ROMANTIČARSKE PRIPOVIJETKE JAKOVA IGNjATOVIĆA

The paper describes conditionally classified, romanticist and historical short stories by J. Ignjatović (Manzor i Džemila, Krv za rod, Jedan slepac, Kralјevska snaha). In them, the roman- ticistic is reduced to the idols of patriotism, love and patriarchal chastity, and the historical to the time of the Turkish conquests and the Middle Ages. Ignjatović transfers ideas about the Serbian history of the Middle Ages and the time under the Turks (in the essays Pogled na srpsko knjižestvo, Srbin i njegova poezija) into the construction of the plot, descriptions of heroes and comments, following in part the earlier tradition of plot construction (M. Vidak- ović, J. Subotić) and adding romanticist emotion and ideas that the United Serbian Youth will incorporate into their program (liberation and unification of the Serbian people). They are stylistically and thematically constructed by connecting the romanticistic, historical (time of significant events) and “realistic” composites (scenes in monasteries with monks). The pathos of love and patriotism characterizes the main characters, while the background (negative) ones are characterized by instinctual passions and betrayals. The indispensability of love, the overcoming of great distances, violent or voluntary transition from one identity to another (Orthodox - Muslim; Muslim - Orthodox), unexpected encounters, kidnappings, outlaws’ revenge on informers and traitors, but without strong, historically representative personali- ties/characters. They narrate Ignjatović’s basic ideas about the early period of the “Turkish era” in Serbian history.