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Ladinia
The literature of the Ladin valleys has its roots in the oral tradition, that is to say in the legends and in the stories that were orally transmitted from generation to generation. The legends describe a world which is different from the one depicted by more recent literature: they tell about a pre-Christian and pre-patriarchal world in which women were often the protagonists. Just think of Dolasilla, Moltina, Luianta or of Merisana, the main characters which are present in the major part of the stories. There is only very little evidence left about these legends: next to the researches by some local authors (Tita Alton from Val Badia, Hugo Rossi from Val di Fassa) the most substantial and thorough research was made by the German Karl Felix Wolff.
With all this, Ladin literature is rich in documents even if they were written in more modern times. The first texts go back to the 17th century. In this period the first proclamations were written: one proclamation in Val di Fassa Ladin is of 1631, one in Fodom is of 1632 and in 1703 bishop Kaspar Ignaz König wrote a proclamation in order to gather soldiers: this text contains 250 words in Ladin Badiot.
From 1800 onwards, there were the first translations, the first scientific researches and the first poetic attempts. In 1807 Matie Ploner (1770-1844) wrote six short folk stories and 150 words in Val Gardena Ladin. The most important texts which are also considered to be the first poetic documents written in Val Gardena Ladin are the two poems La vedla muta (The Spinster) and L vedl mut (The Old Bachelor). In Val Badia Tone Agreiter, the son of the teacher and verger of La Pli de Mareo, wrote more or less in the same period of time (1809-1840) a poem of 28 stanzas. But the one considered to be the first Ladin poet is the young Angelo Trebo from Marebbe (1862-1888): he wrote 27 poems and three theatre plays: Le œiastel dles Stries (1884), Le Scioz de San Jenn (1885) and Trëi dis regina (play which was never finished). In Ampezzo Joani Gregorio Domenego Caisar (1821-1867) wrote a rhyme entitled Satire bela longa e piena de pear.
Next to these original texts there are several translations of works: in Badiot for example there is a translation of catechism and the Ten Commandments (1836) or the “History of Saint Geneviève” (1879), which has the subtitle of “first Ladin book”, translated by Matî Declara.
If these can be considered the first steps in Ladin literature, today literature develops with much more self-confidence: there are many authors that put their literary skills to the test. The most famous writers are Rut Bernardi from Val Gardena and Iaco Rigo from Val Badia. Rut Bernardi is known for producing Ladin as well as German texts. She has written different works: a theatre play entitled Ladin delfin, the novel Lëtres te n fol which she also translated into German and in koinè Ladin. She published numerous poems, in a special edition, but also in various magazines, she published a CD with audio-stories etc.
Iaco Rigo started his literary activity with the collection of poems Momonć, later he published various CD with pieces of music and many stories and novels: Da doman le ćiarü, La fata, Les vites de Elena R., La Maschera and Anastasia or L’Aurela dla vita: Rigo not only writes poems , stories and novels, but also theatre plays and other texts with which he won many national and international prizes. Rut Bernardi is self-employed and engaged in literature, Rigo is the editor-in-chief of the weekly newspaper La Usc di Ladins.
For the development of literature the competitions which are organised by several institutions and associations are of great importance (for example the ones organised by the department of Ladin of the Bolzano Province) and also literary magazines. One of the most appreciated one by Ladins and non-Ladins is TRAS: this magazine (which has been published for ten years now) presents poetry and prose in all the five variations of Dolomite Ladin, in Friulian, Romansh and, furthermore, also in German and Italian.