This book explores social transformations which led to the establishment of medieval Hum (future Herzegovina) and Bosnia in the period from ca. 450 to 1200 AD using the available written and material sources. It follows social and political developments in these historical regions from the last centuries of Late Antiquity, through the social collapse of the seventh and eighth centuries, and into their new medieval beginnings in the ninth century. Fragmentary and problematic sources from this period were, in the past, often used to justify modern political claims to these contested territories and incorporate them into the ‘national biographies’ of the Croats, Serbs and Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), or to support the ‘Yugoslavizing’ and other ideological discourses. The book goes beyond ideological and national mythologemes of the past in order to provide a new historical narrative that brings more light to this region placed on the frontiers of both the medieval West and the Byzantine empire. It provides new views of the period between ca. 450 and 1200 for the parts of Western Balkans and Eastern Adriatic, brings the most recent local historical and archaeological research to the Anglophone readership and contributes to the scholarship of the late antique and early medieval Mediterranean study of this very poorly known area. The book is intended for academic audiences interested in history and archaeology of the Late Antiquity and early Middle Ages, but also to all those interested in the general history of Herzegovina, Bosnia, Dalmatia and the Balkans.

The study compares three Bosnian authors with three European titans: The poet Mak Dizdar to Homer, the novelist Meša Selimović to Fyodor Dostoevsky, and the novelist Ivo Andrić to Leo Tolstoy. The purpose is to move the appreciation of the writing of the most important Bosnian writers of the 20th century closer to the European literary community and to the wholeness of the literary phenomenon. Secondary literature on the Bosnian authors is too narrow, focusing on their ethnic heritages and the Balkan milieu in which they write and missing something essential to a critical appreciation of their works. The study creates not only affinities but, more importantly, amitiés between the authors. The discipline of comparative literature reveals what is missing in the secondary literature, namely, a vision of the literary universe, inclusive and comprehensive.

In Ethnic and National Identity in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Keith Doubt and Adnan Tufekčić analyze Bosnian social organization, cultural character, and boundary maintenance. Doubt and Tufekčić argue that modern Bosnians live in a polyethnic society, defined by a set of marriage and kinship practices that cross ethnic and national identity divisions. This book provides readers with a clearer understanding of Bosnian identity and the role of ethnic groups in an increasingly complex society.

A contemporary analysis of the people, cultures, and society within the regions that make up Eastern Europe. Eastern Europe: An Introduction to the People, Lands, and Culture sheds light on modern-day life in the 16 nations comprising Eastern Europe. Going beyond the history and politics already well documented in other works, this unique three-volume series explores the social and cultural aspects of a region often ignored in books and curricula on Western civilization. The volumes are organized by geographic proximity and commonality in historical development, allowing the countries to be both studied individually and juxtaposed against others in the region. The first volume covers the northern tier of states, the second looks at lands that were once part of the Hapsburg empire, and the third examines the Balkan states. Each chapter profiles a single country—its geography, history, political development, economy, and culture—and gives readers a glimpse of the challenges that lie ahead. Vignettes on various topics of interest illuminate the unique character of each country.

Increasingly, historians acknowledge the significance of crusading activity in the fifteenth century, and they have started to explore the different ways in which it shaped contemporary European society. Just as important, however, was the range of interactions which took place between the three faith communities which were most affected by crusade, namely the Catholic and Orthodox worlds, and the adherents of Islam. Discussion of these interactions forms the theme of this book. Two essays consider the impact of the fall of Constantinople in 1453 on the conquering Ottomans and the conquered Byzantines. The next group of essays reviews different aspects of the crusading response to the Turks, ranging from Emperor Sigismund to Papal legates. The third set of contributions considers diplomatic and cultural interactions between Islam and Christianity, including attempts made to forge alliances of Christian and Muslim powers against the Ottomans. Last, a set of essays looks at what was arguably the most complex region of all for inter-faith relations, the Balkans, exploring the influence of crusading ideas in the eastern Adriatic, Bosnia and Romania. Viewed overall, this collection of essays makes a powerful contribution to breaking down the old and discredited view of monolithic and mutually exclusive "fortresses of faith". Nobody would question the extent and intensity of religious violence in fifteenth-century Europe, but this volume demonstrates that it was played out within a setting of turbulent diversity. Religious and ethnic identities were volatile, allegiances negotiable, and diplomacy, ideological exchange and human contact were constantly in operation between the period's major religious groupings.

This grand illustrated essay depicts the devolution of Serbia’s capital during the exceptionally difficult years of Slobodan Milošević’s rule. An interwoven fabric of facts, reflections, insights, and photographs presents Belgrade in a portrait as imaginative and unique as this city’s culture and life are. Integrating cultural anthropology, the history of art and architecture, urban studies and political commentary, Prodanović analyses changes to the city’s visual environment during the 1990s which reveal the impact of deeper social forces. Many aspects of life are covered, some with great ingenuity: the transition from socialism to shopping centers, unregulated construction and modifications of buildings, the redesign of banknotes during hyperinflation, political campaigns and organized campaigns of defacement, beer labels, religious icons in shop windows, graffiti, kitsch, “celebrity charlatans” on TV, gangsters’ tombstones, boondoggles such as an international art center, and much more. All this information is presented with astute analysis from a local perspective and not a little humor.