4th International Scientific Conference “Traditional and Contemporary in Art and Education”

Presentation Titled “At the Crossroads of Reading and Belief: A Literary-Theoretical and Historical Analysis of Perva štanka” (1860) Presented at the International Conference “Traditional and Contemporary in Art and Education”

At the Fourth International Scientific Conference “Traditional and Contemporary in Art and Education,” held in a hybrid format from 15 to 17 May 2026, a presentation entitled “At the Crossroads of Reading and Belief: A Literary-Theoretical and Historical Analysis of Perva štanka” (1860) was delivered as part of the online programme. The paper was prepared and presented by Valentina Majdenić within the institutional project “From Reinterpretation to Retrodigitization of School Manuals in the Croatian Language from the Mid-19th to the Early Decades of the 20th Century” (ReDiP, 581-UNIOS-51).

The presentation offered a literary-theoretical and literary-historical analysis of the reader Perva štanka za katoličansku školsku mladost (Vienna, 1860) as a valuable example of early school readers grounded in Catholic educational ideology. The analysis focused on the ways literature was presented to young readers, the literary genres and forms represented, and the relationship between the educational, devotional, and aesthetic dimensions of the text. Particular attention was devoted to reception strategies and the shaping of desirable modes of reading and interpretation. Within the literary-historical context, the paper examined motifs of piety, morality, and patriotism, as well as the role of the reader in shaping the children’s literary canon in the mid-19th century. The paper demonstrates that school readers are not merely teaching materials, but also important cultural artefacts reflecting the pedagogical, literary, and ideological aspirations of their time.