Volume 5, Number 4, Fall 1990 - North American Society for Serbian

3
SERBIAN STUDIES
PUBLISHED BY TilE NORTH AMERICAN SOCIITY FOR SERBIAN STUDIES
CONTENTS
VOLUME 5, NUMBER 4
FALL 1990
Edit Petrovic and Andrei Simic
MONTENEGRIN COLONISTS IN VOJVODINA: OBJECTIVE
AND SUBJECTIVE MEASURES OF ETHNICITY 1
5
Nicholas Moravcevich
THE PORTRAIT OF NIKOLA PASIC IN DOBRICA COSIC'S
NOVEL TIME OF DEATH
21
Zora Devrnja Zimmerman
ON THE HERMENEUTICS OF ORAL POETRY: AN
ANALYSIS OF THE KOSOVO MYTH OS
31
Svetlana Velmar-Jankovic
THE RECEPTION OF MOMCILO NASTASIJEVIC IN SERBIA
AND YUGOSLAVIA SINCE 1938
41
Dragan Kujundzic
THE EARLY CRNJANSKI: THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS
OF WRITING
55
BOOK REVIEWS
Slavko Todorovi h
The Chilandarians: Serbian Monks on the Greek Mountain .
Boulder, Colorado
East European Monographs, 1989
(Paul Pavlovich)
69
BOOK REVIEWS
69
Todorovich, Slavko P. The Chilondarians: Serbian Monks on tlw Greek
Mountain. Boulder, Colorado: East European Monographs, 1989, No. 264.
Distributed by Columbia University Press, N.Y. vi + 174 pages.
Some half a dozen years ago, when the "Albanian" or the "Kosovo question" among Serbs and Albanians who live on the territory of the Serbian
province of Kosovo became one of the central issues in the life of Yugoslavia
and the Serbs in it in particular, Slavko Todorovich co-authored with Alex
N. Dragnich, an East European Monograph (No. 170, 1984): The Saga of
Kosovo: Focus on Serbian-Albanian Relations. Today, when Serbs are in
the throes of their reexamination of their past in general, when they are
redefining some aspects of their recent ethnocultural past in particular, with
the view of adjusting it all to the present and future realities of their national
life, Slavko Todorovich has published the story of The Chilandarians: Serbian Monks on the Greek Mountain, almost as if to remind us all of the
enormous importance of the historical role of the Serbian monastery of
Hilandar and its monks; as if to help us by pointing out to the centuries old
fountain of religious and ethnic inspiration and pride by describing a storehouse of Serb religious and ethnic traditions, manuscripts, varied artifacts
and the artistic heights achieved through the painting of icons and frescoes,
writing of religious texts and composing of sacral music.
Ever since the tenth century, Mount Athos, known as the Holy Mountain
and situated on the three fingered Khalkidiki (Chalcidice) peninsula projecting into the Aegean Sea, has been one of the most renowned centers of
Orthodox monasticism in Byzantium and later Greece. Eventually, most of
the Orthodox nations of Eastern Europe were to build monasteries on the
Holy Mountain and to develop ~hem as their own important centers of
Orthodox spirituality. For Serbs, 1t had been their medieval Grand Zhupan
(ruler) Stephen Nemanya (1166- 1196) and his son Rastko, or better known
by his monastic name Sava, who had built the Serbian monastery of Hilandar on Mount Athos, and who had turned it into the wellspring of Serbian
Orthodoxy for future believers. Apart from the usual functions of a monastery, Hilandar soon became, and to our days has remained, a source of
Serbian Orthodox Church leaders. Since presently, the Church is trying to
reestablish its traditional role within Serbian national life, Todorovich's
book is a timely manuscript indeed!
Todorovich's The Chilandarians (he uses the Greek spelling for the monastery Chilandar and its monks, the Chilandarians, instead of the spelling
preferred by the Serbs, I-filandar and the Hi/andarians) sets the scene with
the first two chapters on "The Holy Mountain" and "Kayres: Gateway to
the Holy Mountain". The language is easy to read and beautifully descriptive: "The landscape of Athos resembles a giant sculptured garden. Its rocks
reach skyward from deep-gr~en. bases, while dry river beds or ravines hide
in impenetrable umbrage. H1lls1des are covered with the scented growth of
BOOK REV1EWS
70
wild roses, myrtle, laurel and juniper. Monasteries arc generally surrounded
by thickets of oleanders, while citrus trees thrive inside their yards." According to a legend, il was the Virgin Mary herself who was so charmed by
the appearance of Mount Athas that she exclaimed, "This mountain is holy
ground. Let it be my garden." However, il is an interesting quirk of fate that
the Mother of God not only became the patroness of Mount Alhos, but also
a constant presence in the lives and prayers of the Athonilc monks to this
day, and yet, " ...no church on Alhos is dedicated to any female saint and ... no
woman is allowed to step on the soil of the Holy Mountain." (Even females
of animal species are banned!) And to make this story even more intriguing
is the wonder of the icon of the "Three-Handed Virgin Mary" ("Trojcrucica", in Serbian) whose story informs us that when she was honoured as
the "Hegumen" (the Abbess!) of the monastery of Chilnndar, she was to
remain as such for all time to come!
