New/old readings of ‘Hasanaginica’

Abstract

The paper entitled New/old readings of ‘Hasanaginica’ represents a comparison of selected analyzes and interpretations of the ballad Hasanaginica, beginning with the early theoretical readings by local researchers of South Slavic folklore, all the way to contemporary approaches of literature historians from Bosnia and Herzegovina, created from the 1970s until today. The paper questions how literature historians and theorists approached the topic and what methods they used in their analyses. A comparative approach is used to point out the changes in the understanding and evaluation of this important work. In addition, it examines how the literary-historical context affects different readings of the ballad and how the focuses of literary theoretical texts have changed. The goals of the paper are to gain insight into different readings of Hasanaginica and to point out the importance of modern interpretations of this famous Bosniak ballad.