The Lowland Chronotope: Narrative Strategies of Identity and Space in the Didactic Poetry of Rehor Uram-Podtatranský

This paper explores the functional and aesthetic duality of Slovak minority literature in Romania through an analysis of Rehor Uram-Podtatranský’s poetry collection Zlaté perličky pre dobré detičky (Nadlak, 1926). While contemporary Slovak literary criticism often categorizes Podtatranský’s work as anachronistic, this examination recontextualizes of his poetry within the Lowland chronotope. It examines the paradox between the text's aesthetic archaism and its socio-cultural necessity for a scattered minority facing linguistic isolation after 1918, distinguishing between the text’s aesthetic and pragmatic narrative functions. The paper investigates narrative strategies – such as natural ontogenesis, zoomorphic allegories, the didactic voice, and the structural symbiosis of home, church, and school – used to instill ethical codes and counter forced denationalization. Through the analysis of verses ranging from Hlasy dietok to Vozík a železnica, the research illustrates the functional shift of Podtatranský’s work into active pedagogical tools and vital vectors of wisdom. Ultimately, linking the 1926 publishing milestone to the 2020 anthology released by the Ivan Krasko Publishing House in Nadlak, the analysis demonstrates how regional contexts shift the reception of an outdated literary corpus into a permanent mechanism for preserving minority identity and linguistic continuity.