Overview

Since antiquity the epic has been the defining poetic and musical genre of southeastern Europe. Performed by specialist singers, usually accompanying themselves on stringed instruments, Balkan epics unfold narratively and with single lines, often over the course of hours or even days, requiring great feats of memory and creativity. Stories and histories converge in the Balkan epic, defining moments of conflict between empires and religions in the Middle Ages and nation-states in the present. Balkan epics are both classic works of literature and song in the southeastern European tradition and a form of political commentary and cultural expression in the modern Balkans. In Balkan Epic: Song, History, Modernity, editors Philip V. Bohlman and Nada Petkovic have compiled essays that examine epics across the Balkan region and in the major languages of the different nations. Individual authors explore the epics of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Romania, and Serbia. Emphasizing the ways epics can symbolize the Balkans as a whole, they consider the contributions of individuals over the course of the historical longue duree and in the last decade. On the accompanying CD of recordings-some never heard before-these stories and histories come to life. Themes of conflict and reconciliation form a counterpoint, revealing the ways in which the epic sheds light on the aesthetic and political complexities of southeastern Europe today. Balkan Epic brings together diverse perspectives on the many repertories of epic song in southeastern Europe. Students and scholars in the fields of music, anthropology, history, linguistics, Slavic languages, media studies, and political science will benefit from the interdisciplinary thrust of the collected essays.

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9780810877993

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Reviews

Few Americans have been aware of the traditions of folk epics that developed in the Balkans, in particular the former Yugoslavia, over the last millennium. Many of these epics tell of conflicts between Slavs and Turks, Muslims and Christians, and feature the deeds of great heroes. Passed on and varied through oral transmission, the epics were performed mostly by singers accompanying themselves on the gusle, a simple bowed instrument. Becoming known to American scholars through the efforts of Milman Parry and Albert B. Lord--who wished to discover parallels to the origin of Homer's epics--the Balkan epics were resurrected in public consciousness by the Balkan wars of the 1990s. Derived from a 2004 conference organized by Bohlman (humanities and music) and Petkovic (south Slavic languages)--both Univ. of Chicago, both distinguished scholars in the area--the work at hand provides 11 essays by US and European scholars of musicology, anthropology, and area studies. The volume touches on many aspects of this large, interesting body of song and literature, which has been neglected in recent decades; more importantly, the volume reveals how this epic functions in the modern world. An illustrative CD accompanies this collection of fine, varied, specialized studies. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students, researchers, professionals. * CHOICE * A major contribution of this book is to argue for epic as a genre of intersection and connection rather than a wellspring of narrow nationalist imaginaries....Balkan Epic is to be commended for advancing the study of epic in another sense, by incorporating its political economy of appropriating, collecting, publishing, [and] mass-marketing ....Bringing together an important group of scholars, Balkan Epic will be a valuable addition to research libraries with interests in southeast Europe. For researchers and musicians, its importance goes further, opening up space to question whether epic performance could be reclaimed or redeemed in innovative and pluralistic ways. * Slavic Review *

Few Americans have been aware of the traditions of folk epics that developed in the Balkans, in particular the former Yugoslavia, over the last millennium. Many of these epics tell of conflicts between Slavs and Turks, Muslims and Christians, and feature the deeds of great heroes. Passed on and varied through oral transmission, the epics were performed mostly by singers accompanying themselves on the gusle, a simple bowed instrument. Becoming known to American scholars through the efforts of Milman Parry and Albert B. Lord--who wished to discover parallels to the origin of Homer's epics--the Balkan epics were resurrected in public consciousness by the Balkan wars of the 1990s. Derived from a 2004 conference organized by Bohlman (humanities and music) and Petkovic (south Slavic languages)--both Univ. of Chicago, both distinguished scholars in the area--the work at hand provides 11 essays by US and European scholars of musicology, anthropology, and area studies. The volume touches on many aspects of this large, interesting body of song and literature, which has been neglected in recent decades; more importantly, the volume reveals how this epic functions in the modern world. An illustrative CD accompanies this collection of fine, varied, specialized studies. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students, researchers, professionals. CHOICE

Author Information

Philip V. Bohlman is the Mary Werkman Distinguished Service Professor of the Humanities and Music at the University of Chicago, and Honorarprofessor at the Hochschule fur Musik und Theater Hannover. Nada Petkovic is the Appointed Lecturer for South Slavic Languages at the University of Chicago.

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