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The subject of this study is the reception of Bulgarian literature within the Serbian cultural domain. The objective is to examine the presence of Bulgarian literary texts through various mediums such as standalone books and anthologies, the national specialized periodical press, and publications by the Bulgarian minority, and to analyze the characteristics of the book market and publishing policies in Serbia. Based on this analysis, the study aims to derive specific conclusions regarding the Bulgarian literary model within the foreign yet closely related Serbian literature. Employing a pluralistic scientific approach, this research integrates a diachronic overview of the emergence and consolidation of Bulgarian literature in Serbian culture from the National Revival period to the last decade of the 20th century. Concurrently, it examines the Bulgarian literary model over the past three decades within the context of the established tradition. The standardized interview method is also utilized as a tool for scientific inquiry. The findings suggest that the representation of Bulgarian literature within the aesthetics of Serbian cultural tradition is extensive yet insufficiently representative and does not entirely align with the canon in the national cultural sphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines two offices for Saint Petka Tărnovska (Paraskeva of Epibatai) created in the era of the Ottoman invasion on the Balkans – the Tărnovо office and the Serbian edition of the office–in copies from the 15th– 17th centuries. Their composition, structure and text are compared. It comes to the conclusion that the Tărnovo office is created before the Serbian edition. Since both of the offices for Saint Petka (Paraskoffices for the Saint Petka Tărnovska; the Tărnovo office; the Serbian edition of the officeva) examined here have been found in the same number of copies so far, it is not possible to determine which of the texts was more common among Serbs and Bulgarians during the period under review, but both services functioned concurrently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the brief history of the Serbian consulate in Serres in 1897–1899 as a failed attempt at state-building. Drawing on evidence from recently published materials by the Serbian State Archives, the article argues that the Serbian consuls in Serres, Branislav Nušić and Sima Avramović, played an important role in the efforts to promote Serbian national identity and defend Serbian political interests in Ottoman Macedonia. The consulate in Serres was part of an expanding Serbian diplomatic network in Macedonia, which proved instrumental to other Serbian initiatives, such as the creation of new schools and the appointment of Serbian priests in the region. The Serbian consular activities in Serres formed an aspect of a wide-ranging transnational strategy of deploying consulates across Macedonia in the wake of the Serbian-Bulgarian War of 1885. Such institutions served to advance national interests and protect national subjects outside the borders of the fledgling Balkan states. Reviewing recent scholarship on Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece, the article concludes by comparing the Serbian example to those of other Balkan nations and suggesting further venues for comparative and entangled historical research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this presentation is to examine an important moment in the history of the Balkans, namely the annexation of the Ottoman provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria-Hungary in 1908, the international crisis that broke out in the first decade of the 20th century - the Bosnian crisis, its influence on the relations between the Dualistic Monarchy and the Kingdom of Serbia and the further deepening Austro-Serbian conflict. The article traces the actions of Serbian diplomacy in its attempts to obtain territorial compensations, the belligerent moods that arose in Belgrade, the public discontent that erupted in Serbia and the reactions in Vienna. The attempts of the Great Powers to prevent the outbreak of military conflict on the European continent are examined. The diplomatic moves of the German diplomacy, which exerted pressure on St. Petersburg and Belgrade to recognize the act of annexation, are also clarified. For the needs of the research, Bulgarian and foreign scientific works on the subject were used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the differences in two copies of the Old Bulgarian translation of In quatriduanum Lazarum II by John Chrysostom on textological, grammatical and lexical levels. And although Codex Suprasliensis and NIM24 are three centuries apart, it turns out that the late Serbian copy has preserved archaic elements of the original translation, some of which are missing in Codex Suprasliensis. The lengthy transmission of the text is the reason for the partial changes in NIM24 at the level of text, morphosyntax and vocabulary, but the language of the translation can be traced back to the same archetype as the language of the translation in Codex Suprasliensis. The results of the study demonstrate that when attributing a translation, it is necessary to attract late copies as well, because they always bear traces of the initial translation. In this way, the linguistic evidence providing information on the prototranslation is complemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the information provided in the Byzantine historical narratives composed between the end of the 10th and mid-13th century on Bulgarians, Serbs and the Rus as these peoples permanently settled or just temporarily resided in the area of the Central Balkans. This paper attempts to show how the Byzantine historiography of the mentioned period presented the peoples in question.

