Academic literature on the topic 'Gračanica (Church : Kosovo, Serbia)'

Abstract The Serbian Orthodox Church has been described in scholarship as having had a significant impact onto the social and political life of Serbia, especially since the wars of the nineties. With the coming of the age of the Internet and social science automation, however, more options have gradually become available to researchers in the recent years. For this reason, this article will tackle the official rhetoric of the Serbian Orthodox Church in relation to the sociopolitical with the assistance of social science automation. Forming an examination via the methodological lens of Operational Code Analysis, this article delves into the Church’s discourse on Kosovo, via heavy vetting of all official statements given on the website of the Serbian Orthodox Church. It also expands upon the initial methodology – Operational Code Analysis – to an analysis of an institution with a uniform discourse, which has so far not seen light in scholarly production.

Phonographic recordings made on wax plates by composer Kosta P. Manojlovic and ethnologist Borivoje Drobnjakovic from 1930 to 1932 represent the oldest collection of field sound recordings in Serbia. The biggest part of the collection is preserved at the Institute of Musicology SASA. In 2017 digitalization of the recordings from those plates was completed, which made the sound content of the collection finally available to researchers. This paper presents and analyses the collection as an anthology of historical sound documents, as an incentive for contemporary ethnomusicological research and as an addition to studying the history of ethnomusicology in Serbia. After an elaboration on the prehistory of documentary field recordings of traditional music, it has been pointed to procurement of a phonograph for the Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade in 1930. There were two major expeditions, organized in 1931 and 1932 in what was then known as ?Southern Serbia?, administratively the Vardar Banovina, a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (now Republic of Macedonia and the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija of the Republic of Serbia). 180 plates were made, less than a third by Drobnjakovic, and all the others by Manojlovic. Further recordings were suspended due to certain problems with masters printing; even some later attempts of dubbing did not give a complete solution. In 1964 the Institute of Musicology SASA was given an incomplete collection. Today it is comprised of 140 wax plates. It has been pointed that, primarily, traditional secular music was recorded, followed by few examples of church music. The collection is represented by the acoustic source, performance formation, repertoire, genre, style. Additionally, gender, age and professions of the singers and players were also discussed. It has been pointed to the potentials of the collection and its relevancy for the research of music and identity relation, music and migration relation, for studies of heritage and activities at the field of preserving traditional music. Given the specificity of the area from which the collection predominantly originates, it can have a significant value for social engagement in overcoming conflicts with music. Finally, the attainability of wax plates now serves as an incentive for reassessing the role of Kosta P. Manojlovic in cultural history and research of traditional music in Serbia and in the region.

Abstract In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the central territory of Hungary was occupied by the Ottoman Empire. This long occupation resulted in the creation of what are the northernmost examples of Ottoman architecture in a cultural environment framed by non-Muslim structures. Since 1699, when the Ottoman Empire lost its influence over its Hungarian territories, Islamic religious buildings became private property or came under the maintenance of the Church or monastic orders. In 2013, an extraordinary process began: with the official cooperation and the financial support of the Republics of Turkey and Hungary, experts from both countries initiated projects to preserve and restore the Ottoman monuments in Hungary. Although a similar approach had been adopted in many countries in the Balkan Peninsula ‐ for example in Macedonia, Albania, Serbia, and Kosovo, this was one of the first attempts at an institutionalised, global dialogue on the preservation and restoration works of Islamic sacral heritage within both Hungary and the European Union. This article presents the history of the preservation and restoration works of Ottoman heritage in Hungary. In addition, some of the unique structural features are outlined as these will be taken into consideration during present and future restoration efforts.

The Serbian monastery Devic was built in 1434, in Drenica, a hilly region where Kosovo and Metohija meet, and where St. Joannicius of Devic lived his ascetic life, passed away and was buried. This great Serbian hermit, under the patronage of Despot Djuradj Brankovic, built the original church dedicated to the Presentation of the Virgin which gathered the whole monastic family. Probably at the same time the first collection of manuscripts was built, since the elementary liturgical books were needed for the regular liturgical life. Different conserved manuscripts between the 16th and 19th century attest transcription activities in the monastery, and, at the same time, confirm that Devic Monastery was highly estimated among the Orthodox Christians. First information about the literary fund of the monastery originate in the mid-19th century when many researchers and antique lovers visited the monastery. Testimonies about the scope and content of the Devic collection of manuscripts are quite contradictory, however we are going to try to determine in this paper which manuscripts were undoubtedly in the collection with particular attention to the ones written in the monastery. Despite very poor conditions this collection survived until the 20th century. For safety reasons one part of the collection, which was transferred in the National Library of Serbia, got destroyed during the bombing in April 1941. The rest, which was held in the monastery, was burnt down, including the temple church and the whole monastery complex, by the Albanian Fascists. What remained from the former collection were just a few copies of books which were taken out of the Devic before 1941. The monastery continues to exist till the present day, despite vandalization in 2004.

