Rereading the Kosovo Epic: Origins of the 'Heavenly Serbia' in the Oral Tradition

Abstract

The relation between history and poetry in Serbian culture is nowhere as strongly and persistently present as in the case of the 1389 Kosovo battle. Over the centuries, this medieval event acquired a mythical aura in the historiography, literary discourse, and oral tradition of the South Slavs, evolving into one of the central national symbols in Serbian culture and a burning political question. This article traces the origin of one of the central elements of the Kosovo myth, the idea of Prince Lazar's choice between the kingdom on earth and the kingdom of heaven on the eve of the Kosovo battle.