The paper deals with the exchange of cultural patterns between the Serbs and the Hungarians during the 13th century with a short look at its beginnings. In this respect, attention is paid to the tradition about Prince Časlav preserved in later centuries and the information on a captured Serbian prince in the Gesta Hungarorum. The information on the meeting of St. Sava and the Hungarian king described in the Life of St. Sava by Domentiјan and Theodosius is particularly considered, their origin and relationship with the Legend of St. Ladislaus is discussed, as well as their transmission to other literary works such as the well-known work The Tale of the Death of Batu.

The article aims to trace the rapprochement negotiations between the Bulgarians and the Serbs in the period 1908 – 1909, initiated by the government officials in Belgrade. Through this maneuver, they are trying to secure their Eastern border, which would allow them to focus on their other pressing foreign policy tasks. An important role in the negotiations conducted during the mentioned period was played by the newly appointed Bulgarian diplomatic representative in the Serbian capital Andrey Toshev. A significant part of the research is based on a thorough study and analysis of reports and telegrams written by him to the ruling Democratic Party government in Bulgaria, preserved in funds 176 K (fund of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Confessions) and 315 K (fund of the Bulgarian Legation in Belgrade) of the Central State Archives in Sofia. The later works of the experienced Bulgarian diplomat, concerning the period in question, are also examined, in order to take into account his later positions on the subject. The main method used in the article is historical analysis. Тhe author pays special attention to the tendency of the Serbs to demonstrate ambivalent behavior towards their potential political allies in Sofia, which discourages the latter that rapprochement is a realistic scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research aims to determine the economic problems of the young Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes after its creation until the beginning of the Second World War. The aim is to highlight the inability of the centralized state structures that favored the Serbs and the political and economic elite associated with them to deal with the problems and provide stability and conditions for development. The main way to achieve the goal has been to seek an answer to the question of whether the economic policy with a nationalistic color or the unequal economic start of the individual areas included in the state was the reason for the backwardness. The research uses a comparative and causal method of work. The analysis is based on archival material from the Central State Archives in Sofia, as well as statistical collections of the Kingdom of SCS/Yugoslavia during the interwar period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the research is to determine the place of the Serbian people in the work Byzantism and Slavism by Konstantin Leontiev. It is known that this capital work of the author influenced the political climate at the end of the nineteenth century in Russia. It confronts two basic ideas: Byzantism as the bearer of civilizational values and Slavism as the bearer of the national spirit. An overview of these two terms is provided with relevant comments from experts who have dealt with this field. Since the Serbian people are historically present in both mentioned circles, it is necessary to determine their exact place. Data were collected to the greatest extent from the work itself, but also from all available relevant published works on this topic. The general historical background of the work itself is the resolution of the Eastern Question (the collapse of the Turkish Empire) and the further fate of the peoples who are part of it, along with the role of Russia in the entire process. Comparisons were mainly made with already existing descriptions of other Slavic peoples and peoples in the area of former Byzantium, primarily Greeks and Turks. First of all, the situation in the cultural and political life of the Serbian people during the nineteenth century is analyzed with reference to the most important events of that time. Due attention was paid to the Russian-Bulgarian and Serbian-Bulgarian relations at the time: the possibilities of their further cooperation, the restoration of medieval states, but also the conflicts that inevitably arose as a result of the actions and influence of the great powers were considered. In addition, an exhaustive account of the Serbian people and their historical fate is given, where it can be seen that of all the Slavic peoples listed at the time, it was the most fragmented and divided, but at the same time the most ready and determined to stand up to the Turkish occupying power. There were also descriptions of the bad character traits of the Serbian people. On the one hand, there is self-sacrifice, readiness to fight for liberation and fearlessness, while on the other hand there are limited forces and the impossibility of fighting independently without Russian support. In addition, there is the eternal struggle for possible supremacy in the Balkans between the Serbs, Bulgarians and Greeks, as well as the desire of the Serbs to fit into modern European society according to Western patterns as quickly as possible. The author sees this as a distinctly bad trait. The general conclusion is that the Serbs in the mid-nineteenth century are a nation that is at a turning point between traditional and new European culture and that its further political and cultural development will most likely lead to the creation of a new Balkan federation in which there will be few Orthodox and Byzantine elements, or in general factors that could lead to disagreements