20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

About “The Notes of the Yanychar”ALBINA GirfanovaSankt Petersburg State University – Sankt PetersburgThere is no other literary monument of the East and South-EastEurope that is more mysterious, of a more unpredictable fate and of a moresophisticated content, would be connected with more countries and eventsthan “The Notes of the Janychar”. There are still arguments among thehistorians and philologists over the original language of the “Notes…” andwhere they were composed, whether they were the result of a collective orindividual creation, and, finally, how to identify their genre – as memoirs,historical chronicles or papers of opinion journalism. Such question aswhose interests are reflected in the “Notes…” still remains open. Moreover,quite vague are the sources of the “Notes…”, the degree to which theevidence they offer is fictionalized, and, thus, their value as a primaryhistorical source. The interest the “Notes…” present and the century and ahalf discussions over it – ever since the monument was brought to light –turn to be quite understandable if one bears in mind that this is one of thefirst literary works in the Polish language, and at the same time the firstSerbian work on history utterly unrelated, even in its form, to the mediaevaltradition of historical writings What even further adds to its value is thefact that the “Notes…” is one of the first and most substantial works onthe history of Turkey, its state, financial and military system. It should beleft without mentioning that, however strange it might seem, practicallyno serious notice was taken of the “Notes…” either in pre-RevolutionaryRussian, or Soviet historiography, with only occasional referring to it. Thetext saw its first Russian publication in 1978. 1The literary monument “The Notes of the Janychar” was found at acatholic monastery in Berdichev (Ukraine) by A. Galenzovski, a Polish1“Zapiski janychara”, 1978.