Friulian Literature
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Friulian (or Friulan) literature is the
literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
of the autonomous Italian region of
Friuli Friuli (; ; or ; ; ) is a historical region of northeast Italy. The region is marked by its separate regional and ethnic identity predominantly tied to the Friulians, who speak the Friulian language. It comprises the major part of the autono ...
, written in the local Friulian language.


Early

The oldest surviving poems in Friulian date from the 14th century. They are songs of
ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...
s: ''Piruç myò doç inculurit'' ("Sweet Blush Pear of Mine", before 1380), ''Biello dumnlo di valor'' ("Fair Lady of Worth") and the ''Soneto furlan'' ("Friulian Sonnet").Giovanni Frau, "Storia linguistica esterna", in Sabine Heinemann and Luca Melchior (eds.), ''Manuale di linguistica friulana'' (De Gruyter, 2015), p. 82.Paola Benincà, "Friulian Linguistics", in Rose Mucignat (ed.), ''The Friulian Language: Identity, Migration, Culture'' (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014), pp. 45–48. Vernacular Friulian phrases and spellings occasionally made their way into otherwise
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
documents. cites an early example from 1284. Paola Benincà quotes documents from 1355, 1360, 1380 and 1389. A fuller Friulian literature dates back only to the 19th century, when
Friuli Friuli (; ; or ; ; ) is a historical region of northeast Italy. The region is marked by its separate regional and ethnic identity predominantly tied to the Friulians, who speak the Friulian language. It comprises the major part of the autono ...
, after the
Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...
, fell entirely under the control of the
Austrian empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...
. This late flourishing had several causes: first, the language of the culture and administration had never been Friulian, but
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
and partly German under the Patriarchal State of Aquileia and Italian, mixed with Venetian under the Serenissima rule. Moreover, Friuli never saw the formation of a literate
bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and aristocracy. They are traditionally contrasted wi ...
that could have fostered the language, in order to have a literary development similar to other European languages. During the 16th century for example, there were only limited poetic forms in Friulian inspired by the works of Francesco Petrarca, including the poems of Nicolò Morlupino from Venzone (1528-1570) and Girolamo Biancone from
Tolmezzo Tolmezzo (; ; archaic or ) is a town and (municipality) in the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity of Udine, part of the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of north-eastern Italy. Geography Tolmezzo is located at the foot o ...
(1515-1580). Also, until 1800 there were no printed works in Friulian, so the diffusion of poetry and other works was restricted to a small number of persons.


17th century

During this period, the most important Friulian authors were Eusebi Stele (''Eusebio Stella'') of Spilimbergo (1602-1671), born to a noble family, who composed poems in a playful and ironic style about his life and love adventures; and the count Ermes di Colorêt (1622-1692), notable mainly for his use of the ''koinè'' from
Udine Udine ( ; ; ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Carnic Alps. It is the capital of the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity ...
, that would become the most notable literary language and the basis of today's standard Friulian. Ermes was educated at Medici's court in
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
, then took part in the
Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...
, worked in the service of the Venetian Republic and Leopold I of Habsburg; in the last part of his life he returned to his homeland to focus on writing poetry, most of which centers on the theme of love. Ermes di Colloredo: Poesie Friulane, l’Opera Completa". LiteraryJoint Press, Philadelphia, PA, 2019. The complete work of Ermes Earl of Colloredo, full text.


18th century

This century was undoubtedly poor in the development of Friulian literature, probably due to the increasing influence of the
Venetian language Venetian, also known as wider Venetian or Venetan ( or ), is a Romance languages, Romance language spoken natively in the northeast of Italy,Ethnologue mostly in Veneto, where most of the five million inhabitants can understand it. It is som ...
in the city of
Udine Udine ( ; ; ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Carnic Alps. It is the capital of the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity ...
. Noteworthy, though, was the publication of the first Friulian
almanac An almanac (also spelled almanack and almanach) is a regularly published listing of a set of current information about one or multiple subjects. It includes information like weather forecasting, weather forecasts, farmers' sowing, planting dates ...
(''strolic'' or ''lunari'' in Friulian) in 1742. The almanac contained short stories, poems and agricultural advice, with an item for each day of the year; these kinds of works would be very popular in the following centuries.


