The Enigma of Ownership of the Balkan Epic

Abstract

The Balkans, characterized by complex historical, political and cultural dimensions, presents a rich and diverse ethnic, cultural and social picture. This complexity is explored in Adela Peeva's documentary Who Is This Song?, which investigates the contested origins of a folk song claimed by many Balkan nations. The documentary is a truth about the cultural diversity in the Balkans and the difficulty to identify the belonging of almost every cultural product that belongs to the folklore of these parts. This study focuses on Albanian, Bosnian, Croatian, and Macedonian folklore, using phenomenological and comparative methods to uncover common motifs, themes, and narrative structures, as well as differences. The study highlights the rich cultural heritage of the region shaped by various historical influences and contributes to a deeper understanding of the cultural identity of the Balkans. From this research it is concluded that the peoples living in this geographical space have exchanged among themselves over the centuries, so that in modern times, the folklore contents that we have analyzed are so close in terms of theme, motif and narrative structure that if they are not shown in the different language it would be difficult to understand that they belong to some nations. Received: 14 September 2024 / Accepted: 28 October 2024 / Published: 05 November 2024