Mikonja Knežević, PhD, senior research associate of the SASA Institute of Ethnography, participated in two roundtable discussions held in Budva, on December 23 and 24, 2023.

The first round table “Sources of Njegoš’s Poetry” was held in the Podmaine monastery. Knežević, PhD, highlighted the importance of researching the direct and indirect influences on Njegoš’s creativity and world view, the significance of the literature he read, as well as the European horizons of his poetry. He especially emphasized the overlap of ancient Hellenic with the motifs of the Christian tradition in Njegoš’s poetry, as well as the significance of its study not only from a literary-historical perspective, but also from a philological and history of ideas standpoint.

The second round table “Njegoš’s Philosophical and Theological Thought-with a Special Reference to the Texts of Metropolitan Amfilohije about Njegoš” was held on December 24, in Stanjevići monastery, in the recently opened Library of Metropolitan Amfilohije. The participants pointed to the fact that the Christian dimension of Njegoš’s work was neglected in critical literature for a long time, mainly for ideological reasons. Knežević, PhD, compared the studies of Metropolitan Amfilohije with the related studies of Nikolaj Velimiriović, and pointed out the different cultural contexts in which their studies were created, as well as the interpretative scope of their largely intuition-driven conclusions. He presented some relevant places in Njegoš’s poetry and correspondence that have a distinctly religious content, highlighting the tension between heterodox and orthodox elements in The Ray of the Microcosm. He also emphasized the importance of cultural, epochal and ideological horizon of expectations within which Njegoš’s work and personality were interpreted.

At the two roundtable discussions that were organized by the Public Library of Budva as part of the “11th International Njegoš’s Poetry Evenings” event the following people spoke: Hegumen Rafailo (Boljević), academician professor Siniša Jelušić, PhD, professor Radmilo Marojević, PhD, professor Goran Maksimović, PhD, Budimir Aleksić, PhD, Pavle Kondić, PhD, Živojin Rakočević, MA, Gojko Božović, Milutin Mićović, Hegumen Jefrem (Dabanović) and Radomir Uljarević.