Žanrovske i versifikacijske odlike „Slova ljubve“ despota Stefana Lazarevića

Abstract

This paper examines genre and versification characteristics of Stefan Lazarević’s Slovo ljubve. The first part of the paper gives theoretical definitions of epistle, lyrical (literary) epistle, lyric poem, while the second deals with the analysis of the original text, written in Serbo-Slavic language, from the point of view of versification. It is concluded that, at the level of structure and genre, the text of Slovo ljubve is open and unspecified; consequently, the authors that consider Slovo to be merely an epistle (Radojičić 1965, Bojović 2007) or a lyrical poem (Bogdanović 1980, Pavlović 1979) overlook the other aspects of the text (poetic or epistolary one), while the authors who opt for a hybrid genre, that of a lyrical epistle (Kostić 1965, Ređep 2007), most closely determine the true nature of Slovo ljubve.