ABSTRACT
Tales, legends, and other narrative genres from Croatia—which has a population of some 4,800,000 and shares borders with Slovenia, Italy, Hungary, Serbia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina—are denoted and determined by multiple and deeply interwoven historical links. These range from those that Croatia had in past centuries with Venice and Austria-Hungary, and those from the twentieth century, primarily from its shared life until 1991 as a part of Yugoslavia. Consequently, Croatian tales have had peripheral contacts and are interwoven with diverse traditions—for example, those of the Mediterranean, central Europe, Pannonia, and the Balkans. These are the sources of their profile and their distinctive quality. However, they cannot be distinguished only by these elements, nor can they be classified according to the usually uncertain origin of the tales. The only factor that makes storytelling specifically Croatian is the language in which the teller of the tale heard it, remembered it, and then passed it on in his local or broad community.
