Balcanica
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The Balcanica is an annual, peer-reviewed journal of the interdisciplinary Institute for Balkan Studies of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SASA). Their histories have been intertwined since 1934, when King Alexander of Yugoslavia founded the Balkan Institute in Belgrade as the only of its kind in the region. The newly-founded institute started to publish Revue internationale des Etudes balkaniques, a high-profile scholarly outlet that disseminated the findings of the most prominent European experts on the Balkans. This journal was terminated, along with the work of the institute itself, in 1941 by the order of the German occupation authorities. It was not before 1969 that the institute resumed its scholarly activities under its present-day name and within the framework of the SASA. The Balcanica became a principal platform for publishing the results of Serbian (and former Yugoslav) scholars as well as their foreign colleagues interested in different aspects of Balkan studies.
Today, more than ever, Balcanica reflects the original aspirations of its founders: its aim is to publish articles of the highest standard which deal with the Balkans from prehistoric times to modern age and through the prism of a number of disciplines. These encompass archaeology, anthropology, ethnography, history, art history, linguistics, literature, law. Such orientation perfectly fits with the most recent scholarly trends in humanities and it will contribute, along with other sustained efforts to further advance the quality and impact of its issues, to Balcanica’s finding its place among the top internationally-renowned journals of this kind. In order to increase our visibility and reach as wide readership as possible, the Balcanica is published in English language with the exception of a small number of articles written in French or German.
Journal website
Institutional repository
ISSN: 0350-7653
eISSN:2406-0801
Pages
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- Das Problem der Ethnogenese im antiken Griechenland
- Sprachwissenschaftliche Untersuchungen lassen darauf schließen, dass die historischen Dialekte der alten Hellenen erst auf griechischem Boden um und nach 1000 v. Chr. entstanden sind. Bei den frühen Zuwanderern kann es sich nur um kleinere Verbände gehandelt haben, so daß zweifelllos keine großen 'Stämme' nach Griechenland vorgedrungen sind, wie man in der älteren Forschung angenommen hat. In Griechenland haben die Zuwanderer die Suffixe -ss und -nth oder -nd nicht erst kennengelernt, sondern zumindest zum Teil schon mitgebracht und vermutlich im 3. Jahrtausend v. Chr. die allmähliche Entwicklung des späteren Griechischen eingeleitet. Impulse für die Entwicklung der materiellen Kultur gingen um 1700 v. Chr. von Kreta aus und beeinflussten in starkem Maße die mykenische Zeit mit ihren Palastsystemen, deren Zusammenbruch um 1200 v. Chr. aber nicht schon zum Ende der mykenischen Kultur führte, wenn auch die Linear B-Schrift nicht mehr benutzt wurde und die Infrastrukturen der Machtzentren zusammenbrachen. Dies war zugleich die Voraussetzung für die Bildung kleinerer Siedlungen mit neuen Führungssystemen und Sozialstrukturen sowie mit einem jeweils eigenen Identitätsbewußtsein.
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- Denominations of 'Squill' in the Balkan languages
- The paper deals with the particular naming units for plant species of the genus Scilla characteristic for the Balkan languages that have not been sufficiently discussed in previous phytonomastical researches.
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- Dimitris Tsiovas, ed.
- Interesovanje zapadnog sveta za Balkan, shodno istorijskim i političkim prilikama, ciklično raste i opada pokrećući i interesovanje naučnika. U novije vreme objavljene su knjige, s jedne strane, o balkanskim problemima sagledanim u kontekstu istorijskog razvoja ovog prostora (S. Pavlowitch Istorija Balkana 1804-1945; M. Glenny, Balkan 1804-1999: Nacionalizam, Rat i Velike sile; M. Mazower, The Balkans - 2000). S druge strane, to su studije koje se bave percepcijom Balkana u delima zapadnih istoričara, putopisaca ili književnih stvaralaca (M. Todorova, Imaginarni Balkan; V. Goldsforti Izmišljanje Ruritanije. Imperijalizam mašte). Kada je interesovanje Zapada počelo da opada, pojavile su se studije koje se odnose na međusobno viđenje balkanskih suseda.
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- Divine rape as funeral motif
- The theme of rape in the decorative program of the stela of M. Valerius Speratus from Viminacium and his wife Lucia Aphrodisia is expressed in the composition of the Rape of Kore and the Rape of Europa. This paper attempts to understand the said myths and their pictorial representations as funeral symbols of the after-death journey of the soul. Possible geopolitical meaning of the myth of the Rape of Europa has also been taken into consideration. The stela from Viminacium have also been viewed in relation to the monuments with the similar representations in the neighboring Danubian provinces.
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- Dolphin representations on stelae from Upper Moesia
- This paper is an attempt to understand both the significance and the meaning of the dolphin motif on funerary monuments of Upper Moesia. The wide distribution of this motif not only on monuments in Upper Moesia but also on the ones in neighboring provinces was discussed, as well as its possible courses from North Ital funerary art.
