This present article is devoted to an issue of assimilation and adaptation of the philosophical tendencies and literary patterns of the European enlightenment in Montenegrin literature which was established in 18th century in difficult internal circumstances and during constant threat to the independence of the country. Key advocates of the rationalistic, democratic and anticlerical demands were mainly descended from the romanized Adriatic communities and obtained their education in Western Europe –transplanting into native ground the ideas of the free mind and conscience, religious tolerance, just politics, reform of the state or general education. In the context of the above-mentioned and similar categories the works of Stefan Zanović, Jovan Baljević, Katerina Radonjićand other authors were considered. The special example of taking advantage of the enlightenment paradigm are texts of the bishops and political rulers from the PetrovićNjegošdynasty –their attitude was formed through the necessity of the defence of the legal-state interest and fidelity to the Christian ethic. As a case of such a meaning of the civilizing mission in the environment of disintegrated Montenegrin tribes Petar I was presented. Especially his messages to the clan communities contain many didactic appeals which are faithful to the enlightenment vision of the man and society.

Kürzestgeschichte (lit. shortest story), which is the German term for a subcategory of short story, became established as a literary genre in the 20th century. Its condensed content conformed to the hectic pace of life but, in terms of the issues discussed, it was more essential and dedicated to an experienced reader. In this paper, a narratological analysis of selected shortest stories by Heiner Feldhoff and Kerstin Hensel will be conducted. A methodological basis for the analysis is the categories implemented by Gérard Genette. Its aim is to provide an answer to the question whether shortest stories could be, like any other epic texts, subject to a narratological analysis and to what extent the length of a text might influence the findings of such an analysis.

This article focuses on the novel att våga vara… [to dare being…] (1948) based on the life of the explorer Isabelle Eberhardt (1877–1904), by the Swedish author Ulla Bjerne (1890–1969). Annotations in her diary as well as Eberhardt’s diary and biography, are in addition taken into account, read as examples of female situated embodiment and part of a feminist nomadic practice, as elaborated by Rosi Bradidotti, in Bjerne’s aim to give representation to a new type of woman. It entails resistance to hegemonic, fixed and exclusionary views on feminine subjectivity, the affirmation of movement and the process of becoming, and the construction of new conceptions and images of women. The central hypothesis in the article is that travelling in att våga vara… has a potential to nomadize the female subject both literally and figuratively, in the quest to give representation to a situated, embodied female subjectivity, in both body and word.

Karl August Varnhagen von Ense (1785–1858) was a German diplomat, biographer and archivist-collector. He worked as a tutor in the homes of several families of the wealthy Jewish bourgeoisie. This allowed him to get in touch with prominent poets and writers of romanticism, such as Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, Adelbert von Chamisso, Justinus Kerner and Ludwig Uhland. During the Napoleonic Wars Varnhagen served in Austrian and Russian army. 1814 he married Rahel Levin, a Jewish writer who hosted one of the most prominent German literary salons in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Their home in Berlin became the meeting-place of high civil servants, philosophers, writers and artists. Although Varnhagen developed a reputation as an critical writer and journalist, he is most famous as a biographer and archivist-collector. The article investigates Varnhagen’s activities as a journalist and demonstrates journalism as an unknown and unexplored but significant and valuable aspekt of his work, which is substantial in volume.

Sándor Kányadi in his poetic cycle Heretic Telegrams enters into an intertextual dialogue with Zbigniew Herbert’s output. This article attempts to interpret those poems which contain an autothematic reflection on literary creation, artistic expression, ways of narrating or the role of a poet in shaping collective consciousness. Kányádi establishes the opposition of fable and novel, presenting them as literary genres belonging to separate traditions, based on different perceptual patterns. These theses are accompanied by direct allusions to Zbigniew Herbert’s works, what naturally leads to the adoption of comparative literary methods.

In Demain matin, Montréal m’attend, a comedy by Michel Tremblay written in the era of a Quiet Revolution, contempt takes on an argumentative value. Lola Lee, a singer and artist in La Main – an artistic neighborhood in Montreal. Lola’s younger sister – Louise – is jealous of the popularity gained by her older sibling. Lola Lee, in the attempt to discourage Louise from the idea of following in her footsteps travels with her through the most infamous artistic venues. During this trip Louise meets artists with questionable morals. The aim of the article is firstly to show how this journey, instead of generating contempt, becomes the core of searching for your own artistic identity. Secondly, the article explains how Tremblay’s art, using metaphors in the style of Almodóvar, represent the national dramaturgy of Quebec, in which the hero, which is an allegory of the whole society, undergoes an evolution that allows him to appreciate his own identity instead of despising it.