ZfB Newsletter

Dear Readers:

Zeitschrift für Balkanologie has just published its latest issue at http://www.zeitschrift-fuer-balkanologie.de/index.php/zfb/index. We invite you to review the Table of Contents here and then visit our web site to review articles and items of interest.

Thanks for the continuing interest in our work,

Petra Himstedt-Vaid
Petra.Himstedt-Vaid@t-online.de

Zeitschrift für Balkanologie Vol. 49, Nr. 2 (2013) Table of Contents

http://www.zeitschrift-fuer-balkanologie.de/index.php/zfb/issue/current

Articles

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Infinite Konstruktionen mit eigenem Subjekt (Heteroprosopie) in den Balkansprachen

    Norbert Boretzky, Wilfried Fiedler

Auf der Trennlinie des Lebens: Migrantenfiguren und ihre Marginalisierung in der Literatur

    Milica Grujičić

Explicit Verbal Irony and the Means of Marking It in the Journalistic Style of the Serbian and Croatian Languages.

    Virna Karlić, Goran Koletić

Der Mensch und die Stadt im Roman „Dilettant“ von Čavdar Mutafov

    Ilija Pačev

Nationale Symbole der Ungarn und deren Narrative

    Gabriella Schubert

Schriftkultur in Siebenbürgen im 16. Jahrhundert

    Anita Andrea Széll

Reviews

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Marc Halder: Der Titokult. Charismatische Herrschaft im sozialistischen Jugoslawien

    Rayk Einax

Hermann M. Ölberg: Untersuchungen zum indogermanischen Wortschatz des Albanischen und zur diachronen Phonologie aufgrund des Vokalsystems

    Joachim Matzinger

Stefan Michael Newerkla, Fedor B. Poljakov, Oliver Jens Schmitt (Hrsg.): Das politische Lied in Ost- und Südosteuropa

    Eckehard Pistrick

Konstantinos Christomanos: Η κερένια κούκλα

    Walter Puchner

Julia Egleder: Peace through Peace Media? The media activities of the international missions (KFOR and UNMIK) and their contribution to peacebuilding in Kosovo from 1999 till 2008

    Henrique Schneider

Hannes Grandits, Holm Sundhaußen (Hrsg.): Jugoslawien in den 1960er Jahren. Auf dem Weg zu einem (a)normalen Staat?

    Henrique Schneider

Bisera Dakova, Henrike Schmidt, Galin Tihanov, Ludger Udolph (Hrsg.): Die bulgarische Literatur der Moderne im europäischen Kontext. Zwischen Emanzipation und Selbststigmatisierung?     Stefan Simonek

Orbituaries

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In memoriam Prof. István Futaky

    Michael Knüppel

In memoriam Oda Buchholz

    Gerd-Dieter Nehring

Notice

The next planned issue 50 (2014) 1 is a special issue to the conference entitled “Mainstream and Dissident Scientific Networks Between The Balkans and Germany”. The contributions are the following:

Konstantinos Gardikas: German Connections of a Greek Criminologist and Liberal Politician in the Interwar Period

    Stratos Georgoulas Transferring Knowledge: Bulgarian Female Scientists in Bulgarian-German Scientific Networks (1920s–1950s)

    Georgeta Nazarska

“Cultures of Defeat”: Reflections on the Adoption of German Racial Anthropology and Racial Hygiene in Bulgaria (1878–1941)

    Christian Promitzer 

The Secrets of Titograd in 1989: On Entanglements and Fragile Networks between the Intellectuals of West Germany and Socialist Yugoslavia

    Nenad Stefanov 

Researching the Scientific Networks between Germany and Southeastern Europe. Multiplex Scholarly Paths through Opportunity and Choice

    Sevasti Trubeta Modernizing Through Medicine: Knowledge Transfer, State-Building, and the Role of Athens University during the 19^th Century
    Maria Zarifi

New Books / Books for review

Bopp-Filimonov, Valeska: Erinnerungen an die „Nicht-Zeit“. Das sozialistische Rumänien im biographisch-zeitgeschichtlichen Gedächtnis(1989–2007). Balkanologische Veröffentlichungen 61. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2014.

Brunnbauer, Ulf; Grandits, Hannes (eds.): The Ambigous Nation. Case Studies from Southeastern Europe in the 20th Century. München: Oldenbourg 2013.

Corpus Draculianum – Dokumente und Chroniken zum walachischen Fürsten Vlad der Pfähler, Band 3: Die Überlieferung aus dem Osmanischen Reich Postbyzantinische und osmanische Autoren. Herausgegeben von Bohn, Thomas M.; Gheorghe, Adrian; Weber, Albert. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2014.

