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Serbian epic poetry (Serbian: Српске епске народне песме/Srpske epske narodne pesme) is a form of epic poetry created by Serbs originating in today's Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Montenegro. The main cycles were composed by unknown Serb authors between the 14th and 19th centuries. They are largely concerned with historical events and personages. The instrument accompanying the epic poetry is the gusle.
Serbian epic poetry helped in developing the Serbian national consciousness. The cycles of Prince Marko, the Hajduks and Uskoks inspired the Serbs to restore freedom and their heroic past. The hajduks are seen as an integral part of national identity; in stories, the hajduks were heroes: they had played the role of the Serbian elite during Ottoman rule, they had defended the Serbs against Ottoman oppression, and prepared for the national liberation and contributed to it in the Serbian Revolution.
History
The earliest surviving record of a Serb epic poem is a ten verse fragment of a bugarštica song from 1497 about the imprisonment of Sibinjanin Janko (John Hunyadi) by Đurađ Branković. From at least the Ottoman period up until the present day, Serbian epic poetry was sung accompanied by the gusle and there are historical references to Serb performers playing the gusle at the Polish–Lithuanian royal courts in the 16th and 17th centuries, and later on in Ukraine and Hungary. Hungarian historian Sebestyén Tinódi wrote in 1554 that "there are many gusle players here in Hungary, but none is better at the Serbian style than Dimitrije Karaman", and described Karaman's performance to Turkish lord Uluman in 1551 in Lipova: the guslar would hold the gusle between his knees and go into a highly emotional artistic performance with a sad and dedicated expression on his face. Chronicler and poet Maciej Stryjkowski (1547–1582) included a verse mentions the Serbs singing heroic songs about ancestors fighting the Turks in his 1582 chronicle. Józef Bartłomiej Zimorowic used the phrase "to sing to the Serbian gusle" in his 1663 idyll Śpiewacy (Singers).
In 1824, Vuk Karadžić sent a copy of his folksong collection to Jacob Grimm, who was particularly enthralled by The Building of Skadar. Grimm translated it into German, and described it as "one of the most touching poems of all nations and all times".
Many of the epics are about the era of the Ottoman occupation of Serbia and the struggle for the liberation. With the efforts of ethnographer Vuk Karadžić, many of these epics and folk tales were collected and published in books in the first half of the 19th century. Up until that time, these poems and songs had been almost exclusively an oral tradition, transmitted by bards and singers.
These editions appeared in Europe when romanticism was in full bloom and there was much interest in Serbian folk poetry, including from Johann Gottfried Herder, Jacob Grimm, Goethe and Jernej Kopitar.
Gusle
The gusle (гусле) instrumentally accompanies heroic songs (epic poetry) in the Balkans. The instrument is held vertically between the knees, with the left hand fingers on the neck. The strings are never pressed to the neck, giving a harmonic and unique sound. There is no consensus about the origin of the instrument, while some researchers believe it was brought with the Slavs to the Balkans, based on a 6th-century Byzantine source. Teodosije the Hilandarian (1246–1328) wrote that Stefan Nemanjić (r. 1196–1228) often entertained the Serbian nobility with musicians with drums and "gusle". Reliable written records about the gusle appear only in the 15th century. 16th-century travel memoirs mention the instrument in Bosnia and Serbia.
It is known that Serbs sang to the gusle during the Ottoman period. Notable Serbian performers played at the Polish royal courts in the 16th- and 17th centuries, and later on in Ukraine and in Hungary. There is an old mention in Serbo-Croatian literature that a Serbian guslar was present at the court of Władysław II Jagiełło in 1415. In a poem published in 1612, Kasper Miaskowski wrote that "the Serbian gusle and gaidas will overwhelm Shrove Tuesday". Józef Bartłomiej Zimorowic used the phrase "to sing to the Serbian gusle" in his 1663 idyll Śpiewacy ("Singers").
Best known serbian epic song
The Beginning of the Revolt against the Dahijas (Serbian: Почетак буне против дахија/Početak bune protiv dahija), a Serbian epic poem, is one of the best known and most beautiful poems about the liberation of Serbia. It was recited by Filip Višnjić, a blind gusle player. Linguist Vuk Karadžić heard it from Višnjić and wrote it down in 1815 while he was in Šišatovac monastery.
About song
The poem recounts chronologically the events that led to the Uprising against the Dahije and the First Serbian Uprising in 1804.
In the opening part of the poem, the poet sends an artistic message about the imminent rebellion by describing rare natural events. Solar eclipse, comets and lunar eclipse are all signs which indicate the start of the rebellion against Turks, and it is the ordinary people who will start the uprising.
Meanwhile, Turks are also watching these occurrences. For Serbian people, the signs mean they should fight the Turks, and for Dahiyas, Turkish leaders, they are bad omens that need to be interpreted. Dahiyas use traditional divination methods: hydromancy and interpreting holy prophet books. All signs indicate the downfall of the Turks. Dahiyas were cruel to the Serbian people and thereby they offended their fallen Sultan’s legacy.
The sin is as great as the punishment that will befall them. They didn’t listen to Sultan Murad on his deathbed nor to the wise old man Fočo (one of the seven Dahiyas). Anxiety and fear become obvious in an argument between father and son – the old man Fočo and Fočić Mehmed aga. That argument represents the conflict of wisdom and hotheadedness.
The Slaughter of the Knezes will ensue after the young Fočić arrogantly rejects his father’s advice. The Serbs are infuriated when Turks come to Topola to execute Karađorđe (the leader of the First Serbian Uprising). Filip Višnjić gives the role of the hero to the people and Karađorđe’s victorious speech by the Drina river marks the final revenge of the oppressed.
The Beginning of the Revolt against the Dahijas (song in Serbian, English and German translation):
http://www.pocetak-bune.eu/poem_e.html
The song in Serbian language
How epic poetry was originally played with instrument gusle
Serbian epic poetry:
http://www.umotvorine.net/sr/article...81%D0%BC%D0%B5
Sources:
http://www.pocetak-bune.eu/index.html
http://www.savezguslarasrbije.rs/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gusle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbian_epic_poetry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Be...st_the_Dahijas
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