Avdo Međedović

Avdo Međedović (c. 1875 – 1953) was a Bosniak guslar (gusle player and oral poet) from Sandžak, modern-day Serbia.[1] He was the most versatile and skillful performer of all those encountered by Milman Parry and Albert Lord during their research on the oral epic tradition of Bosnia, Herzegovina and Montenegro in the 1930s. At Parry's request, Avdo sung songs he already knew and some songs he heard in front of prof. Parry, so he could convince himself that someone Homer-like could produce a poem so long. Avdo dictated, over five days, a version of the well-known theme The Wedding of Meho Smailagić that was 12,323 lines long, saying at the fifth day to Nikola (Parry's assistant on the journey) that he knew even longer songs. On another occasion he sang over several days an epic of 13,331 lines. He claimed to have several others of similar length in his repertoire. In the first tour of Parry, over 80,000 lines were transcribed.[2]

Avdo Međedović
Bornc. 1875
Bijelo Polje, Sanjak of Novi Pazar, Ottoman Empire
Died1953 (aged 78)
Bijelo Polje, SR Montenegro, Yugoslavia
Occupationguslar (gusle player and oral poet)
NationalityBosniak
GenreEpic poetry

Many years afterwards The Wedding was published in 1974 by Lord with a parallel English translation.[3]

Early life

Međedović was a Bosniak, born in the town of Bijelo Polje (now in Montenegro)[4][5] in 1875, while it was a part of the Ottoman Empire.

Works
  • Ženidba Smailagić Meha (The Wedding of Meho Smailagić, 1935)
  • Ženidba Vlahinjić Alije (The wedding of Vlahinjić Alija,1935)
  • Junaštvo Đerzelez Alije (The herosim of Đerzelez Alija,1935)
  • Bećiragić Meho ('Bećiragić Meho)

References
  • Lord, Albert Bates (1960), The singer of tales, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press
  • Avdo Međedović, The wedding of Smailagić Meho tr. Albert Bates Lord; with a translation of conversations [with Nikola Vujnović] concerning the singer's life and times, by David E. Bynum. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1974.
  • Parry, Milman; Parry, Adam (editor) (1971), The making of Homeric verse. The collected papers of Milman Parry, Oxford: Clarendon PressCS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  1. "Crnogorci ljube lance". SlobodnaEvropa. 18 February 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  2. Video on YouTube
  3. "Povratak "Homera sa Obrova"". danas. 25 March 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  4. "Trebješki je Višnjić naših dana". dan. 10 February 2011. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  5. "Zaslužujemo bogat kulturni život". danas. 4 August 2011. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
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