From Theological Interpretation to Manuscript Studies, Church Poetry, and Social Life: Liturgy in Serbian Scholarship in the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries
From Theological Interpretation to Manuscript Studies, Church Poetry, and Social Life: Liturgy in Serbian Scholarship in the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries

Summary/Abstract: This paper offers a critical overview of the study of liturgy in Serbian scholarship of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Although this scholarship developed across several disciplines – most notably theology, liturgics, philology, manuscript studies, and social history – it repeatedly engages with the context of medieval liturgical sources. The paper analyzes how these materials have been described and interpreted and identifies two broad intellectual traditions: the first developed mainly within the Faculty of Theology in Belgrade and related ecclesiastical circles, where liturgy has been approached primarily through theological interpretation and understood as a central expression of ecclesial identity; the second tradition, represented largely by scholars working in secular academic institutions in Belgrade, treats liturgical manuscripts as historical evidence and focuses on textual transmission, codicology, hymnography and the role of liturgical sources in shaping religious and social life. By examining representative works within these traditions, the paper traces changes from descriptive liturgics to theological interpretation, manuscript-based reconstruction, and social-historical analysis. The aim is not to provide an exhaustive survey but to outline major approaches and debates while making this rich body of scholarship accessible to readers who do not read Serbian. In doing so, the paper seeks to highlight the relevance of Serbian research on liturgy and to encourage greater dialogue with international liturgical studies.

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