Demiraj, Bardhyl (Hg.): Aktuelle Fragestellungen und Zukunftsperspektiven der Albanologie. Akten der 4. Deutsch-Albanischen kulturwissenschaftlichen Tagung „50 Jahre Albanologie an der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München“ (23.–25. Juni 2011, Gut Schönwag bei Wessobrunn). (= Albanische Forschungen Band 32). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2014.

Destani, Bejtullah D.; Elsie, Robert: The Balkan Wars. London: Tauris 2014.

Dimitrova, Tanya; Kahl, Thede (eds.): Migration from and towards Bulgaria 1989–2011. Berlin: Frank & Timme 2013.

Fata, Márta (Hg.): Migration im Gedächtnis. Auswanderung und Ansiedlung im 18. Jahrhundert in der Identitätsbildung der Donauschwaben. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner 2013.

Glass, Hildrun: Deutschland und die Verfolgung der Juden im rumänischen Machtbereich 1940-1944. München: Oldenbourg 2014.

Heinen, Armin; Schmitt, Oliver Jens (Hrsg.): Inszenierte Gegenmacht von rechts. Die "Legion Erzengel Michael" in Rumänien 1918-1938. München: Oldenbourg 2013.

Kristo, Ema: Politische Schlagwörter im postkommunistischen Albanien (1990-2001). Albanische Forschungen 36. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2014.

Leustean, Lucian N.: Orthodox Christianity and Contemporary Thought (Fup). Fordham University Press 2014.

Myuhtar-May, Fatme: Identity, Nationalism, and Cultural Heritage under Siege. Five Narratives of Pomak Heritage – From Forced Renaming to Weddings. Leiden: Brill 2014.

Petrović, Tanja: Mirroring Europe: Ideas of Europe and Europeanization in Balkan Societies. Leiden: Brill 2014.

Petrovszky, Konrad: Geschichte schreiben im osmanischen Südosteuropa. Eine Kulturgeschichte orthodoxer Historiographie des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts. Balkanologische Veröffentlichungen 60. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2014.

Richter, Heinz A.: Der Krieg im Südosten: Band 1: Gallipoli 1915. Peleus 65,1. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2014.

Schumacher, Stefan; Matzinger, Joachim: Die Verben des Altalbanischen. Belegwörterbuch, Vorgeschichte und Etymologie. Unter Mitarbeit von Anna-Maria Adaktylos. Albanische Forschungen 33. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2014.

Sundhaußen, Holm: Sarajevo. Die Geschichte einer Stadt. Wien, Köln, Weimar: Böhlau 2014.

Tanner, Markus: Albania's Mountain Queen: Edith Durham and the Balkans. London: Tauris 2014.

Tomic, Dorde et al. (Hrsg.): Mythos Partizan. (Dis-)Kontinuitäten der jugoslawischen Linken. Geschichte, Erinnerungen und Perspektiven. Münster: Unrast 2014.

Traveler, Scholar, Political Adventurer: a Transylvanian Baron at the Birth of Albanian Independence. The Memoirs of Franz Nopcsa. Edited and translated from the German by Robert Elsie. Budapest: CEU Press 2014.

Trubeta, Sevasti: Physical Anthropology, Race and Eugenics in Greece (1880s–1970s). BRILL Academic Publishers (Balkan Studies Library, 11): Leiden, Boston 2013.

van Meurs, Wim; Müller, Dietmar (Hrsg.): Institutionen und Kultur in Südosteuropa. München, Berlin: Otto Sagner 2014.

Voß, Christian; Dahmen, Wolfgang (Hrsg.): Babel Balkan? Politische und soziokulturelle Kontexte von Spache in Südosteuropa. München, Berlin: Otto Sagner 2014.

LinksVirtual Library Ivan Shishmanov
http://bglit.org/page/bg/nachalo.php

CFP: The more they change... Change in the EU and its impact on neighbouring countries, 9-11 October 2014; University Ankara, Turkey

https://europeanizationofturkey.wordpress.com/category/conferences-workshops/

AISEE CONGRES 2015 - 1ere lettre circulaire / 1st circular lettre

Chers Collègues,

Veuillez trouver ci-jointe la première lettre circulaire concernant le 11e Congrès international d’études du Sud-Est européen qui se tiendra les 31 août – 4 septembre 2015 à Sofia, en Bulgarie.
Je vous souhaite une bonne fin de semaine et je vous prie d'agréer, Chers Collègues, mes salutations les meilleures.
Ana-Maria Clopovschi

**********************************

Dear Colleagues,

Please find herewith the 1st circular lettre concerning the 11th International Congress of SouthEast European Studies that will take place in 2015 between August, 31 and September, 4 in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Wishing you all a great weekend, I send you my warmest regards.
Ana-Maria Clopovschi



