TWO ETERNAL WORKS DEFYING TIME –THE MONASTERY OF ARGES AND THE BUILDING OF THE FORTRESS ON THE BOJANA

Abstract

This paper proposes to analyze several motives from Serbian and Romanian folk literature. It identifies the main themes and motives from the local folklore, similar situations from the folklore of the two peoples, the Romanian and the Serbian. The common Balkan history and, especially, the struggle against the Ottoman Turks, are the starting point of both the Serbian and the Romanian legend (The Monastery of Arges and the Building of the Fortress on the River Bojana). This paper attempts to present several motives and their presence in the legends of the two neighboring peoples, stressing not only the similarities, but also the differences between them. What should be pointed out are previous, detailed studies about local and Balkan folklore, starting from names of references and the work they have done in this field. One of the main differences, and one that will mark the overall meaning of the two legends, is related to the ethnic, religious and traditional characteristics of each of the two nations. If with the Romanian the image of creation, the arch spreading over generations and generations - is a church, a religious temple, then with the Serbian it is a tower built as a defense against Turks. Their continuity in space and time is considered from the point of view of the building of the Arges Temple and the Fortress on the Bojana, respectively; in his play about Manole the Craftsman, Lucian Blaga also speaks of mythical time. In the Romanian version, Manole sacrifices himself, which is an idea of creation that defies time, and in the popular mind it implies the necessity of complete sacrifice, and death is transformed into immortality through the acts of building an edifice and a fountain. Common motives in Serbian and Romanian folk literature are the result of good neighborly relations in this part of the Balkans and the legends of Manole the Craftsman and the Building of the Fortress on the Bojana are the best example of this. These two legends symbolize, in folk as well as in contemporary literature, the creative spirit of the two nations. The main characters are true symbols, because they represent something both the Romanian and the Serbian people managed to create and save until today, trough many sacrifices, while throughout history, they were very often forced to lose what they had fought to gain over many centuries.