They killed all her sons. She knew that a return to Višegrad was never going to happen, yet she never uttered a single word of hatred. The parade of Chetniks in Višegrad recalls 1992 memories from this city. When in the night of May 1992 in the place of Stupe in Višegrad, they took away my uncle Muhamed who wore […]
After the devastating war in Bosnia & Herzegovina of 1992-1995, the warring sides were amnestied, and an official winner was never proclaimed. A war, civil war, an aggression or a genocide, are all titles assigned to this conflict in which around 200,000 people died. The ambivalent reality and the different histories allow for media and scientific approach to this problem, yet […]
AMMAN — A painting of the famous Mostar Bridge sits atop the shelves behind Nadia Bushnaq, a former senator and a social activist. The Bosnian landmark is a reminder of her family’s heritage. Sitting in her favourite chair at her Amman home, Bushnaq remembers the days in the early 1950s when her mother and aunts would gather to make pita: […]
In Rusmir Mahmutćehajić’s narration of the sufferings of Bosnia as a cultural-political entity and regarding his Stolac as a spatio-personal one, one should be wary of being misled into thinking that his spirit is a parochial one. The cosmic significance of both Stolac and Bosnia lie not in the fact that they are where the author was born and raised, but […]
Leafing through the folk songs of the Mohammedans in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a careful reader will quite often notice verses mentioning the ritual kinship, godfatherhood [kumovi]. I will quote some verses as examples: ”Lika kumom bio kod djevojke.”……(Lika was godfather to a girl) ”Evo t’ kuma, bega udbinjskoga.”…..(Here is your godfather, bey from Udbina) ”Pa mu sinu kosu kumovao”….. (So […]
With heartfelt thanks to PD “Horizont” Bihać 2006 and Edin Delić and Anel Osmanović from Lukovac Marš Mira on Wikipedia Essay on Marš Mira by Keith Doubt in Berfrois
I believe, honorable judge, That you understand the people well You at least have an occupation temper is temper but the law is the law I believe, distinguished figure, you studied law To fairly judge each person Honour is honour and authority is authority Let the laws govern, I am all for that. There wouldn’t be this blood, if the […]
“Don’t Break my Locus Trees” is a popular ballad frequently heard today in cafes and on the radio in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia. Listeners from different ethnic communities, young and old, identify with Đorđe Balašević’s bitter-sweet song. The pathos of the ballad’s moral lament rings true for the inhabitants of the poly-ethnic society of former-Yugoslavia. Vinko Tadić and Goran Đurđević […]
In the forceful fine dust That showers down from the blue fountain On my palms are hot poppies Withered branches already dark ripe Early wounds and crows From a jump that never falls into any sweetness The flower of a vanished smile Live barefooted desires And there is the dear moisture in the depth of a dark eye And the […]
”Have you heard the wind blowing today around noon time from the distant mountains still covered by the deep snow? Tonight is a festive night. The fruit trees are awakening tonight, they are awakening from their winter sleep and rest.” Bencion turned to his wife. ”Open the window, please,” – he said. The mother stood up and slowly opened one […]
At the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019, we encounter the cruel ban of satire in public discourse. In neighboring Croatia, NewsBar is on trial due to its satirical texts. In Serbia, the show ‘Veče s Ivanom Ivanovićem’ (the evening program with Ivan Ivanović) was canceled due to the open criticism of authorities. Of course, in both cases, […]
1. Elections An American, a Japanese, and a Bosnian talk about the elections. The American says: ‘In America, in less than 2 hours after the elections, we know who won the elections.’ The Japanese says: ‘That’s nothing! In Japan, we know in 2 seconds.’ The Bosnian says: ‘I don’t get it, why does it take so long? In Bosnia, we […]
Sometimes it’s hard remembering just how perfect our life was in Kozarac before the war; we were not rich but we had more than enough. We lived in a Communist country so there was not that much to want anyway. There was nothing missing in our lives. Most of the time our parents were busy working on the farm, and […]
During my wanderings and tours of the beautiful hills and valleys of northeastern Bosnia, in the area boarded by rivers Spreča, Bosna and Tinja, I noticed that the former periods of Bosnian culture still live in the toponyms of these regions and certain localities.[Toponyn means the study of place names.] For example, in the example of Panađurište, a village that has […]
Famous people from Srebrenik’s history Today, we can conclude with sadness that a significant part of Srebrenik’s history, in a certain way due to the lack of resources, has been lost forever. However, the situation is even worse when it comes to people who have been very important in past times, and who have certainly positioned themselves deeply in the […]
Segregated schooling, called “two schools under one roof” (Dvije škole pod jednim krovom), is common in the central and southern parts of the country primarily populated by Muslims (Bosniaks) and Croats. As the term suggests, the main features of the system are that students effectively constitute two distinct schools in one building. Students attend school in two shifts, with a […]
Do not be afraid! You are not alone. There are others than you who unknown by you live within you. And everything which you were, will be, and dream Burns in them with the very same passion, beauty, and purity. Be not proud. Your thoughts are not only yours. They live in others. We have all crossed the same roads […]
Every attempt, even the most indirect, to set up camps of whatever ideological orientation–in the name of so-called historical necessity, class struggle, racial cleansing, the new man, and so on–will discredit every work and every writer, at once, forever, and unmercifully. I dare say that in the near future, if everything doesn’t go to hell first, the responsibility of the […]
The unpleasant surprise My grandfather’s home was on a slope, like an observation tower. We heard some noise, and saw a crowd at the edge of the village. A lot of people. The whole village. Not a minute passed, and the soldiers were in our yard. We all had to follow them. Hurry, hurry! We put everything into two bags […]
GHETTO 59 Synopsis This understated ethnographic film provides an intimate view of a refugee center where over fifty families have lived for twenty years after the war. Despite their isolation and neglect, several families engage with their children who were born as refugees and remain refugees in their own country in menial tasks such as collecting coal and harvesting herbs. The […]