This book is a comprehensive exposition of the interaction of a national (the Serbian people) and a religiou (the Orthodox Christian faith) content, in the formation of a distinctive national ...identity and a mode of being. Its interdisciplinary approach, drawing on sociology, social anthropology, theology, political theory, Balkan historiography, and Serbian folklore, is deployed to provide a powerful and original analysis of how Serbian Orthodoxy has resulted in the sacralisation of the Serbian nation by framing the parameters of its existence. Addresses the following questions: what 'makes' a Serb? Are meaningful assumptions possible by introducing Serbian Orthodoxy as the primal point of reference? Why does religion appear to have an especially strong appeal?
The Eastern Orthodox Churches in post-communist Eastern Europe are embroiled in long-running conflicts over ownership of territory, saints, sites, nations, and history. These often violent conflicts ...reflect political and national rivalries, most explicitly in former Yugoslavia and Ukraine. They are often understood as simplified ethnic-national tensions with religious overtones, but, as this book demonstrates such an assessment overlooks the deeper theological and historiographical framework. Nationalisation of the Sacred offers a detailed analysis of the theological backdrop to these conflicts. It analyses how various strands of Eastern Orthodoxy have adapted to the contemporary political context, a process where history, memory, and politics are transformed to fit the needs of rival nations and churches. The book provides an in-depth analysis of this process and the transformations in church-related conflicts in post-communist Montenegro, where the Serbian Orthodox Church has been pitted against a rival Montenegrin church and Montenegrin government. Additionally the book provides an up-to-date and unique analysis of Eastern Orthodox historiography, modern Serbian theology, religion in Montenegro more broadly, and the roots of the violent clash between Orthodox believers and the Montenegrin government in 2019-2021.
Rad se bavi pitanjima kulta sv. Stefana Štiljanovića unutar Srpske pravoslavne crkve. Bit će riječi o početku kulta i izložit će se osnovne etape njegovog razvoja. U skladu s navedenim, rad će se, ...također, baviti i slojevitosću kulta kroz duga razdoblja njegovog razvoja.
Unlike his notable contemporaries, compatriots and members of the same social class such as Paul (Pavle) Bakić, Radič Božić or Radoslav Čelnik, Stephen (Stefan) Štiljanović had as well as his earthly, a significant posthumous career, that is, he became a saint of the Serbian Orthodox Church and to his saintly figure the title of despot was added, although he had not borne it during his life time; thus the hagiographic story of the holy Serbian despots in the territory of Syrmia was in a way completed. It should be added that, unlike in the case of the cults of the Syrmian Brankovićes, who established and promoted themselves within the same family and the institutions of the Serbian Orthodox Church for the purpose of exercising the symbolic power, authority and dynastic representation of the Brankovićes among the Serbian population, the cult of Despot saint Stephen Štiljanović emerged and developed exclusively within the Serbian Orthodox Church. The beginning and development of the cult of St Stephen Štiljanović occurred during the period of great social transformations when, in accordance with the current reality, new sacred cults were born and the old ones transformed. The existence of the cult of St Stephen was registered as early as the 16th century in the record of Šišatovac monastery as well as in the Ottoman census of 1566/67. According to the record from 1560 in Šišatovac monastery the body of St Stephen Štiljanović is buried and he is referred to there as a duke; this title had in the late Middle Ages a wide scope of application. It referred to representatives of the local authorities and even the heads of pastoral communities. The cult texts on St Stephen Štiljanović, i.e. the Eulogy (Pohvalno slovo) and the Historical discourse (Povesno slovo) as well as the Service (Služba) of St Stephen Štiljanović evolved gradually and their earliest known version dates from 1631. For the understanding of the cult, the iconographic depictions of St Stephen Štiljanivić are also significant; the earliest date back to the 17th century. During the first period of the development of the cult, Stepen’s saintly attribute as a benefactor who gave the hungry grain from his granaries, was especially emphasized. Hence, the iconic records accentuated the analogy to Patriarch Joseph from the Old Testament, who in Egypt also provided grain for the hungry during the famine. However, from as early as the mid-17th century Stephen’s role as ruler becomes noticeable. This is especially apparent in the earliest depiction of St Stephen Štiljanović on the fresco in the Hopovo monastery in Syrmia dating from 1654 where Štiljanović was portrayed as one of the Serbian rulers and despots in sequence. During the Ottoman rule Štiljanović’s cult became more significant due to the endeavours to tighten the bonds of Orthodoxy on the periphery of new areas inhabited by the Serbian population with its centre in Pécs. After the Austro-Hungarian wars in the late 17th and early 18th century and the great migration of the Serbs into the Habsburg Monarchy, the monasteries of Fruška Gora were not the