Searching for Schiavoni intellectuals
IL CAPITALE CULTURALE. Studies on the Value of Cultural Heritage, (2018)DOI: 10.13138/2039-2362/1849
Abstract
The art history term of “Schiavoni” - used for artists born in Croatia, or Dalmatia, and active abroad, mostly in Italy - is completely absent from the Croatian literary history. No such history will, however, dare to omit the category of “Croatian authors outside their homeland”. The paper interprets the theoretical framework that is causing such discrepancy between the disciplines and proposes to consider both artists and writers as intellectuals. In that context, inspired by Antonio Gramsci’s theory of the role of intellectuals in the process of social change, the dynamic relationship between the intellectuals and the Schiavoni community can be fruitfully explored; for example, four intellectuals from the island of Korčula, active in the Schiavoni confraternity of St Jerome in Rome in 1550-1565, can be identified as a small social network strengthened by multiple alliances.