Public lecture: Rusmir Mahmutćehajić, Searching for the lost world of the noble wife of Hasan-aga

The 13th Sarajevo UN World Interfaith Harmony Week

3–9 February 2025

International Forum Bosnia, Sarajevo

Public lecture: Rusmir Mahmutćehajić, Searching for the lost world of the noble wife of Hasan-aga

February 4 (Tuesday), 6:00 p.m., IFB Offices (Sime Milutinovića 10)

As part of the 13th Sarajevo UN World Interfaith Harmony Week, on February 4 (Tuesday), Rusmir Mahmutćehajić will give a public lecture in the IFB offices on Searching for the lost world of the noble wife of Hasan-aga. The lecture will start at 6:00 p.m.

The year 2024 saw a number of gatherings to mark the 250th anniversary of the first publication of the Sad Lament of the noble wife of Hasan-Aga, generally known as the Ballad of Hasanaginica. In spite of its astonishing and rapid dissemination and near immediate appearance in translations in most of the major European languages, and for all the interest shown in it by intellectuals around the world, the psychological and cultural conditions under which the ballad was created have remained under an eclipse of ignorance. Claims advanced about its origins and context have been overdetermined by ethnonational and religious events that took place after it was recorded. Based on his research into the poem''s depths of meaning and applying the principle of ars sine scientia nihil, Rusmir Mahmutćehajić places it within the dramatic processes that took place on the borderlands between politically and culturally competing powers within a Mediterranean-wide perspective. The lecture will present fresh perspectives on the the creation and interpretation of the work.

Dr Mirsad Kunić will moderate the following discussion between the author and participants.

The lecture is open to members and friends of the IFB and the general public.

It will also be available on Zoom.

IFB Press