(Trans-)Formation of Identities: Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Balkans (c.1450-c.1750)

FORMIDOX

 

Partners

Institute for Balkan Studies SASA

Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade

Institute for Byzantine Studies SASA

 

Contact:  formidox@bi.sanu.ac.rs

 

Principal investigator

Marija Vasiljević, PhD, research associate, Institute for Balkan Studies SASA

 

Team members

Ognjen Krešić, PhD, research associate, Institute for Balkan Studies SASA

Irena Plaović, PhD, assistant professor, Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade

Milena Davidović, MA, research assistant, Institute for Balkan Studies SASA

Aleksandra Ivanović, MA, teaching assistant, Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade

Zoran Jovanović, MA, junior research assistant, Institute for Byzantine SASA

 

Project description

Collective and social identities remain one of the crucial topics in humanities and social sciences, where the field of humanities provides a diachronic perspective and stimulates an understanding of the processes that shape collective identities even today. However, diachronic research often focuses on larger-scale identities (i.e. national) and can be informed by “methodological nationalism”. For that reason, within this project, ways in which diverse collective and social identities of Orthodox Christians were fostered in the Ottoman Balkans between the middle of the 15th and the middle of the 18th century will be studied. Under the notion of one Orthodox Christian identity, there co-existed other identities, such as the ones connecting people to the territory, ancestry, profession, and place of residence. These identities worked synchronously, in connection with one another, in harmony or in conflict. Notwithstanding their connection, the content of identities varied. Therefore, they should be interpreted separately, as well as through their connections, so as to define their hierarchy. The results will be presented in a conference, lecture series, an edited volume, a podcast, and a website, which (except for the conference) will be available with free access after the end of the project. This will allow the realization of a particular impact envisaged as unfolding in concentric circles: the project team; the academic community; the interested public; while the second and third circles will bring about the fourth circle – the general public.

 

Aims

The aim of this project is to provide a comprehensive analysis of collective and social identities of Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Balkans between the middle of the 15th and the middle of the 18th century. The identities will be defined in their synchronic and diachronic perspective, with the focus on the context in which they were fostered. Another aim is to step away from the influences that the present-day identities have on the interpretation of past ones, in order to fully understand the ways in which they were shaped and/or transformed.

 

This two-year project (2024-2026) is supported by the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia within the frame of the PROMIS2023 programme.