Montenegrin People - Culture

Culture

The most important dimension of Montenegrin culture is the ethic ideal of Čojstvo i Junaštvo, roughly translated as "Humanity and Bravery". Another result of its centuries long warrior history, is the unwritten code of Chivalry that Marko Miljanov, one of the most famous warriors in his time, tried to describe in his book Primjeri Čojstva i Junaštva (Examples of Humanity and Bravery) at the end of 19th century. Its main principles stipulate that to deserve a true respect of its people, a warrior has to show virtues of integrity, dignity, humility, self-sacrifice for the just cause if necessary, respect for others, and Rectitude along with the bravery. In the old days of battle, it resulted in Montenegrins fighting to the death, since being captured was considered the greatest shame.

It is still very much engraved, to a greater or lesser extent, on every Montenegrin's ethical belief system and it is essential in order to truly understand them. Coming from non-warrior backgrounds, most other South-Slavic nations never fully grasped its meaning, resulting in reactions which ranged from totally ignoring it, in the best case, to mocking it and equating it with backwardness.

Most of extraordinary examples of Montenegrin conduct during its long history can be traced to the code. Its importance is also reflected in the generally very low level of religiousness in the Montenegrin population. It is probably fair to say that the ethical beliefs of Montenegrins more closely match those of Stoicism than those of Christianity.

Montenegrins' long-standing history of fighting for independence is invariably linked with strong traditions of folk epic poetry. A prominent feature of Montenegrin culture is the gusle, a one-stringed instrument played by a story-teller who sings or recites stories of heroes and battles in decasyllabic verse. These traditions are stronger in the northern parts of the country and are also shared with people in eastern Herzegovina, western Serbia, northern Albania and central Dalmatia.

On the substratum of folk epic poetry, poets like Petar II Petrović Njegoš, the Montenegrin icon, have created their own expression. Njegoš's epic book Gorski Vijenac (The Mountain Wreath) presents the central point of Montenegrin culture.

On the other hand, Adriatic cities like Herceg-Novi, Kotor and Budva had strong trade and maritime tradition, and presented an entry-point for Venetian, Ragusan and other Catholic influences. Possession of those cities often changed, but their population was basically a mixture of people with Orthodox and Catholic religions and traditions. These cities were incorporated into Montenegro only after the fall of Austria-Hungary. In those cities, stronger influences of medieval and renaissance architecture, painting, and lyric poetry can be found.