Among the wealth of information on the Holy Mountain, Todorovich
discusses as well the types of monasteries found on the Mountain, and
briefly describes all of the twenty of the major, or "ruling monasteries", as
they are known. Karyes, being "a good six hour walk" from the monastery
Chilandar, is presented not only as the capital city of the Monastic Republic
of Mount Athas, but also as the location of "his cave-like cubicle adjacent
to the small chapel." And he was Sava, St. Sava, Nemanya's son, the founder
of the Serbian Orthodox Church, whose many deeds more than qualify him
to be considered a genuine Serbian Saint, and who during the 1200-1208
period had devoted his life to prayer and ascetic monasticism at Karyes.
However, it is in the following chapter on "The Founders of Chilandar"
that the fuller story is given on the Chilander sojourn of its founders Stephen
Nemanya and St. Sava, who were able to secure from the roigning Dyzanline
Emperor not only a charter for the " ... monastery that will serve the religious
needs of men of Serbian nationality," but also the future monastery's appointment to the rank of an "imperial monastery" or "carska lavra", in
Serbian. "The Typikon" chapter presents Sava's efforts altho establishment
of traditional monastery bylaws as a "set of practical regulations affecting
duties and obligation, as well as rights, of the monks," while in a chapter
on "Sava's Magic", Todorovich elaborates on Sava's life and work- from
Sava's role in the consolidation of Nemanya's Serbia as a stale and Sava's
extensive contributions in the cultural enlightenment of his people, to his
efforts around the formation of the Serbian Orthodox Church (1219) and his
determination at the selling-up of a viable Church hierarchy and necessary
organizational structure.
The core of the book, naturally, and as its title also indicates, is to be
found within the "Chilandarians at the Helm" chapter. As Sava became the
first Archbishop and as such the ecclesiastic head of the Serb Church, the
story of the Chilandarians is the story of Sava's successors to the Archbishop's throne, and mosl of these, for the next one hundred and fifty years,
were Chilandarians, as Sava himself had been! Emperor Dushan's visit to
Chilandar is described as a visit by an Emperor (1331- 1354) who was in
BOOK REVIEWS
71
those days not only the head of stale, but also the head of the Church as
well. However, Dushan's visit had been of particular significance, as he was
considered to be "Chilandar's most illustrious friend ...close relative, on the
paternal side."
In the chapter on "Chilandar Literati" one is introduced to an array of
Chilandarian literary efforts which today represent the core of Serbian medieval literature as well as its historiography. As Todorovich states: "Serbian medieval literature features qualities of explicit selfhood and
distinctiveness. owing mainly to the inner equilibrium, personal and moral,
of its creators. Predominantly, Serbian medieval authors were either Chilandarians or Chilandar educated. The sum of their products attests convincingly to the continued affirmation of Serbian cullural identity."
Near the end of the fourteenth century, when the Turkish infidel started
its march into Europe, Chilandar, and later all of the Serb lands, eventually
were engulfed by the military as well as the ecclesiastical crescent of the
invaders. "Turkish Rule" and "The Ailing Monastery" in the nineteenth
century, oulined a myriad of trials and tribulations which the Church and
the Chilandarians in particular had to endure during the long five centuries
of Turkish rule. The centuries of despair culminated in the second half of
the nineteenth century, when " ... the Serbian monk in Chilandar was faced
with three simultaneous developments, and he frankly could not see how
any of the three could help him. He was faced with a) the Bulgarization of
his own monastery; b) the Russification of the Holy Mountain; and c) the
growing Greek resentment of all 'foreigners', including the Serbs."
At present, Chilandar in its "Modern Era" is still faced with the problem
of occasional Greek resentment of the 'foreigners', and with the problem of
attracting enough young novices to fill up its ranks: Chilandar, which at
times had housed hundreds of monks, had been reduced to fifteen residents
al lhc beginning of 1987! However, as one of the positive results of the
collapse of atheistic communist rule in the Serbian lands, traditional values
arc experiencing a form of renaissance, and it is hoped that the Chilandarians will regain their well deserved stature in the minds and souls of the
Serbs.
The Chilandarians ends with a helpful "Chilandar's Roster" of monks, a
"Selected Bibliography", "Chronology" of historical dates, a "Glossary of
Athonite Terms", lists of "Personal Names" and "Geographical Names" as
well as ten black and while photographs.
On some 135 pages of very readable text, Todorovich was able to present
a concise story of eight centuries and make it highlight the lives of the
Chilandarians. His book should be read for the sheer pleasure one derives
from the fascinating story which his book represents, and in the future, I
am certain that The Chilandarians will remain as a valuable point of reference to the historians who decide to tread the same path on their own.
