Slovene literature

Slovene literature is the literature written in Slovene. It spans all literary genres; historical fiction has been a recurring strand within Slovene fiction. The Romantic 19th-century epic poetry of France Prešeren, a central author in the Slovene literary canon, influenced later developments in Slovene writing.

Literature played an important role in the development and preservation of Slovene identity because the Slovene nation did not have its own state until 1991 after the Republic of Slovenia emerged from the breakup of Yugoslavia. Poetry, narrative prose, drama, essay, and criticism kept the Slovene language and culture alive, allowing—in the words of Anton Slodnjak—the Slovenes to become a real nation, particularly in the absence of "masculine" attributes such as political power and authority.