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- Eglise - société - Etat. L'Église orthodoxe serbe à la fin du XXe et au début du XXIe siècle
- Au cours du dernier tiers du XXe siècle les institutions religieuses ont parcouru subrepticement le chemin entre marginalisation et passage au premier plan de la scène publique des pays en transition. La fin des idéologies s'est soldée par la mise en place des identités communautaristes. Alors que dans les démocraties libérales le fait religieux est caractérisé par la formule believing without belonging, les choses sont diamétralement opposées dans les sociétés en transition. Minoritaire avant la fin des années quatre-vingts, l'appartenance confessionnelle atteint ainsi 94% lors du recensement de 2003 en Serbie-Monténegro. L'appartenance à la confession majoritaire se situe autour de 50% d'une population dans un pays comme la France, le point commun avec la Serbie étant que quelques 4% seulement se déclarent pratiquants. La spécificité des pays en transition tardive comme la Serbie, où le catéchisme a été introduit en 2000, dix ans après la Croatie et la Bosnie-Herzégovine, soulève la question de la cléricalisation rapide de la société en contrepartie de la sécularisation et de la politisation des communautés confessionnelles. À défaut d'un projet de société, en moins de temps que dans les autres pays en transition, les institutions religieuses se sont mues en supports idéologiques des autorités politiques affaiblies, en génératrices des restructurations des identités ethno-confessionnelles, en piliers des cohésions communautaires, en institutions pilotes de consensus sociaux. Cela explique qu'une analyse de ce processus d'histoire de société n'est pas seulement à même de nous éclairer sur notre passé le plus récent, mais encore sur le devenir du présent qui est le nôtre à l'horizon de nouveaux élargissements européens.
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- Essay about Roman ancient times in the region of the Đerdap in the literary work of Bele de Gonde
- The purpose of this article would certainly be to take us back in time to the end of the 19*century, and to introduce us to the conditions of that time on the territory of the Đerdaps, which have been forever changed by the modern development of civilization. Along that path, we will follow the text of the very important but not well known literary work of the Hungarian engineer Bela de Gonda; L 'amelioration des Fortes de Per et des autres cataracts du Bas-Danube, which was announced in Budapest in 1898. It seems that the book itself was composed for the purpose of describing enormous technical works the construction of roads and navigable canals through ravines during the 19th century, which count Istvan Secenji began in 1833. However, one completely separate segment, which is also the subject framework of our article, is dedicated to the works of the Romans on the Danube. It is marked number four and in the original text it is titled Les Travaux des Remains Dans le Contrees du Bas-Danube. For the first time, translated from French with important notes and discussions, is a short but especially important segment of Bela de Gonda's book. Gonda tried to add to his own observations the experiences of previous researchers like Count F. Marsiljija (F. Marsigli) from the beginning of the 18th century, and later G Teglasa (G. Teglas) and the enthusiast Dj. Nojdeka (G. Nevdeck) and P. Vasarheljija (P. Vasarhelyi) from the 19th century. In that manner he composed an all-inclusive review of the then current knowledge of the Đerdap ancient times during the Roman period. Without any intention of disturbing the authentic expressions of Gonda, worthy on their own, the framework of observations points out the interpretations and realizations of modern researchers of the Đerdaps in ancient epochs. We believe that Gonda's expressions should certainly be considered an important supplement to our overall picture of the first explorations of the Đerdaps and their antiquity from the Roman period. We should not forget to mention that Gonda's book, in addition to the archeological segment, which this article is written about contains important information from other scientific fields. Here it would be difficult to name every topic that Bela de Gonda still deals with, and thus we find the need to translate the entire work into Serbian so that it would be available to the entire skilled public in our country.
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- French Influence in Serbia 1835-1914. Four Generations of 'Parisians'
- The members of four generations of the national elite known as 'Parisians' played a prominent role in the political development of modern Serbia. Liberals, Progressives, Radicals and Independent Radicals profoundly shaped the process of espousing and pursuing modern political principles and values in nineteenth-century Serbia. Implementing and creatively adapting French models and doctrines, the 'Parisians' largely contributed to the democratization and Europeanization of Serbia and the eminent place the French influence had in her politics and culture before the First World War.
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- From Ankara to Bled Marshal Tito's Visit to Greece (June 1954) and the Formation of the Balkan Alliance
- Tito's visit to Greece contributed to the Balkan Pact's transformation into a military alliance. Despite the establishment of Soviet-Yugoslav diplomatic relations in 1953, the Soviet Union made no political move towards normalizing bilateral relations. For security reasons Tito visited Athens (June 1954) to promote Yugoslavia's military cooperation with Greece and Turkey without ruling out Yugoslavia's accession to NATO. But the Soviet leadership, fearing Yugoslavia's involvement in western defense mechanisms, sent the message to Belgrade that it was ready to recognize Stalin's blunders towards Yugoslavia. Thus, Tito applied a policy of equidistance between East and West and refused to link up the Balkan Alliance with NATO.