among the peoples involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the semantical structure of the rare word лѣпъ (derived from the verb лѣпити) with its meaning, identified in the Parable for the Nightingale from the story Barlaam and Josaphat according to a 14th c. Middle-Bulgarian copy (in the Library of the Rila Monastery, Ms. No. 3/14), and in Oration to the Shepherd in the Preslavian translation of Scala Paradisi according to a 12th c. copy (in Ms. No. 198 of the Rumyantsev collection, Russian State Library, Moscow). The analysis of лѣпъ in the two translated works gives an opportunity for clarification of the nuances in its specific meanings: 1. bird catching gum: birdlime, prepared from mistletoe berries (in Barlaam and Josaphat); 2. medical plaster: a medicine-covered cloth stripe, put on the aching place (in Scala Paradisi). The illustrative material testifies the earlier use of лѣпъ of in the Middle-Bulgarian copy of Barlaam and Josaphat – from 1360-s, compared to the later Russian and Serbian copies, and gives new perspectives concerning the first Slavic translation of Scala Paradisi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the composition of two South Slavic manuscripts, containing a Prologue in verse for the whole year from the collections of the Zograf Monastery (Zogr. 47), and the Rila Monastery (RM 2/20). Both manuscripts were created approximately at the same time – the first half of the 16th century. The first manuscript was written by Joan Milosev and his brother Nikola, and the second – by hieromonk Spiridon in the Rila Monastery. The content of the two manuscripts was compared with the twelve volume issue of the Turnovo version of the Prologue in verse. As a result, it was found that they belonged to this redaction, but in their creation they used different sources. While Zogr. 47 strictly follows the composition of the Tarnovo redaction, in PM 2/20 there is a significant number of abbreviated prologue texts. This is shown in the Appendix, where the missing and added texts in both manuscripts are indicated. The observations on the composition of the both year-round manuscripts of the Prologue in verse have their place in the studies of the history of the origin and distribution of this hagiographic collection in the Bulgarian, Serbian and Russian literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hilandar Versed prologues Hil. 424, dating to the 1420s and 1430s of the 15th century, and Hil. 427, dating to the 2nd quarter of the 15th century, are characterized by a combination of readings from the Serbian and Bulgarian translations. A comparison of all of the readings of the December cycle with the traditional readings of the two translations of the Versed Prologue has shown that the structure and editorial affiliation of the two Hilandar copies coincide in the section from December 1 to 11. In this section, both copies contain readings from the Serbian translation with small insertions from the Bulgarian one. In the following section, from December 12 to 31, prologue Hil. 424 switches to the Bulgarian translation with sporadic insertions from the Serbian one. Meanwhile, Hil. 427 partially retains versions of the Bulgarian translation and contains numerous articles from the Serbian translation and combined readings from the Serbian and Bulgarian translations. Moreover, prologues Hil. 424 and Hil. 427 share common structural and linguistic features indicating their direct textual interconnection, i.e. there is high probability that Hil. 424 served as one of the antigraphs for Hil. 427. The latter demonstrates features of an additional editorial revision consisting of either total or partial replacement of the verses and texts of the Bulgarian translation by their Serbian equivalents. The copy Hil. 427 contains more changes than its predecessor Hil. 424. However, from the typological point of view, Hil. 427 represents a return to the text of the Serbian translation of the Versed Prologue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The translation of a mosaic of New Testament pericopes is analysed, which is a guide to the basics of the Christian life. Pericopes have been selected for the popular theme of the Old and New Testament relationships. The emphasis in the compilation, however, is not on the typological connection between the two Testaments, but on the essential difference between them, which is illustrated by the detailed antithesis of the changed meaning of God’s commandments. The earliest Old Church Slavonic translation dates from the 10th century and is preserved in a miscellany from the Hilandar monastery No. 382 from the 13th–14th century. An identical copy in the MS No. 310, Moldavian provenance, 16th c. (Library of the Rumanian Academy, Bucharest) allows us to reconstruct the archetype. In the 14th century, a new version of the same text was created in Bulgaria, as attested in MSS Hlud. No. 237, c. 1340–1350 (State Historical Museum, Moscow) and No. 42, 14th c. (Austrian National Library, Vienna), which was the result of a new collation of the Old Bulgarian translation with the Greek text. A copy genetically related to this group is preserved in the MS 26, Serbian provenance, third quarter of 14th c. (Serbian National Library, Belgrade). The selective translation, adapted from the Greek original, well illustrates the compilation work of the writers and the continuity between the Old Bulgarian, Middle Bulgarian and Serbian traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article contains a comprehensive study of the Slavic translation of the third Greek recension of the Physiologus – the Pseudo-Basilian. The translation is preserved in a single Serbian copy from the Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos, No. 22, 15th century. As well as the known Greek copies of the Pseudo-Basilian recension, the Slavic text is inhomogeneous – it also contains chapters from the other two, earlier Greek recensions – the Alexandrian and the Byzantine. However, unlike the Greek copies, where the chapters taken from the different sources are mechanically combined into one common text, the Slavic copy was composed on a different principle – the particular chapters were rearranged so that all the texts about the same animal from the different recensions were collected together. The research presents the structure of the Slavic copy of the Pseudo-Basilian recension of the Physiologus, restoring the original sequence of the folia in the manuscript, which have been disordered while binding. Observations on the nature of the text and on the peculiarities of the translation show that, regardless of the Serbian orthography and linguistic features of MS. Athous Panteleimon 22, the translation is probably Bulgarian and originated no later than the 12th–13th centuries. The complete text of the copy is published in an appendix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article examines one of the unique works in the manuscript RGADA Coll. 201 (Obolensky). Desc. 1. archival unit 88 – a contamination, including an excerpt from the Life of Stefan Lazarevich by Constantine of Kostenec and a genealogical diagram. Both texts trace the genealogy of the Nemanjic dynasty in two branches, beginning with Stefan Parvovenchani and Vulkan, respectively. The excerpt from the hagiographic text contains information mainly about the descendants of Stephen. The second part does not overlap with any known Serbian genealogy or chronicle, has a larger chronological scope and ends with Jovan Brankovic. The persons included in the Genealogy are united not only by their belonging to the dynasty, but also by the fact that they are rulers (or wives of rulers). The text in the manuscript Obolen. 88 testifies to a different understanding of power, and this is what distinguishes it from other preserved Serbian genealogies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the 9th to the 11th century Ras was an important Bulgarian fortress on the border of the Serbian lands. Written and archaeological sources show explicitly that it enters the Bulgarian tsardom in the Early Middle ages. It is possible that the tax paid by Serbs to Bulgaria was delivered in Ras. The town was one of the Bulgarian episcopal sees. Ras was captured by Byzantum in 1018. During the first half of the 12th century Serbs conquered the fortress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The long-term process of the byzantinization of Serbian culture and art, intensified in the framework of complex political relations at the beginning of the 15th century, is testified, among others, by the preserved bilingual Greek-Slavonic musical manuscripts. As the primary sources in the reconstruction of the Serbian church chanting art in the late Middle Ages, but also the Byzantine-Serbian musical connections, the neum manuscripts unambiguously confirm the existence of the bilingual worship practice at the time of Despotovina Serbia. The long-held views on the dated two neum anthologies from the Great Lavra (E 108) and the National Library of Greece (EVE 928), their scribes, composers and songs in this paper are critically examined for the first time. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 177004: Identiteti srpske muzike od lokalnih do globalnih okvira: tradicije, promene, izazovi]

The paper analyzes the information concerning the border between the Serbs and the Bulgarians in the 9th and the 10th centuries found in the work De administrando imperio by the emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. It is made clear that there were no clearly established borderlines between the political entities in the Early Middle Ages, and that those political entities during that period functioned not on the basis of territorialy organized states, but of ethnic communities, whose authority rested upon the people, not the territory. The functioning of the early medieval Bulgarian Khanate is one of the best examples for that. Therefore, it is necessary that the information on the Serbian-Bulgarian border in the Porphyrogenitus‘ work be analyzed in a new and different light. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177032: Tradicija, inovacija i identitet u vizantijskom svetu]

The article discusses the issue of ethnic identity of the Diocletians referred to by the emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus in his work De administrando imperio. Of all the tribes of the southern part of the eastern Adriatic coast, only for them the emperor fails to point out that they belonged to the Serbs. Based on the analysis of various segments of the emperor’s narrative on the South Slavs, we come to the conclusion that he considered Diocletians to be Serbs also, although he nowhere explicitly recorded that. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177032: Tradicija, inovacija i identitet u vizantijskom svetu]

One of the main topics of the works of Cydones is the foreign policy of Byzantium. Mutual incomprehension of Byzantium and the West, the growing threat and fear of the Ottoman Turks, lack of trust and, in a way, animosity towards the neighboring countries (primarily towards Bulgaria and Serbia in the time of Stefan Dušan and his immediate successors), represent three most important factors of that foreign policy in which Cydones also took part. This article deals with Cydones’ perception of Serbs and the information he provides on them in his works. Two major parts can be discerned in this paper. The first chapters deal with the information Cydones’ provides on Serbs in his letters. The last chapter, in which his speeches and the preambule of the charter of John V Palaiologos written by Cydones are being analyzed, deals with his perception of the Byzantine Slavic neighbor.