Through the Window: Kinship and Elopement in Bosnia-Herzegovina

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.

Table of Contents:
Preface Acknowledgements Chapter 1 The Study of Elopement Chapter 2 The Liminality of Elopement Chapter 3 An Extraordinary Elopement Chapter 4 Habitus in Bosnia Chapter 5 Deciding in a Blink Chapter 6 The Secret and Elopement Chapter 7 Elopement and Ego-Identity Chapter 8 The Risk of Foreclosure in the Arranged Marriage Chapter 9 Family Folklore and Elopement Chapter 10 Affinal Relations after Elopement Chapter 11 Bosnia’s Kin in Turkey Chapter 12 Balkan Ethnology Chapter 13 Bosnian Folk Chapter 14 Ethnicity and Nationality Chapter 15 Accounting for Bosnian Culture Bibliography Appendixes: Survey Report, Marco Index Bosnia Survey Question in English and Bosnian Qualitative Interview Protocol Consent Form in Bosnian

About the Author :
Keith Doubt is Professor of Sociology at Wittenberg University, Ohio.

Review :
"The task that Keith Doubt sets for himself with this book is to rescue knowledge about common ethnic trans-cultural heritage in Bosnia Herzegovina. Relying on literary sources, earlier ethnographies, and in-depth interviews with women, the author paints a vivid and exciting picture of elopement from a gender perspective. Additional sources of information are two surveys conducted for this research. The book represents fine scholarship, given its interdisciplinary approach and complex methodology. It is a valuable contribution to gender, kinship, and folklore studies." "Through the Window is a valuable addition to scholarship on Balkan studies. Doubt’s monograph is significant and meaningful. In collecting, recording, and analyzing the oral narratives Doubt has done the important work of preserving and contextualizing them for future generations. Interdisciplinary in nature, Doubt’s study will be of interest to scholars and students in the fields of Balkan studies, cultural anthropology, East European literatures, ethnic studies, folklore, political science, and sociology". "Risk-taking and boundary-crossing bring benefits: in this case, an intriguing reflection on sociological theory regarding individual agency, secrecy, and the meaning of identity at different scales, from the (gendered) ego through the long-distance diaspora. I was especially engaged by Doubt's inference from the different depths of descent reckoning that Bosnian Muslim society is in fact less patriarchal in structure than either Serb Orthodox or Croat Catholic. Doubt challenges those who see radical discontinuity, chaos, or dislocation as the key tropes through which to make sense of the last half-century of Bosnia's life. Through the Window represents an important contribution to the task of reminding the world that Bosnia-Herzegovina and its creative, resilient citizens have more to contribute to social science than a case study in collective violence." "Through the Window is a valuable addition to scholarship on Balkan studies. Doubt's monograph is significant and meaningful. In collecting, recording, and analyzing the oral narratives Doubt has done the important work of preserving and contextualizing them for future generations. Interdisciplinary in nature, Doubt's study will be of interest to scholars and students in the fields of Balkan studies, cultural anthropology, East European literatures, ethnic studies, folklore, political science, and sociology".