Poetry
Пјеванија црногорска и херцеговачка
Not translated into English
Sima Milutinović Sarajlija · 1833
Synopsis
Some one hundred and seventy epic songs collected in Montenegro in the late 1820s. About two fifths of them tell of recent events in the country: raids, vendettas and duels, fighting against the Turks or against the French in the Bay of Kotor, the Russo-Turkish war of 1828, the revolt of the Bosnian beys in 1831. The others celebrate older heroes, known throughout the South Slav tradition, such as Marko Kraljević or the Jakšići.
Context
The first anthology of Montenegrin folk poetry, the collection appeared in 1833 in Buda; a second, larger edition followed in Leipzig in 1837. It brings together the fruit of more than three years of collecting in old Montenegro and on the coast, and its author was the first to record the names of the singers. A friend and collaborator of Vuk Karadžić, he followed his example. No song deals with the battle of Kosovo, which commentators have noted, whereas his pupil Njegoš was to make it one of his themes.
Who it is for
Epic songs in verse, numerous and long, to be read in pieces; the 1990 edition gives an accessible version of them.
Prizes and reception
It is the largest collection of Montenegrin oral songs of the first half of the nineteenth century.
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