Hum (Jan 2018)
PREFACE ANALYSIS IN PRE-STANDARD CROATIAN GRAMMARS
Abstract
The endeavour of this paper is to describe and show the content and function of the preface text in Croatian printed pre-standard grammars from the 17th century until the first half of the 19th century, actually until the appearance of the Croatian revivalists. Stratification of the content of the preface as an interesting and significant functional text is being questioned. It refers to fourteen printed grammars. The starting point is a premise that the preface exists as a communication category in the author-text-reader triangle. The preface is observed in the context of the history of the Croatian language, in the context of the dominant grammar text and with regard to the author. Thus the preface is simultaneously discovered as the story about the author, the period, the society and the grammar. Aside from the preface, the appearance of dedication is also observed.