19th century

The first half of the century was similar to the previous one. The primary Friulian author of the 19th century, and today probably the best known in all of Friulian literature, was Pieri Çorut ( Pietro Zorutti, 1792–1867). Çorut's poetry was plain, far removed from the popular romanticism of the period; he devoted himself mainly to the almanacs, called ''Strolic furlans'', published yearly from 1821 until 1867. His most famous work is ''Plovisine'', composed in 1833. Çorut enjoyed great popularity in Friuli during his life and many tried to imitate his style. Today he is respected mainly for his usage of Central Friulian, which he sought to elevate to a literary language. Another author of almanacs was Antoni Broili (1796–1876), who achieved better results from the literary point of view. In the second half of the century, the city of
Gorizia Gorizia (; ; , ; ; ) is a town and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, Region ...
was generally more vivacious than that of Udine; there was a different feeling of "Friulanity," and the environment was mitteleuropean, since the city (part of the county of
Gorizia and Gradisca The Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca (; ; ), historically sometimes shortened to and spelled "Goritz", was a crown land of the Habsburg dynasty within the Austrian Littoral on the Adriatic Sea, in what is now a multilingual border area of ...
) was under the rule of Austro-Hungarian empire, while Udine was annexed to the
Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...
in 1866. In Gorizia, many tried to use the Friulian language in different fields, such as the applied sciences, with good results; one example from the period is the almanac ''Il me paîs. Strenna popolâr pal 1855'' by Federico de Comelli of Gradisca (1826-1892). Carlo Favetti from Gorizia also published several books of poetry and plays in the local Friulian dialect. An important literary event, although very late in comparison to other European languages, was the publication of the first Friulian vocabulary, composed by abbot Jacopo Pirona and his nephew Giulio Andrea (1871), which is still a valuable language resource today. In 1873,
Graziadio Isaia Ascoli Graziadio Isaia Ascoli (; 16 July 1829 – 21 January 1907) was an Italian linguist. Life and work Ascoli was born in an Italian-speaking Jewish family in the multiethnic town of Gorizia, then part of the Austrian Empire (now in Italy). Alrea ...
published an analysis of Friulian. Ascoli started the so-called ''
Questione Ladina The ('Ladin Question') is a controversy over whether the Romance languages of Romansh, Ladin, and Friulian form a proper language subfamily or should rather be regarded as a part of a wider Northern Italian dialect continuum. Both the idea of ...
''. Also deserving of mention is Caterina Percoto, who has an important role in
Italian literature Italian literature is written in the Italian language, particularly within Italy. It may also refer to literature written by Italians or in other languages spoken in Italy, often languages that are closely related to modern Italian, including ...
of this century, but who left only a few works in Friulian, mainly regarding popular traditions.


20th century

At the beginning of 1900 Friuli seemed far from the numerous avant-gardes of the period, at least in part due to its difficult historical situation; the regional request for autonomy received no response from the Italian authorities, and in 1933 the
fascist regime Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...
prohibited any publications in Friulian. The most important authors of this time were Vittorio Cadel of
Fanna Fanna (Standard Friulian: ; Western Friulian: ; ) is a (municipality) in the Regional decentralization entity of Pordenone in the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of Trieste and about northeast of Pordenone. ...
(1884-1917), who composed poems with a sensual background, concealing a deep feeling of sadness and discouragement; Ercole Carletti (1877-1946) of
Udine Udine ( ; ; ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Carnic Alps. It is the capital of the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity ...
, author of poems in a style close to Italian ''crepuscolarismo''; and Celso Cescutti. A rare example of political and civil themes can be found in Giovanni Minut's ''Rimis furlanis'' (1921). Minut, born in Visco in 1895, was forced to flee to
Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
when the fascists came to power; he died there in 1967. In the area of
Gorizia Gorizia (; ; , ; ; ) is a town and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, Region ...
, Delfo Zorzut of
Cormons Cormons or Cormòns (; ) is a (municipality) in the Regional decentralization entity of Gorizia in the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of Trieste and about west of Gorizia, on the border with Slovenia. Cor ...
composed various collections of short stories (''La furlane'', ''Sturiutis furlanis'') and gathered many popular legends and traditions, useful to keep alive an interest in the language. But the most important Friulian work of the 20th century was the ''Academiuta di lenga furlana'', founded by
Pier Paolo Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, film director, writer, actor and playwright. He is considered one of the defining public intellectuals in 20th-century Italian history, influential both as an artist ...
. Pasolini collected a group of writers in order to go beyond the old poetry inspired by
Pieri Çorut Pieri may refer to: *A member of the Pieres, an ancient Thracian tribe * Pieri (surname) See also * Pieri's formula *Pieria (regional unit) Pieria () is one of the regional units of Greece located in the southern part of the Central Macedoni ...
's works, which was still imitated, to create a new and modern Friulian poetry. Other noteworthy figures in the movement include Domenico Naldini (Pasolini's cousin) and Riccardo Castellani. Neither, however, reached the poetical heights of their leader. Their works were in the ''Concordiese'' dialect of Friulian, in polemic with the use of Central Friulian as the only literary standard. Other developments after
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
included the lyrical works of Franco de Gironcoli, from
Gorizia Gorizia (; ; , ; ; ) is a town and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, Region ...
. Gironcoli studied and analysed poems from Ermes di Colorêt and the Pirona vocabulary, and from 1944 on he composed several short lyrics, dedicated mainly to the flowing of time. Josef Marchet, a priest, began the difficult work of promoting and standardizing the language; he tried to arrange a Friulian grammatic in ''Lineamenti di grammatica friulana,'' with the purpose of developing a standard variant of the language. In 1950 he also published the collection ''Risultive,'' wherein were gathered the works of several interesting Friulian poets of the time (including Novella Cantarutti from Spilimbergo; Dino Virgili, composer of the novel ''L'aghe dapit la cleve''; and Lelo Cjanton (''Aurelio Cantoni'')). 1971 saw the publication of a translation with the title ''Prime di sere'' of the novel ''Il vento nel vigneto'', written in Italian by the Friulian writer Carlo Sgorlon, which enjoyed a good success.


21st century

While poets and song writers in Friuli continue to keep the language alive, Friulan has been used in Toronto, Canada, for many years by immigrants from Friuli. A notable example is the bilingual poem collection, ''From Friuli: Poems in Friulan, with English Translations,'' (2015) by Rina Del Nin Cralli and edited by Joseph Pivato. Rina is originally from Codroipo and said she was inspired to write poetry in Friulan by the books, ''Un Friul vivut in Canada'' (1977) by Ermanno Bulfon and ''A Furlan Harvest: An Anthology'' (1993) edited by Dore Michelut, an Italian-Canadian poet.


References

{{European literature Friuli Literature by language European literature Friulian language