Bosnia-Traditions+and+Culture

=          = == = = = = =Religion= 40% of the population is Muslim, 31% is Eastern Orthodox, 15% is Roman Catholic and 4% is Protestant; 10% of the people follow other religions.

Religious Practitioners
The central religious figures in Islam are called //Muezzins//, scholars of the Koran (the ultimate authority in the religion) who call to faithful prayer.

Comedy has a long and rich tradition in Bosnia, and its people have long been associated with humor in various forms.
=== During the 1980s and 1990s there was a series of popular comedy shows, most notably Audicija, and Top Lista Nadrealista. The shows, translated as "Auditions" and "Top List of Surrealists" featured early performances by many well know Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian actors and musicians. Both shows were re-incarnated to various degrees during the 1990s and onwards, with new casts and material.===

(Sketch showing two European observers trying to make a Muslim and a Serb, lifelong friends, get into a fight)

The show (Top lista nadrealista) was mostly comprised of political satire in form of sketches, and became famous in former Yugoslavia. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, many sketches dealt with current political situation which was a prelude to the Yugoslavian War. Some proved to be prophetic as they described things like Sarajevo being divided in different republics, a single family split into two clans, warring over control of rooms in the apartment, UN Peacekeeping forces being a "significant" presence and their adding fuel to the conflict.

Poetry:
(The Hiša of Mile (a poem about the Spirit of Bosnia) MAc Dizdar

The //hiža// of our //djed// was founded here to fix virtue more strongly in the hearts of men May it ever be open wide for welcome visitors and for the great of heart For guests for elders and other believers For all good people for all good Bosnians For all warriors in the war that is waged against war And various other small and mighty harms and evils For all who flee from their flaming homes For those fleeing the blazing circle of pyres and the hangman’s noose For all who are burnt for ever aspiring to the sun far and great For all who have uttered the right word in the right hour Who had their hands cut off for a single word on the bloody path seeking an outcome For the word that bread is bread that wine is wine and that water is water For those whose living flesh was burned and cheeks marked with a burning brand By those who ever appeal to the laws of God’s mercy and to canon law For those whose tongues were torn from their throat for not betraying the word they gave For those condemned to die on horses’ tails between two horsemen May our //djed’s// house be open wide For those damned by the heaviest curse From the consecrated altars of Provence, Lombardy, Zara, Arcady, and Rascia In the stupor of incense in the militant press of crosses and swords in that bitter choir For those thrice damned for they were not yet Butchered and slaughtered on their own doorstep before women and children May the great house of our //djed// be always open wide For those who pay no heed to ancient and new czars To true kings and false, to bans and barons, to boyars To their ample treasure, to many ducats, gold dinars, to that evil money For men who never miss paying taxes but never bribe the collectors blaming and cursing them openly May the doors of our //djed’s hiža// be open wide For those who in meetings speak words mild and pure not only to their kin and kind For those who live without envy yet life always beats them, only mocks and laughs at them May it be open for the unknown comrade for the unknown brother For all that pine in the darkness of their body’s confinement Yearning that that word be for all men that they become brothers with that word May the //hiža// of our //djed// be open wide all night and always For the one who left long ago and now treads in darkness toiling from afar But knows that he will arrive awake where someone awaits him May the //hiža// of our //djed// be open wide But if someone in love of himself shuts that door of virtue May the //hiža// of our //djed// crumble to its foundations in my soul Into a heap may it be crushed may it turn into bare soot and black ashes May hot scorpions and snakes breed in it as in the den of Satan Forgive you who are condemned and cursed in this slander of the slanderer But the //hiža// of our //djed// without the welcome traveler and the dear guest Is no more the //hiža// of our //djed//

Translated by Omer Hadžiselimović & Stephen P. Meyer

Mile was for a time the seat of the head of the Bosnian Church. King Tvrtko (who ruled Bosnia from 1353 to 1391) was probably crowned there as King of Bosnia. The djed’s house served as a safe house for all those who were persecuted and sought sanctuary in it. Djed means grandfather, which was the title given to the leader of the Bosnian Church.
 * NOTE**

Writing

 * Bosnian Cyrillic** is an extinct [|Cyrillic] script, that was used in [|Bosnia and Herzegovina] and [|Croatia] ([|Dalmatia] and [|Dubrovnik]). Its name in [|Bosnian] and [|Croatian] is //bosančica// and //bosanica// ([|Croats] also call it unofficially //Croatian script//, //Croatian-Bosnian script// or //Western Cyrillic//). [|Serbs] use the designation //Bosnian Cyrillic//- in order to stress its affiliation with greater [|Cyrillic] cultural areal.

__Cyrillic Alphabet__. University of Baylor, Waco, Texas. 7 May 2007 <[|http://www3.baylor.edu/Russian/alph.jpeg>.]

(Rap song by Edo Maajk-Bosnian rapper)

Links: [|To help revive the spirit of Bosnia]

Works Cited: "Comedy in Bosnia." __Wikipedia__. 5 Feb. 2007. 7 May 2007 <[|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedy_in_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina>.]

__Cyrillic Alphabet__. University of Baylor, Waco, Texas. 7 May 2007 <[|http://www3.baylor.edu/Russian/alph.jpeg>.]

"Cyrillic." __Answers.Com__. 7 May 2007. 7 May 2007 <[|http://www.answers.com/topic/cyrillic-alphabet>.]

Dizdar, Mak. "Hisa of Mile." __Spiritofbosnia__. Jan. 2006. 7 May 2007 <[|http://www.spiritofbosnia.org/?lang=eng&x=3&y=7>.]

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