Dorian Juric (University of Ottawa)
In 1888, the Croatian lawyer and ethnographer, Luka Marjanović received a manuscript of eight epics songs for inclusion in his famous two volumes of Muslim oral epics published by Matica Hrvatska. The singer, 25-year-old Ahmed Čaušević, was exceptional in that his songs were exceptionally long and collected while he was incarcerated. This presentation discusses some of the problems that Marjanović, as editor, found with Čaušević’s songs, particularly his unique epic geography. I explore what Čaušević’s songs reveal about nineteenth-century epic singing and how aspects of that art came into conflict with the expectations of contemporary folklorists.
Part of V4-04 Folklore Methodology: New (and Old) Approaches, Thursday, October 12, 8:00 am–10:00 am