THE FIGURE AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE GUSLAR IN MODERN DAY SOCIETY

Abstract

The main topic of the paper is the problem of the figure of the guslar in modern day society, that is, its significance and the role it has in public space. Specific changes in the socio-political and cultural paradigm that occured in the twentieth century, also reflected on the epic singing with the gusle. According to a certain group of theorists, they questioned the authenticity of the guslar performing practice as we know it today. Therefore, in order to answer the main problem, first investigation was in the area of development of epic singing with the gusle from the preliteral community to the present moment and all the crucial moments and novelities that they introduced into guslar’s performance were noted. The second part of the paper is dedicated to the issue of tradition and cultural heritage from a philosophical-anthropological and cultural point of view, but it also deals with the problems of instrumentalization and politicization of tradition (through the prism of Baudrillard’s theory of simulacra). In an attempt to answer the question of what is the significance and the role of the guslar in modern day society, the conclusions reached in this research are summarized and some theoretical insight is made – consideration of some of the fundamental problems related to understanding of tradition and its acceptance.