Paul Pavlovich
3
SERBIAN STUDIES
PUBLISHED BY TilE NORTH AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR SERBIAN STUDIES
CONTENTS
VOLUME 5, NUMBER 4
FALL 1990
Edit Petrovic and Andrei Simic
MONTENEGRIN COLONISTS IN VOJVODINA: OBJECTIVE
AND SUBJECTIVE MEASURES OF ETHNICITY 1
5
Nicholas Moravcevich
THE PORTRAIT OF NIKOLA PASIC IN DOBRICA COSIC'S
NOVEL TIME OF DEATH
21
Zora Devrnja Zimmerman
ON THE HERMENEUTICS OF ORAL POETRY: AN
ANALYSIS OF THE KOSOVO MYTH OS
31
Svetlana Velmar-Jankovic
THE RECEPTION OF MOMCILO NASTASIJEVIC IN SERBIA
AND YUGOSLAVIA SINCE 1938
41
Dragan Kujundzic
THE EARLY CRNJANSKI: THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS
OF WRITING
55
BOOK REVIEWS
Slavko Todorovi h
The Chilandarians: Serbian Monks on the Greek Mountain.
Boulder, Colorado
East European Monographs, 1989
(Paul Pavlovich)
69
4
Paul Pavlovich
The History of tbe Serbian Orthodox Church.
Don Mills, Ontario
Serbian Heritage Books, 1989
(Alex N. Dragnich)
73
Zika Prvulovich
Serbia Between the Swastika and the Red Star.
Birmingham
Lazarica Press, 1986
(Michele Bulatovic)
75
Slobodan Selenic
Timor Mortis.
Sarajevo
Svjetlost, 1989
(Ruzica Popovitch- Krekic)
77
Thomas A. Emmert
Serbian Golgotha: Kosovo, 1389.
New York
East European Monographs, 1990
(George Vid Tomashevich)
79
Toma Longinovic
A Moment of Silence.
Iowa City
Burning Books & the International Writing Program, 1990
(Dubravka Juraga)
83
Dejan Medakovic
Efemeris.
Beograd
Izdavacko-graficki zavod, 1990
Uelena Milojkovic-Djuric)
85
BOOK REVIEWS
73
Paul Pavlovich . The History of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Don Mills,
Ontario: Serbian Heritage Books, 1989. Pp. xii, 363. $35.
The author of the excellent work, Tlw Serbians: The Story of a People,
has now given us a most welcome history of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
It is interestingly presented, amply illustrated by scores of color photographs, most of them taken by the author, and solidly researched. There are
works in Serbian on the subject, of course, but there is nothing in English
to match this book's broad-brush canvas.
The treatment is primarily chronological, from the beginnings of Christianity and the Chrislianizalion of the Serbs to developments in this century,
as well as a discussion of the Church in Diaspora.
Pavlovich has interesting and informative sections on the Serbian Orthodox Church in medieval Serbia, its trials and tribulations during centuries
of Ottoman occupation, and ils rebirth as Serbia regained her independence
in the 19th entury. There are sections on the Church in Vojvodina, BosniaHercegovina, Macedonia, Dalmatia, and Montenegro. The last is of special
interes t, be ause in any triangulation of Great Power moves, the lines of
intersection so often seem lo run through Montenegro.
For United Stales and Canadian readers, the history of the Church on this
continent will have a ··unique meaning. While there may be information
aboullhe 1963 schism that is not yet available, the author's treatment of its
fundam ental outlines seems fair and unbiased.
At the end there are three meaningful appendicies as well as an extensive
bibliography and a useful index.
Anyone interested in the history of the Serbian Orthodox Church will
want to have this book on his or her shelf.
Alex N. Dragnich
Vanderbilt University
BOOK REVIEWS
75
Prvulovich, Dr. Zika Rad. Serbia Between the Swastika and the Red Star.
Birmingham: Lazarica Press, 1986, 240 pp. photographs, maps, epilogue,
postscript, index.
Post-war developments in Yugoslavia were largely affected by not only
tho German occupation but also the hostility between the two major resistance groups, the Cetniks and the Partisans. The British, the most active of
the Allies in Yugoslavia, had a difficult lime evaluating the relative strength
of tho two resistance movements. In 1943, after concluding that an alliance
of the two forces was impossible and reasoning that the Partisans were most
active in fighting the Germans, the British government (with advise from
Brigadier Fitzroy Maclean, Churchill's chief liaison with Tito) shifted military support from Mihailovich to Tito. As a result, Prime Minister Winston
Churchill paradoxically recognized Yugoslavia's government-in-exile while
supporting Tilo and the communists, and ultimately contributed to Tito's
success in abolishing the monarchy.
Tito's desire to eliminate opposition led him to ruthlessly crackdown on
anti-communists and "collaborators," resulting in massacres committed by
the Partisans as depicted in Serbia Between the Swastika and the Red Star.
In May 1945, thousands of Yugoslav fighters and civilians who sided neither
with the Germans nor the communists, crossed into Austria seeking asylum
with the Western Allies. Dr. Prvulovich asserts that about 18,000 Yugoslav
Royalists along with approximately 250,000 Ustashi soldiers were forcibly
repatriated by the British (p. 1). These figures based on the Viktring Camp
where he was interned, while plausible and reportedly confirmed by eyewitnesses and researchers, are not footnoted.
As one of the few survivors, Dr. Prvulovich has written a deeply personal
and cathartic account of this twenty-day (from May 23 to June 11, 1945)
ordeal. His connection with the army began in 1942 when he enlisted as a
Serbian Volunteer. He had previously been a member of ZBOR, an anticommunist group, and a theology student (whose interrupted studies were
resumed in England years after his escape).
