Synopses & Reviews
This book offers rare insights into the cultural traditions that have shaped the Balkan region--from pagan times, through folk culture, the medieval Christian churches, the encounter between Christianity and Islam, up to the religious and national mythologies that have proved so destructive in the present day. With the Balkans a central focus of European concern at the beginning of the 21st Century, this volume is a timely reminder of the complex cultural processes that continue to affect the modern world.
About the Author
Celia Hawkesworth is Senior Lecturer in Serbian and Croatian Studies, the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London.
Muriel Heppell is Emeritus Reader in the Medieval History of Orthodox Eastern Europe and Harry Norris is Professor Emeritus of Arabic and Islamic Studies, both at the University of London.
Table of Contents
Introduction and General Bibliography: Christianity and the Islam in the Balkans--Muriel Helppell & Harry Norris *
Part I: Layers of Belief, Blurred Boundaries * Prolegomenon to Religion in the Balkans--John Nandris * Folk Tales from the Bible and Koran--Florentina Badalanova * Art and Doctrine in the First Bulgarian Kingdom--Elissaveta Moussakova * Dualist Heresy in the Latin Empire of Constantinople--Bernard Hamilton * The Religious Situation of the Hungarian Kingdom in the 13th and 14th Centuries--Ioan Aurel Pop * Crypto-Christiantiy and Religious Amphibianism--Noel Malcolm *
Part II: Orthodoxy * The Chilandariou Icon "She Who Has Three Hands"--Vladeta Jankovic * Hesychasm in the Balkans--Muriel Heppell *
Part III: Islam * Islam in the Balkans: The Bosnian Case--Alexander Lopasic * Muslim Communities in Romania--Jennifer Scarce * The Bektashis in the Balkans--John Norton *
Part IV: Religion, Politics, National Mythologies * Religion, Irreligion and Nationalism in the Diaries of the Bulgarian Exarch Yosif--F.A.K.Yasamee * Sharpened Minds: Religious and Mythological Factors in the Creation of National Identities in Bosnia-Herzegovina--Mitja Velikonja