Funeral culture and public monuments: Jernej Kopitar, Vuk Karadžiá and creating a common Serbo-Slovenian culture of memory

Abstract

The process of establishing a common Yugoslav identity saw the development of cultural cooperation between Serbia and Slovenia. The foundations of Serbo-Slovenian cultural and political cooperation were based on the historic association between Vuk Stefanoviæ Karadžiæ and Jernej Kopitar. This led to the organization of a joint funeral spectacle, which saw the transfer of their bodies from Vienna to Belgrade and Ljubljana in 1897. The significance of the repatriation of Kopitar and Vuk Karadžiæ's remains from Vienna to Ljubljana and Belgrade is multifold. This event represents the first joint Serbian-Slovenian public political action, which also constructed a common South Slavic-Yugoslav identity. On the other hand, the repatriation of Kopitar and Vuk Karadžiæ's remains shows and confirms the connection between funerary culture and public monuments.