THE SPIRITUAL BRIDGE BETWEEN ISLAMIC ORIENT AND CHRISTIAN OCCIDENT IN THE MONOGRAPHIC WORK “BOSNIAC CULTURE” BY DR. SMAIL BALIC

Abstract

The initial part of this study provides an overview of Dr. Smail Balic’s entire scientiffic work in the field of Islamic Studies, Slavistics and Bosnian Studies. The study then goes on to summarize and review Dr. Balic’s two monograpphic works: “Bosniac Culture - a Muslim compponent”, Vienna, 1973 and “Bosniac Culture”, Tuzla-Zagreb, 1994 as well as its preceding Germman edition ”Das unbekannte Bosnien”, Cologgne- Weimar-Vienna, 1992. The first monographic work is a synthessis of the Bosniac integration into Islamic and European culture. The second one, published both in German and in Bosnian, is more scienttific and in depth analysis of the thesis presentted in the first book, offering argumentation of the universal and specifically Bosniac substancce and layers of cultural creation - in particullar, the Bosniac contribution in science, poetry, philosophy and the like, made in Arabic, Persiaan and Turkish as well as Bosniac contribution in Aljamiado literature. Dr. Balic’s most prominent scientific contribution found in these two monographic books relates to evaluation of works of Bosniacs written in those three oriental languages, evaluaation of translations by Bosniacs (including Dr. Balic) to Bosnian language and to evaluation of the Bosniac Aljamiado literature. The first part of the study explores social and political causes that lead to marginalization of Dr. Balic’s scientific work during the Commmunist period. The second part provides an overview of those two monographic texts while the third part offers the author’s recollections of Dr. Balic.