Patriarch Ephrem, monk and hermit, writer and saint, Bulgarian-born but twice the leader of the Serbian Church (1375-78 and 1389-92), is an outstanding figure of the late medieval Balkans. His "life and works" are discussed here in the light of hagiological texts and the information provided by various types of sources with the view to drawing some historically relevant conclusions. The main source of information about Ephrem's life and activity are the eulogies, Life and service composed by bishop Mark, his disciple and loyal follower for twenty-three years. Making use of hagiographical topica combined with plentiful data of undoubted documentary value, he relates the story of Ephrem's life through all of its major stages: from his birth and youth to his withdrawal from the world and taking of a monk's habit. Of formative influence were his years on the Holy Mount Athos, where he experienced different styles of monastic life, coenobitic, as well as solitary, which he practiced in the well-known hermitages in the heights of Athos. The further course of Ephrem's life was decided by the turbulent developments in the Balkans brought about by the Ottoman conquests. In that sense, his biography, full of forced and voluntary resettlements, is a true expression of the spirit of the times. Forced to flee Mount Athos, Ephrem made a short stay in Bulgaria and then, about 1347, came to Serbia, where he spent the rest of his life. An eminent representative of the monastic elite and under the aegis of the Serbian patriarch, he spent ten years in a hesychastria of the Monastery of Decani. For reasons of security, he then moved to a cave hermitage founded specially for him in the vicinity of the Patriarchate of Pec. It was in that cell, where he lived for twenty years powerfully influencing the monastic environment, that his literary work profoundly marked by hesychast thought and eschatology, was created. Ephrem twice accepted the office of patriarch in the extremely complex, even dramatic, political and social circumstances created by the conflict between the patriarchates of Serbia and Constantinople, on the one hand, and rivalries between local lords, on the other. There is a difference of interpretation as to his role as the holder of patriarchal office. The latest findings appear to suggest that Ephrem, as an exponent of Mount Athos, loyal to the Patriarchate of Constantinople and close to Vuk Brankovic, was unacceptable to the Lazarevic dynasty who emerged victorious in the power straggles in Serbia. Their victory was crowned with the creation of the cult of the holy prince Lazar, a Kosovo martyr. Although a supporter of the defeated side, patriarch Ephrem, as an unquestionable spiritual authority and very deserving personage, was included among the saints shortly after his death. His cult, however, had never been made complete. He was given a Life and service, but the attempted elevation of his body, i.e. creation of the cult of his relics, was thwarted. The reasons, political in nature, were given in the form of a coded hagiographical message in his Life composed by bishop Mark, an active protagonist in all the events. .

Throughout the 550 year Ottoman rule over the Balkan lands, where even today internal dynamics threaten peace and justice, how and through what means the Ottoman Empire achieved consistency, security and peace is a question to which a number of political scientists, sociologists, communication scientists and history researchers have sought an answer. The most interesting point of the question is that the peoples of the Balkans, a living museum comprising a number of different ethnic groups and religious beliefs, have reached the point where the culture of coexistence has been internalised and dynamics have moved from the conflict of identities to cultural integration. The Balkans are a bridge to the East from Europe and indeed to the West from Turkey, incorporating a patchwork political and cultural geography, the geopolitical location and a richness of culture and civilization, being one of the areas attracting the attention of researchers from different disciplines and capturing the imagination of the peoples of the world throughout history. Balkan studies are almost as difficult as climbing the peaks in the areas and meaningful answers cannot be reached by defining the area on a single parameter such as language, culture or traditions, while the phenomenon of the other can also be observed within the culture of coexistence in this intricate and significant location. Different ethnic groups with different cultures, such as the Southern Slavs (Bosniaks, Montenegrans, Serbs, Croats and Slovenes) as well as Turks, Albanians, Bulgarians, Balkan Jews, Balkan Romany and Wallachians (Romanians and Greeks). Although these peoples may have different religious beliefs, in the ethnically rich Balkan region, religion, language, political and cultural differences are vital in the formation of a mosaic, making the discourse of coexistence possible and creating common values and loyalties, breaking down differences. The Serbian and Montenegrin peoples, belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church, the Croat and Slovene peoples belonging to the Catholic Church and the Muslin Bosniaks have shared the same lands and livee in coexistence throughout the historical process, despite having different beliefs. However, in some periods the other and the perception of the other have replaced common values, leading to conflicts of interest, unrest and religion based wars. After the breakup of the Yugoslavian Federal Socialist Republic, Slovenia, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo, defined by the European Union as the Western Balkans, have established themselves as nation states of the stage of history. The scope of our study is these Western Balkan Countries, and we will use the terminology Western Balkans throughout.

Abstract Objective To evaluate nutritional status of children and adolescents living in three Serbian enclaves in Kosovo and Metohija. Methods We conducted an observational cross-sectional, population-based study, enrolling children and adolescents who underwent a pediatric screening performed in the three Serbian enclaves of Gračanica, Gornje Kusce and Velika Hoča in Kosovo and Metohija. Children and adolescents (5–19 years) of all ethnic groups were evaluated in one of the three free outpatient medical facilities in rural villages in Kosovo. Body weight and height were measured, height-for-age z- scores (HAZ) and BMI-for-age z-scores (BAZ) indicators were analyzed. The anthropometric indicators HAZ and BAZ distributions were compared between sex and ages using Fisher’s exact test. A two-sample Z-test for proportions was used to detect differences in individual categories of height- and BMI-for-age categories across sexes and age classes. Results Three hundred twenty-eight children and adolescents (184 females, 56.1% and 144 males, 43.9%) aged between 5 and 19 years were enrolled in the study. 241/328 participants showed a normal linear growth; with significantly more girls (78.3%) than boys (67.4%) being in the normal category. Similarly, a significant difference in BAZ distribution between sexes was noted, with more females being in the normal BMI category compared to males (63.0% vs 50.0%, respectively). Underweight and severe underweight subjects showed a prevalence of 1.5 and 0.6%, respectively. Overweight and obesity prevalence was 19.5 and 9.1%, respectively, which was comparable to World Health Organization overweight and obesity prevalence data for Serbia. Conclusions Prevalence of undernutrition and severe undernutrition in children and adolescents living in three Serbian enclaves in Kosovo and Metohija is small. By contrast, a tendency to an increase in overweight and obesity, especially in the male population, was noted.