Between tho Swastika and the Red Star is divided into three parts. The
introduction briefly describes the developments that led to the return of
approximately 270,000 refugees and soldiers to the hands of Tilo. The second and major part is written in diary form based on the author's notes
compiled during his one-month period of recuperation just after his escape.
Finally, the epilogue, the most thought-provoking section, sheds light on
collaboration of the Cetniks and the Partisans with the Germans and Italians.
Here, he also discusses the predicament of General Nedich as a Minister of
Serbia during the German occupation.
Both the introduction and epilogue are well-documented with mainly
English publications and some Serbo-Croatian and German sources. While
Dr. Prvulovich refers to most of the scarce materials written on the subject,
BOOK REVIEWS
76
he omits many of the sources he cites in the text from his bibliography.
Two maps are also provided; however, a map of his escape route is not
included. The captioned photographs are melodramatic and detract from
the book's scholarly aspirations.
The book is most valuable as an eyewitness account, since formal records
and material evidence of the tragic episode are scarce or unreliable. The
author's discussion on the nature of collaboration in Yugoslavia, although
emotional, is perhaps well-founded. While other scholarly sources may not
go as far to accuse Tito of collaborating or call for the rehabilitation of
General Nedich, even books that arc generally accepted as impartial such
as, Waller R. Roberts' Tito, Mihailovich and Uw Allies, 1941- 1945, document "negotiations" between Tilo and the Germans as well as the dangers
of labelling Nedich as a "Quisling."
Such re-assessments of Yugoslav history and the revelations of Tilo's
closest associates like Milovan Djilas serve as a catalyst in the process of
de-Titoizalion in Yugoslavia today. The "ljubicica bela" - as be was called
in the dirge sung by mourners at his funeral procession in 1980 - is turning
grey, particularly with the recent publication of books like Pcro Simic's
Tito: When, How, Why, and the Kesar-Simic book, Pardon Without Mercy.
Michele Bulatovic
Teachers College
Columbia University
BOOK REVIEWS
77
Slobodan Selenic: Timor Mortis. Sarajevo: Svjetlost. 1989. 355 pages.
In his latest novel, the fifth, Slobodan Selenic (b. 1933), a well-known
Serbian writer and dramatist depicts the Second World War and the German
occupation of Belgrade. The novel is full of vivid descriptions of people
and their lives in the 19th century, of Belgrade in ruins, and of its citizens
scraping the barest of existence during the war. Although there are many
participants and events, the author does not dwell on them but rather concentrates on the four main characters and their stories.
Dragan, "Drakce", "Kuce", "Auditor", a medical student and the narrator,
matures physically, sexually and emotionally through his love for Biljana.
He is the listener, hence the nickname "Auditor"; an observer, a commentator, and an exponent of mores and values. Due to various circumstances
he shares a Oat in Belgrade with "Illustrassimus".
The 100-year old Serb from Croatia, Stojan Blagojevic, personifies a 19th
century Serbian intellectual, whose long life and experiences taught him to
be a somewhat aloof observer of life in general, and especially of historical
events which he cannot change. By talking about his life, Blagojevic talks
about tho national problem between the Serbs and Croats in Croatia then a
part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. By describing his late wife's plunge
into the national cause, "Illustrissimus" calmly points out its uselessness.
The problem has been around for many years. In the war-torn Belgrade, the
old man is regarded as an authority toward whom all gravitate in search for
an answer or good advice. His natural death marks the death of the old ways
and thoughts, and is actually the beginning of the end of this novel.
Biljana, "Bilja", "Biljka", is a peasant girl from Sumadija, thus her peasant
speech. She is a picture of innocence and goodness, despite the fact that
she works as a bar dancer and a German call-girl. In her innocence she sees
herself as a ballerina, and "a good one too". It is an interesting juxtaposition
of the two professions mostly associated with women. Biljana's job brings
her bard-to-find food, which she unselfishly shares with others, namely
with the old man and Dragan with whom she shares the rest of their flat.
Her love for an orphaned girl, Desanka, is pure and genuine. She herself is
taught of by others as a child who, in her actions does not know any better.
Biljana refuses an important client to be at the bedside of a dying child. Her
character stands out. "Auditor" who preaches her sermons in morality (actually to himself) falls in love with her. One feels for Biljana, and pillies
her when at the end she is killed for having been a "slut".
Mara Grubic, "Crnomajka", a Serbian teacher from Croatia, personifies
thousands of Serbs who suffered and witnessed the greatest tragedy of their
people in the modern age. That is why Biljana nicknamed her Crnomajka,
meaning a mother wrapped in black symbolizing her grief. Mara Grubic is
unbending in her beliefs. At the end it is she, who turns Biljana in to the
authorities, causing her death. Did the author want to tell the readers some-
BOOK REVIEWS
78
thing by describing an unyielding character of a cold teacher? Does Mara
personifies an inbred characteristic of all Serbs from Croatia, or does she
represent a characteristic forced upon them after all the killings? Mara Grubic (perhaps her names means something: grub is coarse and unpolished in
Serbian) disregarded everything what Biljana did for little Desanka, Mara's
orphaned grand-daughter. In one word, Mara saw only Biljana's profession
and heavily made-up face, not her soul. She decided not to believe and
became a heartless murderer.
For anyone who knows what happened to Serbs in Croatia during the
Second World War, and to the people in Belgrade during the German occupation, these stories seem real. By skillfully interweaving events from the
last century and from the Second World War, Selenic is perhaps warning
that such events may repeal.
Who will perish then? The personification of the 19th century Serbian
level-headed and somewhat aloof attitude towards their problems in Croatia
died of its natural death. The good and the innocent is murdered by its own
people blinded by the exterior. The lame medical student - a Serb - is
left without his one and only love, and probably without a happy future.
How will he limp to his end and when? Or will he witness the same?
The genocide committed over the Serbs in Croatia, and the freedom to
speak about it now are generating a new brand of literature in Serbia. Two
such novels have been nominated for the highest literary prize in Serbia.
SeleniC's style and language are excellent. The subject is tragic.
Ruzica Popovilch - Krekic
BOOK REVIEWS
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Thomas A. Emmert. Serbian Golgotha: Kosovo, 1389. New York: East European Monographs, Distributed by Columbia University Press, 1990, pp.
xx, 233 + 7, with 42 photographs, maps and other documentary illustrations. $30.
This attractive hard-bound volume, contains the author's Acknowledgments, Introduction, six parts of the work's main body (I. Collapse of the
Serbian Empire: 1355-1371; II. Prelude to Kosovo: 1371-1389; III. The Battle
of Kosovo: First Reports; IV. The Battle of Kosovo: A Martyred Prince; V.
Kosovo: The Emerging Legend; and VI. A Legend's Legacy.), Notes, Bibliography, Index and Illustrations.
Conceived as a personal tribute to the observance of the six hundredth
anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo (1389- 1989). this first monograph on
the subject in English is at the same time an admirable contribution to the
field of medieval and Balkan studies and an impressive example of Professor
Emmert's scholarship. Thoroughly acquainted with the enormous historiography bearing upon his topic in many classical and modern languages,
including, above all, Serbo-Croatian, and fully conversant with the most upto-dale Serbian and other South Slavic sources and authorities, the writer
of this work was ideally prepared for his delicate and responsible task. His
excellent command of standard Serbo-Croatian and his comparably solid
acquaintance with other languages enable him to differentiate and benefit
fTom the subtlest shades of meaning in the semantically problematic and
controversial texts and contexts.
This distinct advantage makes his scholarly judgments of particulars as
well as his careful general conclusions unusually sound. His professionalism is further enhanced by his proper critical distance and impartiality in
both analysis and synthesis. His ultimate disposition even of the most difficult issues is always respectful of the evidence and intellectually as well
as ethically defensible.
Even a cursory examination of his extensive and balanced bibliography
and his highly instructive footnotes, clearly shows Professor Emmert's uncommon range of historical and cross-cultural knowledge. From the beginning to the end of this intricate monograph, the autl1or demonstrates the
pivotal importance of the Battle of Kosovo in the development of the Serbian
ethos and character and, ultimately, their dogged determination to avenge
their humiliating defeat and reconquer their lost national independence and
self-respect.
With tho masterly dexterity, the author depicts the major socioeconomic
and political upheavals and processes in the rest of Europe at the end of
the fourteen century and thus places Serbian and other Balkan events within
a more realistic and meaningful historical frame. He refers to tl1e shrinking
of the Byzantine Empire, never fully recovered from its plundering occupation by thirteenth century Western Crusaders; the establishment of the
BOOK REVIEWS
80
first Ottoman foothold in the Balkans in 1354; the serious Serbian defeat at
Marica in 1371 and the recurrent and persistent Turkish raids and incursions into the economically and culturally prosperous lands of Prince Lazar
prior to 1389. He also correctly points outthal, though grave and ultimately
traumatic, the military outcome of the Ballle of Kosovo did nol signify the
formal end of the Serbian stale which lingered on for another seven decades,
until the fall of Smederevo in 1459.
Particularly germane to his topic is his discussion of tho reasons for the
great pessimism prevalent in Serbia in the lost ballles' immediate aftermath;
the role of Lhe monastic authors in suggesting that Lazar himself chose
martyrdom as a sacrifice for Serbia and their belief that "Like the chosen
people in Babylonian Captivity, ... the Serbs would one day be free in their
own land." (pp. 3, 77). He is fully justified in stressing lhal "this ethos
helped to shape the historical consciousness of the Serbian people" and,
later on, as a symbol of their country's liberation, influenced ils re-emergence in the nineteenth century as a sovereign modern nation.
It is to Dr. Emmert's credit that he does not fail to mention that Kosovo,
"this heartland of medieval Serbia," was "finally liberated by Serbian forces
during Lhe Balkan Wars of 1912-1913;" that, six hundred years after the
battle, the region is "again locked in a struggle between Moslem and Christian populations" and that the Serbian reaction to this crisis is "shaped by
their emotional attachment to Kosovo and the national symbol it has represented for these six centuries."
