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This article focuses on the former war refugees, who (partly) returned to their homeland Bosnia and Herzegovina and became significant investors in their local communities. We are particularly interested in their experiences with manoeuvring between different countries and institutional environments, as these refugee entrepreneurs are running their businesses simultaneously in developed European economies (Switzerland and Sweden) and in their home country. Although the two companies run by the former refugees described in the article are located in the areas that remain divided along the ethnic lines caused by the war (Srebrenica and Banja Luka), we find that the post-war returnees’ businesses are ethnically tolerant and inclusive, sending a powerful message to the formal institutions, which often act in the opposite way.

This paper discusses interpretations, categorisations and inventories of the sevdalinka, an oral lyric tradition from Bosnia and one of the country’s most important examples of intangible cultural heritage. The sevdalinka represents traditional oral lyric poetry, a celebrated form of love song, which came into existence in urban places in a broader region of the Balkans as a fusion of the existing lyrical forms and Islamic influences. The term sevdalinka for this kind of songs became widely accepted only at the end of the 19th century. Before that, this oral lyrical tradition was usually called sevdalija. Both terms, sevdalinka and sevdalija, have their roots in the Arabic word sawdā adopted as sevdah (meaning love, desire, longing) via Turkish into the languages of some Balkan peoples. In today’s context, the sevdalinka is most often understood as a Bosnian (or more precisely, Bosniak) indigenous traditional love song. As an important part of the Bosnian intangible cultural heritage, ethnologists, ethnomusicologists, folklorists and other scholars have often used the sevdalinka as a source and medium through which to explore various social, historical and cultural traditions in Bosnia. This paper will first provide a historical summary of the records, inventories and research interests in this oral lyrical genre and then offer an overview of the categorisations of the sevdalinka in specialized encyclopaedias and literary theory. Finally, by analysing themes and motifs found in sevdalinkas, the paper will discuss a number of scholarly examples from manuscripts published in late 19th and early 20th century in Bosnia and Herzegovina., U ovom se radu raspravlja o interpretacijama, kategorizacijama i inventarima sevdalinki, usmene lirske tradicije iz Bosne, koja je ujedno i jedan od najznačajnijih primjera njezine nematerijalne kulturne baštine. Sevdalinka kao tradicijska usmena lirska poezija i slavna ljubavna pjesma nastala je u gradovima u široj regiji Balkana kao spoj postojećih lirskih oblika i islamskih utjecaja. Sam termin sevdalinka za tu vrstu pjesme postao je općeprihvaćen tek krajem 19. stoljeća. Prije toga se ta lirska tradicija obično zvala sevdalija. Oba naziva, sevdalinka i sevdalija dolaze od arapske riječi sawdā koja je preko turskog usvojena u jezike nekih balkanskih naroda kao sevdah, što označava ljubav, ljubavni žar, ljubavnu čežnju. Danas se sevdalinka najčešće smatra bosanskom (točnije bošnjačkom) domaćom tradicijskom ljubavnom pjesmom. Etnolozi, etnomuzikolozi, folkloristi i drugi znanstvenici sevdalinku su, kao važan dio bosanske nematerijalne baštine, često koristili kao izvor i sredstvo istraživanja različitih društvenih, povijesnih i kulturnih tradicija u Bosni. Ovaj rad započinje povijesnim pregledom zapisa, inventara i načina istraživanja tog usmenog lirskog žanra, a nastavlja se pregledom leksikografskih i književnoteorijskih kategorizacija sevdalinke kao posebne vrste lirske usmene pjesme. Na kraju se u radu, na temelju analize tema i motiva iz sevdalinki, raspravlja o različitim primjerima rukopisa objavljenih krajem 19. i početkom 20. stoljeća u Bosni i Hercegovini.

Vrsta pjesme za koju se među bosanskim Sefardima ustalio naziv romansa, naj­poznatija je usmenoknjiževna tvorevina u duhovnom naslijeđu balkanskih Sefarda. Ključne teme sefardskih romansi uglavnom upućuju na događaje iz uzburkane srednjovjekovne španjolske prošlosti ili biblijske predaje. U sefardskoj su romansi prisutni elementi epske i lirske pjesme, premda, u gotovo svim dosad zabilježenim primjerima na Balkanu, prevladava lirski sadržaj. Židovskošpanjolski ili ladino, jezik na kojem su pjevane a kasnije i zapisane sefardske romanse, gotovo je posve iščeznuo iz govorne prakse Sefarda u Bosni i Hercegovini nakon Drugoga svjetskog rata. Danas postoji samo u folklornoj tradiciji pjevanja., The type of song, for which the term romansa has become entrenched among the Bosnian Sephards, is the best-known oral-literary creation in the spiritual heritage of the Balkan Sephards. The key themes of the Sephardic romansa refer largely to events in their turbulent Mediaeval Spanish past or to Biblical legends. Elements of epic and lyrical poems are present in the Sephardic romansa, although lyrical content prevails in almost all the examples noted down in the Balkans to date. Jewish-Spanish or Ladino, the language in which they were sung and later noted down, has almost completely disappeared from the linguistic practice of the Sephards in Bosnia-Herzegovina since World War II. Today, it exists only in the folklore singing tradition.