We will examine how the diversity of historical sources affects the portrayal
of the Balkan Slavs by following two writings that notably differ. First is
De Administrando Imperio, written in the X ...century. Our second source is the
Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja about which very little is known. The two
sources have a strong influence on our understanding of the earliest history
of the Slavs that dwell in the Western Balkans. Hence, on our understanding
of the modern nations, i.e. Croats and Serbs. These sources are so different
when regarding their historicity, time of composition etc. But in terms of
myths, we see the same patterns: coming of pagan peoples in Roman Dalmatia,
story of their origin, how they were baptised, who were their rulers, what
kind of dynasties they had, when did it happen and many more. Following this
general ethnogenetic and mythological framework, we will try to conclude
the relationship between myth and the identity of a European populace. To
achieve this goal, we used qualitative and quantitative content analysis and
provided their narrative networks of the mentioned texts. These networks
illustrate patterns of connections between different ethnogenetic elements
in the writings that serve to form groups identities of interest.
We will examine how the diversity of historical sources affects the portrayal of the Balkan Slavs by following two writings that notably differ. First is De Аdministrando Imperio, written in the X ...century. Our second source is the Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja about which very little is known. The two sources have a strong influence on our understanding of the earliest history of the Slavs that dwell in the Western Balkans. Hence, on our understanding of the modern nations, i.e. Croats and Serbs. These sources are so different when regarding their historicity, time of composition etc. But in terms of myths, we see the same patterns: coming of pagan peoples in Roman Dalmatia, story of their origin, how they were baptised, who were their rulers, what kind of dynasties they had, when did it happen and many more. Following this general ethnogenetic and mythological framework, we will try to conclude the relationship between myth and the identity of a European populace. To achieve this goal, we used qualitative and quantitative content analysis and provided their narrative networks of the mentioned texts. These networks illustrate patterns of connections between different ethnogenetic elements in the writings that serve to form groups identities of interest.
History textbooks are always of great importance for every nation state. Both Serbia and Greece, nowadays as well as in the past, have shown great effort in making history text¬books policies fit for ...their needs. Greece is a state that emphasises greatly on its instruction of humanities and has a strict and uniformed school program, while Serbia has more than one state approved textbook unlike Greece. That being said, the early Middle Ages are a period of European history that is essential for the foundation of contemporary nations, and the immigration of Slavs to the Byzantine Balkans and their principal affairs bring up many questions that have been concerning the two since the XIX century. How Slav the Greeks became and how much do the Balkan Slavs owe to the Byzantine Civilisation? In an attempt to answer that question through the perspective of present-day history textbooks in Greece and Serbia (used in elementary, middle and high school), the article deals with the narratives of the textbooks in regard to how they depict Byzantium and Slavs, their first encounters, the settlement of Slavs in the Balkans and their integration with the Byzantines, as well as the first few centuries of common history during which the Slavs were baptised and founded their own states, up until the XI century when Byzantium took possession almost of the whole peninsula. The research showed that even though the content of the textbooks is similar, some themes are treated differently. Firstly, both acknowledge the Greek aspect of Byzantium and view it as predominantly Greek, although the Greek textbooks take monopoly on the Greek element of Byzantium, neglecting other ethnicities or communities that had lived there as well, which is mentioned greatly in the Serbian ones. Serbian textbooks depict Slavs in a finer manner than the Greek ones do, even though they often both use the same Byzantine sources. Their focus is different, whereas Serbian textbooks focus on the beginning of Serbian history, the Greek textbooks cover the complex process of assimilation of Slavs in continental Greece. Even though both sides claim great importance to the mission of Cyril and Methodius, the Greek books insist on its Byzantine role and portray the result being strong ties between Greeks and Slavs, where the Serbian ones see it as a more inner Slavic matter. In Serbian textbooks Serbian and Byzantine history is very important, but there is no place for Bulgarian history of the same period in such an extent, which is what we see in Greek textbooks at the expense of Serbian history being almost absent. The nature of the Bulgarian empires and the affairs of the Orthodox Church are of a great significance for the Greek textbooks, and for that reason they are omitting some problematic parts of the past in their common history, unlike Serbian ones that have no problem in mentioning dark anecdotes and times of unrest between two peoples. In the end, while we may see some biased language and even negative attitudes towards the other side, the relations between the Slavs and the Byzantines are permanently described as vivid and the Orthodox Slavs are seen as a part of the Byzantine world.