In his presentation of the Historian's Record, the author discusses the
works of the early seventeenth century English historian Richard Knolles
(1603) and his sources, Johannes Leunclavius and, indirectly, the early sixteenth century Turkish chronicler Mehmed Nesri. He also assesses another
Turkish historian of the same century, Sad-ed-Din (translated into Italian
by Vincenzo Bratutti). Special attention is paid lo the Ragusan writer Mavro
Orbini (1601) and one of his probable sources, Ludovik Crijevic (Ludovicus
Cervarius Tubero). The author also mentions Jakov Lukarevic (Lucarri) and
notes the substantial influence on the historians of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries of the body of folk legends developed since 1389 by
Serbian and other South Slavic oral epic traditions.
With even more specificity Professor Emmert emphasizes the important
role in the growth of Kosovo historiography of the Serbian historians from
Vojvodina which, as he correctly puts it, "became the center of Serbian
intellectual life after the Great Serbian Migration" northward in 1690, whose
three hundredth anniversary is being observed this year. Among these historians he points out the significance of Jovan Rajic (1726- 1801) and Ilarion
Ruvarac (1832-1905). The former indeed "stood on the threshold between
the enlightenment and the age of romanticism" and later, as the principal
representative and founder of the critical school of Serbian historiography,
took "the first relatively objective look at the Battle of Kosovo." Ruvarac's
learned and courageous attempt to demythologize the widespread and unjust misconceptions in the traditions of Kosovo, found a worthy follower
BOOK REVIEWS
81
in Ljubomir Kovacevic who valiantly struggled against the groundless but
obstinate popular belief Lhal Prince Lazar's son-in-law, Vuk Brankovic, had
betrayed his master and his country.
The author offers a fair critical estimate of the works of the nineteenth
century Serbian historian Jovan MiSkovic, the famous Czech medievalist
Constantin Jirecek and the interwar Yugoslav-Serbian historiographers Stanoje Stanojevic and Vladimir Corovic. Likewise, he duly mentions the German historians Joseph von Hammer and Johann Wilhelm Zinkeisen and
their heavy dependence on Nesri, as well as the efforts of the prewar Serbian
historian Mihailo Dinic in the exploration of lwo early fifteenth century
accounts of Kosovo by the Sienese Bellrarn Minanelli and the Parisian Philippe de Mczieres. He further notes that, shortly before World War II, Glisa
Elezovic published the battle's account by the fifteenth century Turkish
chronicler A§ik-Pa§a-zade, and that, shortly thereafter, Aleksej Olesnicki
translated into Serbian whatever pertains to the Battle of Kosovo in the
chronicles and poetry of five fifteenth century Turkish writers.
Professor Emmert also refers to Nikola Radojcic's study of the principal
Byzantine descriptions of the battle by Laonikos Chalcocondyles, Michael
Ducas and George Sphrantzes (written after the fall of Constantinople in
1453) and some additional studies of shorter Greek sources by the, Belgian
Byzantologist Henri Gregoire and the Serbian medievalist Sirna Cirkovic.
The author rightly praises Maximilian Braun (1937) for translating into German twenty-two contemporary historical versions of the battle and thus
"making the Kosovo sources available for the first time in a western European language." The author furthermore evaluates the partially successful
postwar efforts of Petar Tomac, Gavro Skrivanic and Djordje Trifunovic.
Special recognition is duly reserved for the modern Serbian medievalist
Professor Rade Mihaljcic whose writings on the whole problem of the battle
and its reverberations place the legendary figure of the martyred prince in
the political and religious context of his period and examines its influence
on the subsequent sociogenesis and psychogenesis of the whole Kosovo
tradition. Among the most recent memorial collections, Professor Emrr1ert
mentions even Kosovska bitka: Mit, legenda, i stvarnost {flle Battle of Kosovo: Myth, Legend, and Reality) and Zaduibine Kosova {The Heritage of
Kosovo). Published in Belgrade in 1987, both of these anthologies contain
important illustrations and documents about the history of the beleaguered
region from the earliest limes to the 1980s.
Professor Emmert's comprehensive study presents, for the first Lime in
English, an objective critical overview of all known contemporary sources
for the Battle of Kosovo; puts the event itself and ils pervasive consequences
within tho framework of Serbia's disintegration and decline after U1e death
of Emperor Dusan in 1355; searches for the first discernible glimpses of the
emerging Kosovo legend in the earliest available sources; follows the tangled
interaction between oral and written traditions in its evolutionary growth
and examines the whole legacy of Kosovo, with ils tragic and heroic ethos,
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82
in its multi-faceted impact upon the life and culture of the Serbian people
particularly in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. His copious documentation includes puzzling and often contradictory reports about the battle's course and outcome: from the earliest one, by the Russian monk Ignatius
(dated June 27, 1389), through the diplomatic correspondence between King
Tvrtko of Bosnia and the Senate of Florence, Venetian reactions to the rumors about the battle then current in the West and the fifteenth century
Castilian references by Ruy Gonzales de Clavijo, to the first post-Kosovo
Serbian sermons, eulogies and hagiographies. The author pays justified attention to Patriarch Danilo III's Slovo o knezu Lozoru (A Narrative About
Prince Lazor) but, regretfully, does not fully explore Lady Jcfimija's famous
Pohvala (Eulogy) which is one of the most concrete early statements of the
claim that Lazar consciously opted for the Kingdom of Heaven (P. 67).
