Once again about the Allegorical Interpretation of Judita

Razmatrajući "predodžbe o Turcima u hrvatskoj književnosti ranog novovjekovlja" Davor Dukić u svojoj knjizi Sultanova djeca (Zadar, 2004) postavlja pitanje: "Je li Marulić u Juditi mislio na Turke?" Gotovo istodobno u Colloquia Maruliana XI (2002) Ružica Pšihistal objavila je svoju zanimljivu studiju pod naslovom "Treba li Marulićeva Judita alegorijsko tumačenje?" Hrvatska književnopovijesna tradicija smatrala je prvi hrvatski ep alegorijskim izrazom protuturskoga stajališta Marulićeva. U prilog tomu književna je historiografija navodila ona djela u kojima se protuturska tematika pojavljuje izravno i s jasnom tendencijom (Molitva suprotiva Turkom, Tužen\u27je grada Hjerozolioma, poslanica Hadrijanu VI), kao i onodobne povijesne činjenice (turski napadi na dalmatinske gradove Split, Zadar, Šibenik, Trogir; smrt bana Petra Berislavića 1520, pad Beograda 1521. itd.). Dakako, u navedenim protuturskim Marulićevim djelima o Turcima se govori izravno, dok u Juditi o njime nama ni spomena. Stoga pisci navedenih studija predlažu tumačenje Judite u moralističko-kršćanskom, a ne u domoljubno-alegorijskom ključu. Zaključak o moralo-kršćanskom karakteru spjeva nije upitan i valja ga u potpunosti prihvatiti. No dok oni analiziraju samo tekst Judite, ovdje predlažemo promatranje Marulićeva spjeva u komparativnom kontekstu. Poznato je da se tema Judite pojavljuje i u poljskoj, češkoj i mađarskoj književnosti 16. st. Češki pisac Mikuláš Konáč napisao je školsku didaktičnu dramu o Juditi i Holofernu, mađarski pjesnici Sebestyén Tinódi i Mihály Sztárai u svojim su "historijskim pjesmama" (históriás ének) navodili primjer "svete udovice" s nedvojbenim protuturskim alegorijskim aluzijama. Sztárai je najprije bio franjevac, a zatim protestantski propovjednik, Tinódi je služio kod grofa Tamása Nádasdyja kao dvorski "dijak" i pjevač; obojica stvaraju u znaku reformacije. U mađarskoj književnosti bilo je i drugih pjesnika koji su bili djelatni predstavnici protureformacije i pisali su historijske pjesme o starozavjetnim temama sa suvremenom moralnom i političkom tendencijom. Te su dvije vrste angažmana, protuturski i moralistički, u njihovim djelima uvijek spojeni, pa se ne mogu lako razlučiti. Uzmu li se u obzir takvi, Maruliću vremenski i geopolitički bliski primjeri, njegova Judita može se promatrati nešto nijansiranije, uzimajući u obzir povezanost moralnoalegorijskog i protuturskog sloja u djelima srodnima njegovoj Juditi.Considering »ideas about the Turks in Croatian literature of the early modern age« Davor Dukić in his book Sultanova djeca / Children of the Sultan (Zadar, 2004) raises the question: »Was Marulić thinking of the Turks in Judita?« Al-most at the same time in Colloquia Maruliana XI (2002) Ružica Pšihistal published her own interesting study entitled »Does Marulić’s Judita Need an Allegorical Interpretation?«. Croatian literary history tradition thought the first Croatian epic an allegorical expression indeed of the anti-Turkish viewpoint of Marulić. Literary history, to back this up, has cited works in which anti-Ottoman themes have appeared either directly or by patent implication (Prayer against the Turks, Complaint of the City of Jerusalem, Epistle to Hadrian VI), as well as the historical facts of the time (the Ottoman attacks on the Dalmatian towns of Split, Zadar, Šibenik and Trogir; the death of Ban Petar Berislavić in 1520; the fall of Belgrade in 1521, for example). In these anti-Turkish works of Marulić the Turks are dis-cussed directly, while there is never a mention of them directly in Judita. Hence the writers of the studies cited have proposed an interpretation of Judita in a Chris-tian moralist and not in a patriotic allegory light. The conclusion that the poem does have a Christian moralist character is not in doubt, and needs accepting in its entirety. But while they analyse only the text of Judita, we here propose observing the Marulić poem in a comparative context. As is well known, the topic of Judith appears in Polish, Czech and Hungarian literature in the 16th century. The Bohe-mian writer Mikulaš Konač wrote a textbook didactic drama about Judith and Holofernes; the Hungarian poets Sebestyén Tinódi and Mihály Sztárai in their »historical songs“ (históriás ének) give the example of the »holy widow« with undoubted anti-Turkish allegorical allusions. Sztárai was formerly a Franciscan, and then a Protestant preacher. Tinódi served Count Tamás Nádasdy as court scriv-ener and singer; in their work, both of them took their cue from the Reformation. In Hungarian literature there were other poets too who were active representatives of the Counter Reformation, and wrote historical poems on Old Testament topics, with a contemporary moral and political tendency however. These two kinds of engagement, the anti-Turkish and the moralist, were always linked in their works, and cannot be easily distinguished. If such examples, close to Marulić in time and geopolitics, are considered, then his Judita can be seen as somewhat more delicately shaded, taking into account the connection of the moral allegory and anti-Turkish layers in the works cognate to his Judita