Lute and Canon: Millosh Encounters Miloš

Abstract

This paper seeks to examine the epic and canonical status of the lute and songs of the Kosovo Cycle in both, Albania and Serbia. The interplay of epics with national identity and political aims will be scrutinized, with a particular focus on the nexus of imagination, identity, and history. Moreover, the Kosovo Cycle of Serbs, takes a central position concerning the fall of the medieval state following from the Battle of Kosovo (1389). On the other hand, the Albanian Cycle is more consecrated to the hero as an individual, a brave loyal nobleman and honest chevalier who fights for his besa as code d’honeur. Millosh Kopiliqi/Miloš (K)obilić, the hero of the Battle of Kosovo, is without doubt the most chevaleresque figure of the cycle, in Albanian and Serbian songs. Why the lute became an identity corner stone of Albanians, Serbs, and the other nations in the region? Figuratively speaking, it is the lute epic space of the Kosovo Cycle in Albanian and Serbian where Millosh encounters Miloš and historical truth and imaginary encounters fiction.