In the early nineteenth century, Vuk Karadzic, a Serb scholar and linguist, collected and eventually published transcriptions of the traditional oral poetry of the South Slavs. It was a monumental and unprecedented undertaking. Karadzic gathered and heard sung to him the rich songs of Balkan peasants, outlaws, and professional singers and their rebel heroes. His four volumes constitute the classic anthology of Balkan oral poetry, treasured for nearly two centuries by readers of all literatures, and influential to such literary giants as Goethe, Merimee, Pushkin, Mickiewicz, and Sir Walter Scott. This edition of the songs offers the most complete and authoritative translations ever assembled in English. Holton and Mihailovich, leading scholars of Slavic literature, have preserved here the unique meter and rhythm at the heart of Serbian oral poetry, as well as the idiom of the original singers. Extensive notes and comments aid the reader in understanding the poems, the history they record and the oral tradition that lies beneath them, the singers and their audience. The songs contain seven cycles, identified here in sections titled: Songs Before History, Before Kosovo, the Battle of Kosovo, Marko Karadzic, Under the Turks, Songs of the Outlaws, and Songs of the Serbian Insurrection. The editors have selected the best known and most representative songs from each of the cycles. A complete bibliography is also provided. "This is the most comprehensive collection of Serbian oral poetry available today. The editors have done a superb job in presenting this invaluable material from the treasury of European folklore". Toma Longinovic, University of Wisconsin, Madison "There is no doubtin my mind that this large and informative collective will be of great and lasting value and interest to everyone concerned with the folk traditions and oral literatures of the perplexing and psychologically intriguing Southern Slavs". George Vid Tomashhevich, Buffalo State College

After the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 and the destruction of Serbian nationhood, 500 years of Ottoman slavery ensued in the Balkans with the inevitable decline of the Serbian Orthodox faith and music. During this Turkish occupation, Serbs were forbidden to own property, to learn to read and write and were even denied the use of musical instruments. The Serbs however were tenacious and maintained an oral history through folk poems and songs. The only defenders of Serbian art and culture in these difficult centuries were the peasants who played the Gusle, a one-stringed instrument. As their punishment for playing a musical instrument many of these musicians were blinded by their oppressors resulting in thousands of such punishments. Being denied the right to music or dance, the Serbs invented a silent kolo (dance) in which the syncopation of the pounding feet became a sort of musical accompaniment to the dancers. This dance is still performed today by Serbian people.The great poet and dramatist Goethe so loved the Serbian people, their poetry and folklore that he learned to fluently speak their language. Goethe was also the major influence in encouraging Brahms, Loewe, and Josef Maria Wolfram to create musical compositions based on Serbian folk poems and literature. Brahms' famous lullaby is derived from a Serbian folk poem.When the Jews fled Spain the Serbs provided a hospitable environment in which the Jews resettled and prospered. The oldest Jewish Choir in the modern world is in Belgrade.The formation of the Pancevo Church Choral Society in 1838 and the Belgrade Choral Society in 1853 resulted in each becoming centers for nurturing young talent. The first music schools were founded through the efforts of these choral societies. The Brilliant work of Serbian composers like Bajic, Stankovic, Mokranjac, Marinkovic, maksimovic, Djordjevic and Binicki accomplished in a hundred years what other cultures had the luxury of creating in several centuries. This books covers the history of over 40 of these composers.

Identifying and explaining common views, ideas and traditions, this volume challenges the concept of Serbian-Albanian hostility by reinvestigating recent and historical events in the region. The contributors put forward critically oriented initiatives and alternatives to shed light on a range of relations and perspectives. The central aim of the book is to ‘figure out’ the problematic relations between Serbs and Albanians – that is, to comprehend its origins and the actors involved, and to find ways to resolve and deal with this enmity. Treating the hostility as a construct of a long-running discourse about the Serbian or Albanian ‘Other’, scholars and intellectuals from Serbia, Kosovo and Albania examine the origins, channels, agents and mediums of this discourse from the 18th century to the present. Tracing the roots of the two ethnic groups' political divisions, contemporary practices and actions allows the contributors to reconsider mutually held negative perceptions and identify elements of a common, shared history. Examples of past and current cooperation are used to offer a critical analysis of all three societies. This interdisciplinary publication brings together historiographical, literary, sociological, political, anthropological and philosophical analyses and enquiries and will be of interest to researchers in the fields of sociology, politics, cultural studies, history or anthropology; and to academics working in Slavonic and East European studies.

Helen Rootham's Heroic Songs of the Serbs is a stirring collection of epic tales and ballads that celebrates the heroism and resilience of the Serbian people. With its gripping narratives and haunting melodies, this book is sure to captivate readers of all ages. Whether you are a scholar of Slavic literature or simply a lover of stirring tales of courage and adventure, Heroic Songs of the Serbs is a must-read. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This book examines the role of Russian and Serbian nationalism in dissolution of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia in 1991.