Beyond the Christian Doctrine: Austrian Catechism in Croatian Literary Culture in the 18th Century and Kant’s Enlightenment Thought Cover Image

Onkraj nauka kršćanskoga: Austrijski katekizam u hrvatskoj književnoj kulturi 18. stoljeća i Kantova misao prosvjetiteljstva
Beyond the Christian Doctrine: Austrian Catechism in Croatian Literary Culture in the 18th Century and Kant’s Enlightenment Thought

Author(s): Željko Senković, Ivana Mikulić
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion, Croatian Literature, Early Modern Philosophy, 18th Century, Theory of Literature
Published by: Hrvatsko Filozofsko Društvo
Keywords: modernisation; Austrian catechism; family; upbringing; Immanuel Kant; Enlightenment; Christianity;

Summary/Abstract: Croatian literary culture of the 18th century is marked by stylistic pluralism, considering that its Enlightenment character and its didactic (educational, moralistic and Catholic) and utilitaristic dimensions are emphasized the most. Austrian catechism was the fundamental book of school religious education from 1777 until 1847 in the whole Habsburg Monarchy, and it played an important role in the upbringing of children, but also of the entire family and social community in the spirit of Josephine politics. This topic is viewed from the perspective of Immanuel Kant who found it important to emphasise the dangers to which the fetishisation of ecclesiastical norms can lead to, i.e. to hinder the development of critical moments of liberty and upbringing. The absence of Enlightenment period in Croatian countries of the Habsburg Monarchy is complexly conditioned: from religious resistance and changes in a social and political sense to stagnancy and lack of education of a large part of the population, altogether favourable to the Croatian nobility and clergy.

  • Issue Year: 39/2019
  • Issue No: 03/155
  • Page Range: 669-686
  • Page Count: 18
  • Language: Croatian