It is regrettable that even so significant a work as this is not entirely free
of typographical and other minor errors, such as misspellings, transpositions of figures in historical dates (see page 1), incorrect or omitted diacritical marks and the like. Fortunately, none of these negligible imperfections
is likely to damage the integrity, continuity, coherence and fluency of this
superb monograph's lucid and elegant prose.
Thomas Emmert deserves special gratitude for his translations of lengthy
passages from many important historical documents into English for the
first time. This is true not only of his renditions of the most pertinent
passages from the Memoirs of Konstanlin Mihailovic from Ostrovica (1497)
and the sixteenth century travel description of tho Balkans by Benedict
Kuripesic, but of many other works and passages as well. Thus, in addition
to the Turkish authors mentioned earlier, he examines tho interesting roles
of other Turkish writers, such as the early fifteenth century poet Ahmedi
and the substantially later (1457) historians Sukrullah and Uruc. These generous quotations will undoubtedly add to the great value of Professor Emmert's work by making it a highly useful future source for others.
In passing, he rightly notes that the "commemorations of the Battle of
Kosovo were essentially confined to services of the Orthodox Church ... "
which, incidentally, continues to remind its members of the solemn implications of the Kosovo ethic. All Serbs owe thanks to Dr. Emmert for stressing
that, far from being narrowly nationalistic, the traditional Kosovo ethic,
developed by Serbian peasants "during the centuries of Ottoman dominalion," actually expresses "a basic attitude toward life itself: democratic, antifeudal, with a love for justice and social equality."
For all these reasons, the author of this admirable treatise on a difficult
subject deserves the highest commendation for a major contribution to
scholarship dealing not only with Serbia and the Balkans in the Middle
Ages but also with the dangerous tensions and tragic conflicts which still
exist between parts of the Christian and Moslem worlds.
George Vid Tomashevich
Buffalo State University College
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83
Toma Longinovic. A Moment of Silence. Burning Books, With the International Writing Program of the University of Iowa, 1990, 134p.
There is a moment of silence - actually there are two: when we take a
book into our hands for the first time, and when we finish the last page and
close the book. Longinovic's book questions this statement. Is this a novel?
Is this a collection of short, easy pieces, a collage? Are there only those two
moments, or are there as many as there arc chapters? Do these moments
appear and disappear from the end of the first chapter on? A puzzle of form
is one of the things Longinovic introduces in this novel, a labyrinth. An
intrigue is about to begin. After each chapter, there is a moment of silence
which can lead us, if we are willing, to our own story and its end. Especially
in the first part of the book we can depart from the story as often as we
want, but then successfully return to it. However, if we decide to stay with
tho writer and listen to his story, the author will tell it to us, and in return
demand a complete trust and surrender.
We have to believe him if we want him to lead us to the (happy?) end of
his story. And the puzzle, the mirrors we find all around us will then slowly
start to make sense, to give a wonderful, extraordinary picture of an (extra)ordinary perception of the world and life.
Yugoslavia. Belgrade. The middle of the second half of the twentieth
century. A few boys. A few girls. Their childhood, spent together, knitted
lies which bind them together now, in their early thirties.
There arc only a few people that matter in one's life. A few good ones, a
few bad ones. And we are not the ones who decide which ones they are
going to be. Life, somebody, or something else will decide that. We can only
register loves, hates, happiness, or failures that we witness among those few
that matter. We can try to do something about it, as the Director, the I, in
the Moment of Silence does. He is the witness; he is the writer; he adds a
page to a mysterious book of life mentioned in tho first chapter. The book
we arc still leflto search for after we come to the moment of silence at the
end of the book.
The Director introduced us lo his life, lo his lies and bonds, lo his book.
And we arc transferred to that mysterious land of the past, the land of our
lost selves, childhoods and leon ages. We watch the Director struggle to
make something out of that rich material, of Belgrade lives, of the Balkan
streets, of the Byzantine mentality. We watch him write and direct his play,
the play of his life.
His Actor and Actress (the only two] struggle with the characters, with
their pains and madnesses; they despair, together with the Director, and
without him. Belonging to the same world as the Director, they represent
one, the (only?] reality: preparation of the play, its rehearsals and premiere.
And what is the play? Rcmembcrance of things past? The fog that envelopes childhood, teen years lifts as we try to remember. Yellow patent-leather
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84
shoes of our pre-school years gain significance when seen from this distance. They point to a certain direction the lives will lake, they determine
who is going to search for love and happiness and whore and what masks
will be worn and who will despair without any.
This book is romantic and nostalgic. Il is a sad one. It lolls us that the
quest for adulthood, for happiness, for peace loads nowhere, or, better, to
us alone, to our past we have to come to terms with .
It is a modern one too. Director has to progress through the temptations
of madness; the dark side of the moon; psychoanalysis; stream of consciousness; rock'n'roll, the violence in the cartoons we grew up with - when it
was real; dreams and ambitions of a young boy growing up in an apartment
on the fourth floor somewhere in Belgrade. And as the Director says, "The
boy tries to approach the book, to dive deep into his dreams and show the
book to the world, to stage it and make it visible" ... What book? The book
of his life. The book of life.
