The reception of Spanish literature in the texts of Nikola Milićević: a contribution to the development of Croatian and Serbian hispanism

Abstract

Over more than 50 years of professional Hispanic studies in Croatia, Nikola Milićević (1922–1999), professor of contemporary literature at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters at the University of Zagreb, translator from Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Latin and Slavic languages, actively participated in many important events that contributed to the development of the Hispanic studies in the former Yugoslavia. Given his scientific, academic and translation pursuits, professor Milićević belongs to the group of Croatian (and Yugoslav) philologists who played an important role in the reception of the literature of the Iberian Peninsula which, compared to other European countries, was only partially known and rather late discovered in our region. The purpose of this article is, first, to analyze the translations, their complementary texts and the publications edited by Nikola Milićević, pertaining exclusively to the field of Spanish literature; second, to show the context of its conception and realization, as well as the route of reception (Spanish literature → reader / translator / critic → public / regional Hispanic studies); and finally, to explain its possible impact and importance in the translated literature and in the Croatian and Serbian Hispanic studies in general.