Report for The Third International colloquium on

Bosnian Oral Tradition and World Culture

International Forum Bosnia is pleased to report the successful completion of the Third International Colloquium on Bosnian Oral Tradition and World Culture: Orality and Literacy in the Study of Bosnian Tradition from 11:00 to 17:30 on October 21st, 2020. The Colloquium was jointly organised by International Forum Bosnia, the Faculty of Philosophy of Tuzla University and the Museum of Herzegovina in Mostar and was held online as a Zoom Conference. This is the third International Colloquium to be dedicated to the topic of Bosnian Oral Tradition. The proceedings of the first and second colloquia have been published in dedicated volumes of the Forum Bosnae journal.

There were 20 papers presented at two panels, on The Dialectic of Orality and Literacy and Orality and (Post-)Modern Identities. A futher two will be circulated in written form to participants. Participants were present from 5 universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and other universities and academic institutions in the United States, Turkey, the UK, Germany, Croatia, and elsewhere.


The First Panel was on the Dialectic of Orality and Literacy and was moderated by Desmond Maurer. It took place from 11:15 to 14:00. The papers presented were:

1. Paul Ballanfat, Usmenost i tradicijska intelektualnost (Orality and Traditional Intellectuality), presented in summary, in absentia.
2. HadžiMuhamedović, Safet, Time and Epic Residues (Vrijeme i epski ostaci)
3. Talam, Jasmina, Gusle i guslarska tradicija kroz istraživanja Friedricha Kraussa (The Gusla and Tradition in and through the Research of Friedrich Krauss)
4. Zubčević, Asim, Usmeni sadržaji u kulturi knjige bosanskih muslimana (Reflections of Orality in Bosnian Muslim Book Culture)
5. Nakaš, Lejla, Usmenost i bosansko ćirilično naslijeđe (Orality and Bosnian Cyrillic)
6. Kunić, Mirsad, Stolački epski bard Ibro Bašić (The Epic Bard of Stolac, Ibro Bašić)
7. Hadžimuhamedović, Amra, O slavuju koji više ne može pjevati: Kako se lična bol pjevača Osmana Mekića oslikava u kulturnom krajoliku kasabe Predolje (The Nightingale That Could No Longer Sing: How the Personal Suffering of the Singer Osman Mekić’s Represented in the Cultural Landscape of Predolja)
8. Efendić, Nirha, Nekoliko značajnih rukopisnih zbirki usmene poezije u posjedu Zemaljskog muzeja BiH (Some Oral Poetry Manuscript Collections of Note in the Holdings of the National Museum of Bosnia-Herzegovina)
9. Suljić, Amel, Usmenost i pismenost – konstrukcija složenih značenja u zbirci pjesama "Muslimanske narodne pjesme” Muharema Kurtagića (Orality and Literacy – the Construction of Complex Meanings inMuharem Kurtagić's Collection of Muslim Folk Poems)
10. Husić, Sead, Filološka analiza pete rukopisne knjige Muharema Kurtagića (A Philological Analysis of Muharem Kurtagic’s Fifth Manuscript Book)


Not presented at this panel was Mahmutćehajić, Rusmir, Teološki sadržaji epske pjesme "Smailagić Meho” (The Theological Aspect of the Epic "Smailagić Meho”).


The Second Panel on Orality and (post-)modern identities was moderated by Mirsad Kunić and lasted from 14:30 to 17:00. The papers presented included:

1. Maurer, Desmond, A Bridge to Nowhere: Literate and Post-Literate National Utopianism in the Development of Supposedly Oral Tradition
2. Tufekčić, Adnan, Usmena tradicija kao transgeneracijsko svjedočenje autentične kulture (Oral Tradition as Transgenerational Witness to Cultural Authenticity)
3. Dervišević, Amira, O usmenim pričama danas (Oral Narratives Today)
4. Doubt, Keith, Greek Mak Dizdar: Reflections on the Exemplification of the Greek epic tradition in Modra rijeka
5. Marković, Ivo, Zbor/hor Pontanima – e pluribus unum – jedinstvo u različitosti na tradiciji bosanskog suživota religija (The Pontanima Choir – E Pluribus Unum – Unity in Difference in the Bosnian Tradition of Religious Coexistence)
6. Maja Baralić-Materne, Usmena kultura i njeno zapisivanje (Writing Oral Culture)
7. Vranić, Semir, Digitalizacija bosanskog usmenog naslijeđa na primjeru sevdalinke (Digitalisation of Bosnian Oral Heritage and the Sevdalinka)
8. Berbić, Zanin, O Himzi Polovini, istraživaču i izvođaču bosanskog usmenog naslijeđa (On Himza Polovina as a Student and Performer of Bosnian Oral Heritage)
9. Durić, Rašid, Filološko-estetski argumenti za ponovno objavljivanje "Junačkih pjesama muhamedovskih” (Izdavač Matice hrvatske u Zagrebu, Zbornik III 1898, Zbornik IV 1899) – u svjetlu klerikalizma i ekskluzivnog nacionalizma u ovim zbornicima i u junačkoj epici uopće (Philological and Aesthetic Arguments for a New Edition of "Mohammedan Epic Poems” (originally published by the Matica Hrvatska in Zagreb, Zbornik III 1898, Zbornik IV 1899) – with Reflections on the Role of Clericalism and Exclusive Nationalism in these Collections and in Heroic Epic Generally.
10. Fatima Veispahić, Usmeno izvođenje balade "Zaprosijo Zaim Osmanaga” i njen zapis (The Oral Performance of the Ballad "Zaim Osmanaga's Proposal” and Its Transcription)

Not presented at this panel was Dizdar, Nerin, Savremeni bosanski metanarativi kao sredstvo dekonstruisanja tradicijskog iskustva (Contemporary Bosnian Metanarratives as a Resource for the Deconstruction of Traditional Experience).

The panels were followed by a lively discussion on the various topics raised. Closing remarks were made by Prof. Kunić.

The papers will be circulated for commentary to all participants and after finalisation will be published as a special issue of the Forum Bosnae journal.

Steering committee

Amra Hadžimuhamedović
Asim Krhan
Mirsad Kunić, chair
Desmond Maurer
Fatima Veispahić


The Friends of IFB
The work of International Forum Bosnia is supported by a wide range of organizations and individuals.
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