This special issue of the journal Primerjalna književnost (Comparative Literature) is the result of a three-year research project Towards a History of Comparative Literature in a Global Perspective: Matija Murko and His International Collaborators (J6-4620), conducted from 2022 to 2025 at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, with financial support from the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS). The aim of the collected contributions is to explore the rich comparative legacy of Matija Murko (1861–1952), who during his lifetime was regarded as one of the foremost Slavic scholars, and whose renown, after his death, extended far beyond this discipline, earning him global recognition in the broader field of literary studies and in numerous other branches of the humanities. The volume opens with two contributions, by Tone Smolej and Blaž Zabel, which offer a comprehensive account of Murko’s contribution to comparative literature. Smolej discusses Murko’s early research period, identifying pre-French beginnings of Slovenian comparative literature, while Zabel, through his investigation of Murko’s influence on American comparative literature, demonstrates that Murko’s folkloristic studies of South Slavic epic poetry had the most significant international reception. Then the articles are organized historically and thematically, aiming to present Murko’s academic trajectory in comparative literature as comprehensively as possible. Petra Kramberger and Irena Samide examine Murko’s early work in Germanic studies, which he pursued during his time in Vienna. Alen Širca explores his pioneering studies of Dubrovnik literature from his period in Graz. Murko’s formation as a Slavist is methodologically illuminated by Andraž Jež and Blaž Gselman. Then the articles address Murko’s Prague period: Varja Balžalorsky Antić sheds light on Murko’s previously unexplored collaboration with French Slavic scholars, Miloš Zelenka discusses his contribution to the development of Prague structuralism, one of the most influential schools in comparative literature and literary theory, and Alenka Jensterle Doležal, through a comparison with contemporary literary studies, highlights his contribution to cultural studies. The contribution by Jasmina Talam and Irena Miholić examines Murko’s early and post-war research on South Slavic oral poetry, while Sylva Fischerová’s article emphasizes the connections between his folklore studies and Czech Slavic studies. The monograph concludes with Nina Petek’s contribution, which addresses a hitherto completely overlooked aspect of Murko’s work, his reception of Indo-European linguistics and literature. Together, these contributions offer a comprehensive overview of the various fields Murko helped shape through his comparative research: from Germanic and Slavic studies, philology, ethnology, to cultural studies, the study of literary influences, and of oral literature.
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