Longinovic leaves to the reader to decide what to put into the play, what
to relate to Director directly, what is a dream, and what an incoherent talk.
The material is here, the reader is the Director, the puzzle is complete.
Moment of Silence, although written in English, has its roots in the SorboCroatian language. It is exciting to see names, slogans, sayings inherent to
one language transposed into another. This will be particularly interesting
to the readers who, like Longinovic, have the experience of a Yugoslav
childhood and now live in another language environment.
The languages overlap; they flow one into another with great skill - like
fresh and sail water mixing at the mouth of a river into the sea. And, as we
are amused with the taste of the water on that particular spot, we are delighted when we discover, in the book, moments where the flavor of SorboCroatian permeates, or even dominates the English taste.
This work has a strong emotional content which the readers can feel and
understand. It stands in the tradition of books dealing with growing pains,
memories, and realities which are the consequences of our past lives.
Dubravka Juraga
Uni versity of Arkansas
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85
Medakovic, Dejan. Efemeris. Hronika jedne porodice, Beogradski izdavackografii':ki zavod, Beograd, 1990. 369 pp.
In the course of 1989 Dejan Medakavic finished writing the chronicle of
his family whose fate was entwined with the history of Croatia and Serbia
for almost two centuries. The first version of the book was finished in 1974,
while the final version took sixteen more years to be accomplished.
Choosing for the Litle of his book Efemoris (Ephemeris)Dejan Medakovic
projected the symbolic duality of his mission: as a writer he wished to
provide a permanent record of his ancestors, yet he was aware that the story
he was peacing together was ephemeral due to the human nature of its
protagonists past and present. Many historical figures of the Serbian and
Croatian past, presented in his chronicle, were long since gone. His paternal
grandfather was the president of the powerful Croatian Sabor. The family
safeguarded with equal pride the memory of the impoverished forefathers
who lived in Lika. In the course of the 19th century the young Medakovics
decided to leave the mountainous village, and with the blessings of their
families, tried their fortunes elsewhere. Three of them achieved fame and
recognition early in their lives; one as the secretary to Prince Milos and
editor of several journals in Vojvodina. The second served as the secretary
to Polar Petrovic Njegos and the third became the leader of the Serbian Party
in Croatin. He was eventually elected president of the Croatian Assembly
and negotiated various terms of agreements with the Austrian Emperor. His
efforts were acknowledged and he became recipient of numerous decorations and illustrious titles.
Already as a young child Medakovic was impressed by the memories
nurtured in his family and assorted memorabilia displayed in the spacious
palatial home. He felt a strong bond with the living members of his extended
family, yet he entwined the stories of his forebears whose old photographs
were kept in albums and looked over at special times . Although gone for a
long limo their memories were kept alive. Medakovic wrote the chronicle
as a witness and participant of the family saga defining his own ties with
his relatives and contemporaries observed in a historical perspective. He
became aware of his many responsibilities as chronicler and interpreter of
this historical knowlege that he came to recognize while writing this book.
In addition to his own acceptance of the past, in spite of doubts, he decided
to capture the spirit of the vanished world. In the process he achieved a
deeper identification with the mission of his ancestors.
Medakovic did not follow only the lives of his family members, but equally
recorded his own distinguished career as an art historian, professor at the
University of Belgrade, prolific poet and writer, academician and lately, the
General Secretary of the Serbian Academy of Science and Arts. His recollections of the personages that crossed his path conjured a living gallery of
worthy characters molded by their social milieu and historical circum-
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86
stances. Most of all the conversations with his father and grandmother provided a feeling of continuity of a family whose many members served with
dedication protecting the national Serbian, Croatian and Yugoslav causes.
He wrote also about personal pursuits of happiness, simple pleasures, failures and fulfillments with a fresh insight into the human heart.
The last chapter of the book describes the parting with Zagreb and the
changing face of the beloved city with tho entrance of the Nazi forces. His
chronicle ends with the outbreak of World War II. His own life was punctuated by this event and caused the secretly arranged escape from the town
of his birth. Yet even the hard parting with the native city could not tear
the love for it. Medakovic observed the growing alienation between the
Serbs and the Croats. In spite of all the hardships he did not allow the blind
hate to conquer and he vowed the he would not let anybody lear the love
for his native land out of his heart. Nobody should be able to induce belligerence and thus obliterate the existence of a family whose members served
the public interests with a sense of higher purpose.
The book was published in the spring of 1990 at the lime of uncertainty
and divisiveness among the neighboring countries in Yugoslavia. In this
time of great changes, Medakovic must have felt that the historical chronicle
can help strengthen the collective memory of a people. He decided that the
book should be finally ready for publication, although he could not stop
writing and adding new pages even during proofreading. IIc disclosed his
most intimate thoughts preserved in his memory as a testimonial of deeper
bonds that existed between the people of a once proudly forged union envisaged as the common land of the South Slavs.
Jelena Milojkovic-Djuric
University of Texas, Austin