An Outline of Balkan Literature

elective

Module aim

A course focuses on the most important and representative literary works and authors of countries in the Balkans. The course presents Balkan literatures in chronological and typological approach on the basic level. Moreover, the course deals with literary connections between Balkan cultures and Eastern or Western cultural circles.

Course aims to:

- define and describe basic phenomena and literary traditions of Balkan cultures,

- characterize main cultural contexts of Balkan literatures on the basic level,

- show specificity of historical-literary process and models of periodization related to literature of countries in the Balkans,

- connect specific literary phenomena of countries in the Balkans with analogous phenomena in other European literatures,

- analyze, interpret and evaluate independently literary works of countries in the Balkans,

- introduce basic notions and terminology in the field of theory of literature and history of literature of countries in the Balkans.

Keen interest in literature, history and the Balkans.

Duration: 15 weeks.

Week 1: The Balkans (etymology of the term, geographical/political/historical/cultural definitions, main characteristics of the region).

Week 2: Basic traditions of Balkan literatures (Ancient, Christian, Roman Latin, Byzantine,Muslim/Ottoman traditions).

Week 3: Foundations of South Slavonic literatures (the mission of Sts. Constantine-Cyril and Methodius, continuation of Cyrillo-Methodian tradition in the Balkans).

Week 4: Medieval Orthodox literature in the Balkans / part I: Old Bulgarian Literature.

Week 5: Medieval Orthodox literature in the Balkans / part II: Old Serbian Literature.

Week 6: Glagolitic tradition in the Balkans.

Week 7: Renaissance literature in the Balkans (15th-16th-century Croatian literature).

Week 8: Baroque literature in the Balkans (17th-century Croatian literature).

Week 9: Enlightenment literature in the Balkans (the 18th century).

Week 10: Literature during the National Revival in the Balkans.

Week 11: Albanian literature (literary development, periodization, main writers, national myths).

Week 12: Romanian literature (literary development, periodization, main writers, national myths).

Week 13: The image of Bosnia in Ivo Andrić’s works.

Week 14: The Balkan literary “classics” from the 20th centuries (Miloš Crnjanski, Miroslav Krleža, Emilyan Stanev, Ismail Kadare).

Week 15: Postmodern tendencies in contemporary literature of the Balkan countries.

An Anthology of Serbian Literature, eds. V. Mihailovich, B. Mikasinovich, Bloomington 2007.

An Anthology of Croatian Literature, ed. H. Cooper, Bloomington 2011.

Documents and Materials on the History of the Bulgarian People, eds. M. Voynov, L. Panayotov, Sofia 1969.

An Anthology of Bulgarian Literature, eds. I. Mladenov, H. Cooper, Bloomington 2007.

R. Elsie, Classical Albanian Literature. A Reader, London 2015.

Of Gentles Wolves. An Anthology of Romanian Poetry, ed. and trans. M. Woodside, Houston 2011.

Testament: Anthology of Romanian Verse, eds. D. Ionita et all., Bucharest 2012.

Macedonia: Documents and Materials, eds. V. Bozhinov, L. Panayatov, Sofia 1978.

S. Trifu, D. Ciocoi-Pop, Romanian Poems. A Bilingual Anthology of Romanian Poetry, Cluj 1972.