Association Internationale d'Etudes du Sud-Est Européen - A I E S E E
Ana-Maria Clopovschi
Rédactrice de la Revue de l'AIESEE
AIESEE - Le Secrétariat Général
17, rue Daniel Constantin (mansarde)
010631 Bucarest 22
ROUMANIE
Portable : 0721258249
office@aiesee.org
ana-maria@aiesee.org
http://www.aiesee.org

Literary Pax Sovietica, University of Sheffield, UK May 16-18, 2014

Literary Pax Sovietica

Late Stalinism in Eastern Literatures

International Conference

University of Sheffield, UK

May 16-18, 2014

The relationship between Literature and ideology in the communist Eastern Bloc after WWII represents a very important field of research that can contribute significantly to a wider understanding of the foundations of the new political and social order in post-World War II Eastern Europe. Although there have been comparative studies of the Cold War period by scholars, historians and literary critics, studies that were encouraged by the changes that occurred in the 1990s,  we are still lacking in in-depth comparative study related to the process of the institutionalization of literature and socialist realism in Eastern European countries. Therefore, 23 years after the collapse of the communist regimes in Europe there are still many issues concerning the relationship between literature and politics, between literature and state ideology issues which need to be deeply investigated by scholars whose academic interest is the East and South-East European Studies.

The establishment of the communist regime and the establishment of the method of Socialist Realism during the first post-War decade in the Eastern Bloc were the main focus of Literary Pax Sovietica: Late Stalinism and East European Literatures, an international conference organized by the Department of Slavonic Studies at the University of Sheffield on May 16-18, 2014. This conference brought together scholars from Europe and the USA whose field of expertise is literature and history of Eastern Europe and the national cultures of these countries during the communist regime.

Professors Evgeny Dobrenko and Natalia Skradol were the organizers of this noteworthy and insightful academic event. This conference was successful not only in accomplishing its goals but also in presenting an example of how can we tackle issues related to literature and communism in Eastern Europe in the present ever-changing context.

The introduction to the conference in day 1 was delivered by Neil Bermel and Evgeny Dobrenko from the University of Sheffield. The conference was organized in six panels. The first panel focused on the concept and application of soft power, brutal force and the significance of words. Scholars from the University of Texas, Arlington - Dr. Patryk Babiracki, from the University of Sheffield - Dr. Natalia Skradol, from the University of Zagreb - Ivana Peruško and from the New University of Bulgaria – Plamen  Doinov respectively gave the following presentations: “Soft power and Eastern Europe 1945-1956; “Socialist realism in the Soviet zone: concept and practice”; “Croatian ‘No’ to socialist realism: From Miroslav Krleža's ‘Dialectical Antibarbarus’ to ‘On Cultural Freedom’”; “Writers’ self-criticism: The Soviet model and the Bulgarian experience, 1946–1962”.

The second panel focussed on World Literature in the Eastern Bloc. Professor Katerina Clark (Yale University, USA) presented on ‘World Literature’: Standard Bearer of Soviet Culture in the 1930s and Casualty in the 1940s and cosmopolitanism. Vladislav Zubok from London School of Economics, UK presented on VOKS - Topic TBC. Rossen Djagalov from Koç University in Turkey presented a paper whose focus was Literary Polpredy and the Constitution of ‘The Literature of People’s Democracies’. This session closed with Tatiana Volokitina, from the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Russia, who offered in her presentation the results of the research that she had conducted in the Russian archives about Writers and Political Regimes in Eastern Europe.

The first day of the conference ended with the keynote speaker Galin Tihanov from Queen Mary University of London in UK who presented “The Post-Romantic Syndrome: Intellectual Adventures in Soviet Russia and Eastern Europe, 1917-1989”.

The third panel of the conference took place during day 2 and its main topic was: The Three C’s: Criticism, Censorship and Celebrations. This panel offered a wide perspective on the literatures in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and East Germany. Pavel Janáćek (Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Institute of Czech Literature, The Czech Republic) presented the paper: “From Literature Censored by Poets to Literature Censored by the Party: Evolution of the Stalinist Censorial System within the Czech Literary Culture of 1945-1955”. Tomáš Glanc (Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany) spoke on “Two Kinds of Czechoslovakian Mayakovsky. Death Celebration, 1950”.

Imre József Balázs from Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania presented a paper on the Impact of the Mihai Eminescu school of literature and literary criticism on the literatures of Romania, 1950-1955.

            The last speaker of the session was Tamás Scheibner from Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary who presented the paper: “Competing Sovietisations: Book publishing and censorship in post-WWII Hungary”.

The topic of the fourth panel was: “Formative Divisions”.

The first speaker in this session was Benjamin Robinson (Indiana University, USA) whose paper was “Representing Opportunity: Between Behaviour and Leadership in the Early GDR”.