periphery but the centre of the newly formed institution of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Karlovac Metropolitanate, and after the Ottomans during their withdrawal had burnt the relics of the Syrmian Brankovićes, the importance of the cult of St Stephen Štiljanović and the significance of his relics and the seat of the cult, the Šišatovac monastery rose. In order to strengthen the reputation of the Šišatovac monastery within the Metropolitanate of Karlovci, it was necessary to put extra emphasis on Štiljanović as a figure of authority. Since that time St Stephen Štiljanović has mostly been presented as one of the Serbian despots which is evident from the Short historical discourse (Kratko povesno slovo) of 1767 and from most of the iconographic depictions of St Stephen Štiljanović from the 18th century. The Short historical discourse shows that Stephen’s curriculum vitae had become more precise with much more detail. A very significant motif in the Slovo from 1767 was the way how the dignity of despot was transmitted to Stephen Štiljanović after the death of despotess Jelena Jakšić. Considering the above and other motifs, it is possible that in time the legend of St Stephen Štiljanović accreted elements from the biographies of two historical individuals, Ivan, the husband of despotess Jelena, and their son Stephen, from the Berislavić Grabarski family, who in the early 16th century assumed the title of despot. Along with these two, it is possible that additional elements were added to the Štiljanović legend from the biography of the last Serbian despot Pavle Bakić as well as from those of some other historical figures, Štiljanović’s Serbian compatriots, from the first half of the 16th century who carried out significant military duties in the territory of southern Hungary. The Orthodox cult of St Steven Štiljanović was tied to the cult of the Catholic St John Capistran. The legends of Capistran’s and Štiljanović’s presence on Göntér Hill near Šikloš testify to this; according to these legends, on this hill was Štiljanović’s former tomb, and according to the Franciscan legend from the Catholic shrine of Máriagyűd, in 1456 Capistran urged the population in his sermons on Göntér Hill to defend Belgrade. Tending to confirm the links of the cults of the two saints are the suspicions of certain Catholic circles from the 17th and 18th century that the body of St Stepen Štiljanović in fact belonged to St John Capistran whose body dissapeared during the Ottoman invasion of Ilok in 1526. Further confirmation is provided by their shared attributes as fighters for the purity of faith as well as the fact that both saints were at the peak of their lives and activities and met their deaths at the very end of the Middle Ages in the geographic area of former southern Hungary.
Distanciranje Crne Gore od državne zajednice sa Srbijom otpočinje krajem 1990-ih, u vremenu u kojem je promotorima srpske velikodržavne ideologije izrazito sužen prostor da takvo što spriječe silom. ...Stoga se posegnulo za drugim instrumentima usmjerenima na uništenje ili minoriziranje identitetne konstrukcije nacionalnog crnogorstva među pravoslavnom populacijom Crne Gore te na njezino nadomještanje nacionalnim srpstvom, uz ispravnu procjenu da je nacionalno crnogorstvo glavna snaga u samosvojnom uobličavanju Crne Gore. Takva kojoj je najbolje suprotstaviti od dijela nekadašnjih nacionalnih Crnogoraca oblikovani »srpski narod u Crnoj Gori« kako bi se tu zemlju zadržalo, odnosno, nakon postizanja neovisnosti 2006. vratilo pod srpsko državno okrilje. U ovome radu dat ćemo prikaz povijesnog razvoja koji je omogućio da prikazani vid srpskog velikodržavnog djelovanja u Crnoj Gori bude relativno uspješan, a zatim i uvid u postojeće političke i nacionalne-demografske suodnose u toj zemlji. Ujedno, analizirat ćemo uzroke koji utječu na to da se nacionalno crnogorstvo teško nosi s pokušajima vlastite identitetne destrukcije te istaknuti razloge zbog kojih bi u svojim naporima za samoodržanjem trebali dobiti sasvim konkretnu podršku regionalnih i euroatlantskih struktura.
The distancing of Montenegro from the state union with Serbia began in the late 1990s, a time when proponents of the Greater Serbian nationalist ideology had significantly limited capacity to prevent it by force. Therefore, they resorted to other instruments aimed at the destruction or marginalization of identity construction of Montenegrin nationalism among the Orthodox population of Montenegro, and its replacement with Serbian national identity. They correctly assessed that Montenegrin nationalism was the main force in shaping an independent Montenegro. To counter this, they used the “Serbian people in Montenegro” formed from a faction of former Montenegrin nationals, with the aim of retaining, and after achieving independence in 2006, also returning the country under Serbian state protection. This paper will provide an overview of the historical development that enabled this relatively successful implementation of the form of Serbian Greater nationalist activity in Montenegro, as well as an insight into the existing political and national-demographic inter-relations in the country. Additionally, we will analyze the factors that make it difficult for Montenegrin nationalism to cope with attempts of its own identity destruction, and emphasize the reasons why they should receive concrete support from regional and Euro-Atlantic structures in their self-preservation efforts.
