The center of attention of the doctoral thesis Herzegovina in the literary work of Antun Branko Šimić is the research of the native space. It has been motivated by modern scientific researches of space in literature, especially Bertrand Westphal's geocriticism which has become an extremely popular literary theory in the last fifteen years in France and the Anglo- Saxon countries, and it has gained followers and promoters among scientists around the world who are primarily dealing with literature, but also with other scientific disciplines. The first chapter Space in a literary text (according to old and new literary theories, especially to geocriticism) provides primarily the systematization of the historical overview of the relationship to space in literature: from ancient Greece and Rome to the beginning of the 21st century when geocriticism becomes a special challenge. After geocriticism has been set in the historical and interdisciplinary context of literary theories, especially in the framework of "spatial turn" in the end of the 20th century, in accordance with scientific principles, its' methodology was exposed and incorporated in the concept of research of native space in literary work of A. B. Šimić. The second chapter The overview of critical and scientific texts on native space in Šimić's literary work presents representations and analyses of the respective texts. In the third chapter Herzegovina in Šimić's poetry, the native space was investigated especially from a geocritical point of view in his four creative periods. The old argument about the most modest presence and function of native space in Šimić's critics, programmatic texts and essays has been confirmed and supported in the fourth chapter Herzegovina in Šimić's critics, programmatic texts and essays. The fifth chapter Herzegovina in Šimić's narrative prose and feuilletons primarily gives the explorations of real and possible imaginary spaces in the early short stories, sketches, feuilletons, unfinished novels and an incomplete novella. A. B. Šimić was also preoccupied with his native space in non-literary texts as presented in the sixth chapter Herzegovina in Šimić's letters, notes and linguistic controversies. In seventh chapter The overview of school reception of A. B. Šimić's literary work (with particular emphasis on the neglected poems with motives from native space) research results are supported by historical evidence of the humble school approach to his poems in which the native space has been recognized. The concluding chapter provides the systematization of the results of the researches within the framework of this doctoral thesis which, relying on modern theories accessing to space in literature, especially the geocriticism, contribute to the research of overall literary works of Antun Branko Šimić.