The history of South Slavs in West European literature from the second half of the 17th century to the early 19th century

The aim of this article is to present the most important issues related to West European perceptions of the history of South Slavs in the second half of the 18th and the early 19th century, a time of an increased interest in Slavic history, a process that ran parallel to the development of the Enlightenment perception of history. The analysis shows that in the second half of the 18th c. and the early19th c., in the face of the increasing weakness of Ottoman Turkey, the local Slavic communities were rediscovered in the Balkans. Although West European historiographies were familiar with them, the invention of new historical tools and contexts in the Age of Enlightenment resulted in a selective treatment thereof. It made it easy to consider South Slavs as uncivilised communities which, contrary to historical facts, remained at a primitive, tribal stage of development.