Das Buch untersucht Religion auf dem Balkan am Beispiel serbisch-orthodoxer Gemeinschaften in der Herzegowina – in einer überwiegend gebirgigen, ländlichen und religiös vielfältigen Region. Hier ...lebte man religiösen Glauben im 19. Jahrhundert vor allem in den Familien. Geistliche und die Kirchenorganisation spielten nur eine untergeordnete, nicht selten ungeliebte Rolle. Erst die gesellschaftlichen Modernisierungen ab der zweiten Hälfte des Jahrhunderts, vor allem durch die habsburgische Verwaltung ab 1878, formten Religion zu einem von kirchlichen Institutionen geprägten und konfessionell klar abgegrenzten Gesellschaftssystem. Dadurch gerieten zum einen die Verhältnisse innerhalb der Glaubensgemeinschaft in Bewegung und wurden teils heftig ausgetragen – zwischen Laien, Geistlichen, der Kirchenleitung und dem Staat. Zum anderen veränderten sich aber auch die interreligiösen Beziehungen und wurden stärker normiert und seltener situativ ausgehandelt.Religion war von grundlegender Bedeutung für imperiale Herrschaft, nicht zuletzt als Gegengewicht zu nationalen Bestrebungen. Im Falle der Serben wirkte dabei imperial geregelte Religion über ihre Organisationen und ihre Geistlichen fördernd für die Nationalbewegung. Habsburg reagierte daher seit Beginn des Ersten Weltkriegs mit harter Repression gegen serbisch-orthodoxe Priester, kirchliche Laien und Kircheninstitutionen. Für die häufige Verschmelzung von Religion und Nation spielten in Südosteuropa gerade die großen Reiche eine entscheidende Rolle.
Gerasim Zelic (1752-1828) is one of the most emblematic figures of the Serbian cultural scene between the 18th and 19th century. He as an archimandrite of the Serbian Orthodox monastery of Krupa, a ...diplomat and a writer. From 1794 to 1811, Zelic held the position of Vicar-General of the Serbs in Dalmatia and, as such, was one of the main actors of the events related to the confessional controversy that stirred the region at the time. His autobiography, entitled Žitije and published in Budapest in 1823, also places him among the protagonists of a crucial period for the birth of the new Serbian literature. Following a multidisciplinary approach, the essays collected in the volume Gerasim Zelic e il suo tempo analyse Gerasim Zelic’s story, his involvement in the events related to the confessional controversy in Dalmatia and his literary activity, bringing the discussion to the era in which the Serbian archimandrite lived. Particular attention is paid to the context in which Zelic worked, namely the Balkan peninsula, as well as to the cultural history of the Serbs of Hungary between the 18th and 19th century.
Ako je suditi prema zbivanjima u hrvatskome i bosanskohercegovačkom društvu u posljednjih trideset godina, moguće je zapaziti da su i Katolička Crkva i Srpska pravoslavna Crkva - kao dva važna ...nacionalna sakralna sustava - imale značajnu ulogu u usmjeravanju ne samo društvenih nego i političkih procesa. Upitno je, međutim, koliko su ta i takva politikom obojena usmjeravanja donijela ovim društvima dobroga, a koliko lošeg, posebno kad je riječ o izgradnji povjerenja i dobrih međuetničkih, a time i međuvjerskih odnosa. Koliko su i jedna (Katolička) i druga (Srpska pravoslavna) Crkva tijesno uvezane u najnovija politička zbivanja u Hrvatskoj i Bosni i Hercegovini, posebno kad je riječ o Republici Srpskoj, autor će pokazati na primjeru odnosa tih dviju crkava u Bosni i Hercegovini, te će, oslanjajući se na Mardešićeve tekstove, pokušati naznačiti glavne putove kojima bi dvije crkve trebale ići kako bi na ovim prostorima došlo do toliko željenoga kršćanskog pomirenja. Nakon kraćeg uvoda, s opisom suvremene socioreligijske situacije u Europi i u Hrvatskoj, autor svoju analizu tih odnosa temelji na Mardešićevim tekstovima o političkoj religiji i o putovima koji vode do kršćanskog pomirenja.
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