Through the Window: Kinship and Elopement in Bosnia-Herzegovina

by Keith Doubt

This book is not about war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, evil, or the killing of a society. It is about a cultural heritage, something vital to a society as a society, something that was not killed in the previous war, something that is resilient.Through the Window brings an original perspective to folklore of Bosnians at a certain period of time and the differences and similarities of the three main ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It examines the transethnic character of cultural heritage, against divisions that dominate their tragic recent past. The monograph focuses in particular on customs shared by different ethnic groups, specifically elopement, and affinal visitation. The elopement is a transformative rite of passage where an unmarried girl becomes a married woman. The affinal visitation, which follows, is a confirmatory ceremony where ritualized customs between families establish in-lawships These customs reflect a transethnic heritage shared by people in Bosnia as a national group, including Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats.

195 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 9, 2014

About the author

Keith Doubt is Professor and Chair of the Sociology Department at Wittenberg University. His books include Towards a Sociology of Schizophrenia: Humanistic Reflections and Sociology after Bosnia, and Kosovo: Recovering Justice.