachs (

Vlachs Vlach ( ), also Wallachian and many other variants, is a term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate speakers of Eastern Romance languages living in Southeast Europe—south of the Danube (the Balkan peninsula ...

from the Dalmatian Hinterland, now part of

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

) and other inhabitants of

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

and their beliefs, customs, way of living and many other aspects as understood and imagined by Italians, Ragusans, Venetians and other Europeans. Morlachism was initiated by Alberto Fortis's travel book '' Viaggio in Dalmazia'' ("Journey to Dalmatia") from 1774, which achieved great popularity in Western Europe. In 2014, Branislava Milić Brett, then professor at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

, coined the term "Proto-Morlachism" (also referred to as "Pre-Morlachism") to refer to a purported earlier stage of Morlachism that lasted from the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

to 1774. According to her, particularities of Proto-Morlachism include that, unlike Morlachism, it also included interventions and viewpoints from the Morlachs themselves. One example of a Proto-Morlachist author would have been the Italian poet Franco Sacchetti.

References

Morlachs Dalmatia 18th-century literature 19th-century literature Italian literary movements {{Lit-mov-stub

See also

References