Author’s Preface Late last year, I received an e-mail announcing a symposium celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Folklore and Mythology Program at Harvard University. As a member of the first class to be awarded degrees in the program, and as the only member of that class to have gone on to pursue graduate study and a career in the discipline, I responded to… Read more
Foreword to the work of Robert T. Teske on Ariadne, 1970 Gregory Nagy, 2018.03.29 As I re-read “Origins of the goddess Ariadne,” written in 1970 by Robert T. Teske and republished forty-eight years later in 2018 by the Center for Hellenic Studies, http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.ebook:CHS_TeskeR.The_Origins_of_the_Goddess_Ariadne.1970, I marvel at the elegant beauty of it all. His bibliography is out of date, but, somehow, the freezing of… Read more
Selected Bibliography Aarne, Antti and Stith Thompson. The Types of the Folk-Tale. A Classification and Bibliography. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 1928. Reprint in FF Communications no. 74. Andersen, Flemming G. “Technique, Text, and Context: Formulaic Narrative Mode and the Question of Genre.” In The Ballad and Oral Literature, edited by Joseph Harris. Harvard English Studies 17. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1991. Andrić, Nikola, ed. Hrvatske narodne pjesme. Vol. 5, Ženske… Read more
Glossary Agha – honorary title for a respected male citizen who did not belong to the Ottoman nobility. It was customarily added after the first name. Also used for commanders of the Ottoman-paid military forces. abdest – ritual washing of one’s face, neck, ears, arms up to the elbows, and feet which Muslims are obligated to perform before prayer. alaybey – military governor of a province. This word appears also… Read more
Songs [Go to Song 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32,… Read more
Conversations Hasnija Hrustanović’s biography and family background as told by her son Ibrahim Hrustanović Interview conducted by Nikola Ivanov Vujnović in Gacko, 1935. Hard cover notebook no. 11Text 6314, phonograph records 2999-3002 Nikola: You wrote down songs by Hasnija Hrustanović? Ibrahim: Yes, she is my mother. (…) Nikola: How old is she? Ibrahim: Well, she is about seventy. She is an old woman who, as perhaps no other woman… Read more
Basic Biographical Information about Singers Dilić, Haska Born in early 1890s in Plana59 songs in the Parry Collection; 1 included here Dizdarević, Đula Born in mid 1860s in Mulji338 songs in the Parry Collection; 13 included here Hrustanović, Hasnija Born in late 1860s/early 70s in Kula Fazlagića 466 songs in the Parry Collection; 30 included here Ovčina, Hata Born in 1884 in Prijevor6 songs in the… Read more
Introduction* [In this on-line version, the page-numbers of the printed version are indicated within braces (“{” and “}”). For example, “{69|70}” indicates where p. 69 of the printed version ends and p. 70 begins. These indications will be useful to readers who need to look up references made elsewhere to the printed version of this book.] This volume presents the reader with songs that were never… Read more
Acknowledgements The path leading to the completion of this book involved many scholars, friends, and family members to whom I wish to express my gratitude. I am indebted to Mary Louise Lord, who generously shared with me her knowledge of her late husband’s fieldwork and of the materials held in the Parry Collection. Her meticulous criticism of the manuscript resulted in numerous improvements. Very special thanks go also to Gregory… Read more
Foreword In 1935 Professor Milman Parry, of the Department of Classics, Harvard University, as part of his wider survey of oral literature, was engaged in recording epic poetry in Gacko, on the border between Herzegovina and Montenegro in the former Yugoslavia. He took advantage of the abundant tradition of “women’s songs” in that area and recorded a great number of them, along with the heroic epics or “men’s songs.” He… Read more