            Following this presentation and elaborating further on East Germany’s context were two papers: the one presented by Helen Fehervary (Ohio State University, USA), “Competing Visions: East German Writers and Intellectuals' Efforts to Create a Socialist Culture under Soviet/GDR Governance and in the Cold War Context of a Divided Nation” and the paper presented by Anne Hartmann from Ruhr-Universität Bochum in Germany: “The Cultural Renewal in Eastern Germany: Mission Impossible for Soviet Cultural Officers and German Antifascists?”

The last speaker of the session was Carl Tighe from the University of Derby, UK who presented the paper: “Number Crunching the Engineers of Human Souls: Polish Writers in Figures.”

The fifth panel which concluded the second day of the conference focused on another important issue of the Literatures in the Eastern Bloc: Establishing the Literary Establishment. The scholars presenting in this panel where Bavjola Shatro (Aleksandër Moisiu University, Albania) who presented on Albanian Literature during the Establishment of the Communist Regime: State, Ideology, Literary Tradition and the New Literature.

            Melinda Kalmár – independent Researcher from Hungary – presented the paper: “Literature and Politics in Hungary, 1945-1956.”

            Zoran Milutinović (University College London, UK) presented a paper which focused on Socialist Realism in Yugoslavia, 1944-1952. This panel was concluded by Katarzyna Śliwińska’s paper (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland): “The Institutionalization of a Doctrine: Socialist Realism in Poland.”

The sixth panel of the conference, which was also the last session, took place during the third day of the conference and focussed on the topic Canons after cannons. The contributions of the scholars who presented in this session are the following:

            Alexander Kiossev from Sofia University, Bulgaria, whose paper focused on Stalinism and the Canon, The Bulgarian Case;

            Andrada Fătu-Tutoveanu from Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, presented the paper: “Controlling Culture, Redesigning the Canon: The Post-War ‘Colonisation’ of the Romanian Literature”.

            Wojciech Tomasik (Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland) who spoke on Socialist Literatures in the Polish Canon, 1945-1955; and Nenad Ivić (University of Zagreb, Croatia) whose paper was entitled: “Will Freedom Sing as Beautifully as Captives Sang about It?”: Reshaping the Croatian Canon, 1945-1955.

After the final session of the conference an iconic movie of the Socialist realist cinema - a blockbuster of the communist propaganda at the time: Conspiracy of Doomed (1950) by Mikhail Kalatozov was screened. The film was preceded by an introduction delivered by professor Evgeny Dobrenko and was followed by discussion and conclusions.

Besides the academic opportunities, the Literary Pax Sovietica conference also enabled the participants to socialize during the meals and the activities that took place during the conference. The participants were also able to visit the remarkable city of Sheffield and the beautiful premises of the University of Sheffield, a university which is well-known for his outstanding academic performance and also for its impressive architecture and history.

This invitation-only conference offered the participants an exceptional opportunity to hear the valuable contributions of scholars from several former communist countries in Europe and from the USA and to participate in very fruitful discussions. It also outlined a feasible and useful path for future discussion in a field of studies, which is open to further investigation and research and whose implications are constantly present in European academy and society.
Bavjola Shatro

Balkan and South Slavic Conference Report

The 19th Biennial Balkan and South Slavic Conference in Linguistics, Literature, and Folklore was held at the University of Chicago April 25-27 2014.  The meeting was a rousing success.  Some 80 participants were in attendance, from a dozen countries (including China and Japan as well as European and North American universities).  As usual, the presentations addressed a wide variety of issues in many Balkan and South Slavic languages and cultures: the list this year included Albanian, Aromanian, Arvanitic, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Greek, Macedonian, Moldovan, Montenegrin, Rom, Serbian, and Slovenian, plus a large number of comparative or cross-Balkan papers dealing with more than one language.  The full program is available at the conference web site.

The conference was topped off by a buffet dinner and dance party, with local Macedonian musicians, at which organizer Victor Friedman was honored by a series of toasts, each in a different language.

Upcoming Conference in Balkan Studies at the University of Sofia

The Faculty of Slavic Studies at the St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia is celebrating the twentieth anniversary of its program in Balkan Studies with a conference entitled Balkan Languages, Literatures and Cultures: Divergence and Convergence.  The conference will take place on 30-31 May 2014. The preliminary program features 119 papers in English, French, German, Russian and Bulgarian by scholars from Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Kosovo, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Sweden, Turkey and the US. The papers address issues within the broad areas of linguistic structure and the lexicon, codification of the standard languages, language contact, etymology, onomastics and phraseology, ethnolinguistics, comparative literary studies, literature and society, ethnology, cultural history, identity and religion, political studies, the fine arts, music and folk dance.

Good luck to the organizers of this conference and to the program in Balkan Studies at the St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia.