Friulian Literature - 19th Century

19th Century

The first half of the century was similar to the previous one. The primary Friulian author of the 19th century, and today probably the best known in all of Friulian literature, was Pieri Çorut (Pietro Zorutti, 1792 – 1867). Çorut's poetry was plain, far removed from the popular romanticism of the period; he devoted himself mainly to the almanacs, called Strolic furlans, published yearly from 1821 until 1867. His most famous work is Plovisine, composed in 1833. Çorut enjoyed great popularity in Friuli during his life, and many tried to imitate his style. These days he is respected mainly for his usage of Central Friulian, which he sought to elevate to a literary language. Another author of almanacs was Antoni Broili (1796 – 1876), who achieved better results from the literary point of view.

In the second half of the century, the city of Gorizia was generally more vivacious than that of Udine; there was a different feeling of "Friulanity," and the environment was mitteleuropean, since the city (part of the county of Gorizia and Gradisca) was under the rule of Austro-Hungarian empire, while Udine was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy in 1866. In Gorizia, many tried to use the Friulian language in different fields, such as the applied sciences, with good results; one example from the period is the almanac Il me paîs. Strenna popolâr pal 1855 by Federico de Comelli of Gradisca (1826-1892). Carlo Favetti from Gorizia also published several books of poetry and plays in the local Friulian dialect.

An important literary event, although very late in comparison to other European languages, was the publication of the first Friulian vocabulary, composed by abbot Jacopo Pirona and his nephew Giulio Andrea (1871), which is still a valuable language resource today. In 1873, Graziadio Isaia Ascoli published an analysis of Friulian. Ascoli started the so-called Questione Ladina.

Also deserving of mention is Caterina Percoto, who has an important role in Italian literature of this century, but who left only a few works in Friulian, mainly regarding popular traditions.