Literary Censorship and the Dramatic Society in Ljubljana (1891–1904)

Abstract

This article examines documentary materials of the Dramatic Society in Ljubljana from the period between 1891/92 and 1903/04 that are held in the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia. The approach is informed by Ginzburg’s micro-historical method, which suggests reading documents “against the grain” and underlines the importance of materials’ differing provenance. Two types of documents are included in the censorship materials, which were created by individuals in subordinate roles and by those in government structures. One type is requests from the Dramatic Society to stage plays in Slovenian, and the other is grants of permission for productions from the Provincial Presidency of Carniola, which was in charge of theater censorship. An analysis reveals that at the beginning of the twentieth century the censorship apparatus’s power had not yet waned, but in fact had increased, and the time of depoliticized censorship had not yet arrived.

Prispevek obravnava dokumentarno gradivo Dramatičnega društva v Ljubljani, ki ga hrani Arhiv Republike Slovenije in je nastalo med leti 1891/1892 in 1903/1904. Pristop se navdihuje pri Ginzburgovi mikrozgodovinski metodi, ki predlaga branje dokumentov »proti namenu« in opozarja na upoštevanje različnih provenienc gradiva. Cenzurno gradivo namreč zajema dve vrsti dokumentov, ki so jih ustvarjali posamezniki iz podrejenih plasti in iz oblastnih struktur. Eno so prošnje za podelitev koncesij za prirejanje predstav v slovenščini s strani Dramatičnega društva, drugo so dovoljenja za uprizarjanje s strani Deželnega predsedstva za Kranjsko, ki je vodilo cenzuro dramsko-gledališke dejavnosti. Analiza cenzurnih virov pokaže, da na prehodu iz 19. stoletja v 20. stoletje moč cenzurnega aparata še vedno ni slabela, ampak se je morda celo okrepila, in da čas za depolitizacijo cenzure še ni napočil.