page_title: Serbian culture
section_title: Literature
hierarchical_section_title: Serbian culture / Literature
caption_attribution_description: Miroslav's Gospel, pages 1 &amp; 2.
context_page_description: Serbian culture refers to the culture of Serbia and of ethnic Serbs.
  The Byzantine Empire had a great influence on the culture; Serbs were initially governing the Byzantine and Frankish frontiers in the name of the emperors and were later through their sworn alliance given independence, baptized by Greek missionaries and adopted the Cyrillic script, with Latin and Catholic influences in the southern regions. The Serbian Orthodox Church gained autocephaly from Constantinople in 1219, whereas Stefan the First Crowned was declared king by the Pope. The Republic of Venice influenced the maritime regions in the Middle Ages. The Ottoman Empire conquered Serbia in 1459 and ruled the territory for several centuries, the consequences of which suppressed Serbian culture but also greatly influenced Serbian Art, especially in the southern regions. Meanwhile, in northern regions Habsburg Monarchy expanded into modern Serbian territory starting from the end of the 17th century, culturally bounding this part of the nation to Central Europe rather than Balkans.
context_section_description: Miroslav's Gospel is one of the earliest works of Serbian literature dating from between 1180 and 1191 and one of the most important works of the medieval period. This work was entered into UNESCO's Memory of the World program in 2005. Serbian epic poetry was a central part of medieval Serbian literature based on historic events such as the Battle of Kosovo.
  In the 20th century, Serbian literature flourished and a myriad of young and talented writers appeared. The most well known authors are Ivo Andrić, Miloš Crnjanski, Meša Selimović, Borislav Pekić, Danilo Kiš, Milorad Pavić, David Albahari, Miodrag Bulatović, Dobrica Ćosić, Zoran Živković and many others. Jelena Dimitrijević and Isidora Sekulić are two early 20th century women writers, while Svetlana Velmar-Janković was the best known female novelist in mid 20th and early 21st century. 
  Ivo Andrić won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961.
  Milorad Pavić is one of the most widely acclaimed Serbian authors, most notably for his Dictionary of the Khazars, which has been translated in 38 languages.
caption: Miroslav's Gospel printed in 1186, UNESCO's Memory of the World Register
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