“Headless, They Are Heading to Paradise: Cephalophore Martyrs in the Commemorative Imagination of Ottoman Bosnia” by Amila Buturovic

20 Nov 2014 - 16:00 / 20 Nov 2014 - 18:00

NMC Conference Room, Bancroft Building 200B
4 Bancroft Ave.
Toronto

The paper discusses the cephalophore motif of beheaded martyrdom in the cultural imagination of Ottoman (and post-Ottoman) Bosnia. Associated mainly with the shrines of solitary warrior-saints of the early Ottoman period, these martyrs have brought together elements from Islamic, Byzantine, and local Slavic hagiographic and commemorative sensibilities. The role of headless martyrdom in the memory and ritual practice across religious boundaries suggests that the violence experienced had released these martyrs from their historical circumstance and granted them the ultimate privilege of “witnessing.”

The seminar is sponsored by the departments of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, and History, and the Centre for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies