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Sofija Grandakovska

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Prof. Dr.
Sofija Grandakovska
Known for
Awards
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions
WebsiteSofija Grandakovska

Sofija Grandakovska (Cyrillic: Софија Грандаковска, Romanized: Sofiya / Sofía Grandakovska) (born 1973) is an academic, poet and author in the field of comparative literature studies and interdisciplinary studies in Holocaust, Jewish history, literature and culture, with a specialization in the Jewish and Holocaust history in the Balkans. Another area of interest is Byzantine studies. She has significant publications in literary and visual semiotics, literary theory, critics and interpretation and art.

Career

Education and work

Sofija Grandakovska received the bachelor's degree (1999), the master's degree (2007) and the doctorate (2009) (scientific compartment) from the Department of Comparative Literature, Faculty of Philology "Blaže Koneski", Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, North Macedonia. Her bachelor, master and doctoral dissertations are in the field of literary and visual semiotics.

In the bachelor's thesis Inter-medial Aspects of the Icon (theology, semiotics and modern abstract art) [Интермедијалните аспекти на иконата (теологија, семиотика, апстрактна уметност)] (1999), she applies the semiotic model of comparative study of literature and visual arts (medieval icon and modern abstract art) to explore the question: "Does the word precede the image, or the image precedes the word?". The thesis was later developed in the academic book The Portrait of the Image [Портретот на сликата] (2010).[1]

In 2006, Grandakovska was awarded "Best Young Scientist of the Year Vita Pop-Jordanova Award" by the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, for her extraordinary academic work and internationally published research papers in the field of comparative literary studies.[2]

Her 2007 master dissertation (published next year as The Discourse of the Prayer [Говорот на молитвата])[3] is focused on defining the discourse of prayer in an interdisciplinary range, from archaic manifestations to its literary phenomena in Jewish, Hellenic, Byzantine and Christian-Orthodox tradition and semiotics of anthropology.[4]

Later in 2007, Grandakovska was nominated by the Department of Literature and Literary Science at the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts for research program at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, in Belgrade. As a doctoral fellow at the Institute for Byzantine Studies and the Institute for Balkan Studies, she researched the topic "Historical Perspectives between old Hebrew poetry and Byzantine Literature", developed in the 2009 doctoral dissertation The Acathistos Hymn in the Context of Byzantine Hymnography [Богородичниот акатист во контекст на византиската химнографија],[5] later published as The Acathistos Hymn Through Word and Fresco-painting [Неседалната химна низ слово и фреска] (2017).[6]

In the spring of 2009, she was a fellow at apexart arts center,[7] and later that year she became assistant professor in the field of cultural theory at the Institute for Social Sciences and Humanities Research “Evro Balkan” (Skopje), where she taught in the period 2009 - 2013.[8] In 2014, she was elected senior scientific associate / associate professor at Institute of National History, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje.[9]

In 2013 - 2014, Dr. Grandakovska was a post-doctoral fellow at the International Institute for Holocaust Research of Yad Vashem. Her research topic was "Holocaust in Macedonia: The Deportation of Macedonian Jews",[10] delving into their unrecognized civic status and their treatment as non-Bulgarian citizens in the territory of Vardar Macedonia occupied, administrated and annexed by the Kingdom of Bulgaria, which led to their deportation to Treblinka II as res nullius.[11]

In 2016 - 2018, she was awarded a Saul Kagan Post-doctoral Fellowship in Advanced Shoah Studies by the Claims Conference for her research "The Jews from Macedonia and the Holocaust: Race, Citizenship, Deportation." Her interdisciplinary and inter-historical scientific investigation was focused on the questions of race and nation in the 20th century through the example of various Holocaust experiences of Macedonian Jews, including those from Vardar Macedonia and those residing on the territory of Yugoslavia. As a Saul Kagan Fellow, Grandakovska was associated with the Faculty of Media and Communications at the Singidunum University in Belgrade (Serbia).[12]

In 2018, she was a visiting scholar at the Center for Jewish History (New York). Her research topic was "Parted Histories of the Sephardim from Monastir: Holocaust and the Migration to the States." The core focus of her research was centered at the settlement of the Sephardi Jews from the Macedonian town Monastir (Bitola), the so-called Monastirlis, in New York City, Indianapolis and Rochester, that occurred during three migratory waves in the period between 1900-1924. Grandakovska investigated their institutional (social, religious and professional) integration in the new American environment that provided a new geographical reference for this group and participated into a new cultural narrative of the 20th century history of these immigrant settlements.[13]

Since 2019, Grandakovska is professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice (City University of New York), at the Department of Anthropology. The subject she teaches explores matters of "culture and crime" manifested in violent form, with a particular emphasis on colonialism, war, and genocide in various societies, territories and times.[14]

Comparative literature and cultural studies

Sofija Grandakovska authored several scholarly books on interdisciplinary studies of literature, art and culture.

The Discourse of the Prayer (2008) studies the phenomenon of prayer in human history and its origins, its pre-literary context, and its development in various civilizations and human ways of overcoming fear and seeking good. The book further studies the prayer as a literary genre in the Hellenistic, Jewish, Christian, Byzantine, and the Old Slavonic literatures.[15]

The Portrait of the Image (2010) is a collection that unifies research carried out in twelve different themes, all connected to the interpretation of literary phenomena and of the forms of artistic and spiritual expression in the medieval and the contemporary epochs. The themes are presented as theoretical windows for the comprehension of the North Macedonian cultural heritage, unifying several humanities’ areas like archeology and her sub-disciplines, history of fine arts, art criticism, literary genres, cultural-historical analyses and the studies of the medieval church and contemporary spiritual culture.[16][17]

The Acathistos Hymn Through Word and Fresco-painting (2017) is a multidisciplinary study of the ethics, aesthetics and poetics of the Christian-Orthodox Achatistos hymn in its terminological comprehension, historical, literary, theological, liturgical and visual context. The research delves into the literary text of the Acathistos, as well as its transformation in the art of painting (like the example of the painted cycle in the church "St. Demetrius" within Marko's Monastery near Skopje).[18]

Miniatures and Maximums (2020) is a collection of literary scientific critical studies and essays on a range of topics, with the point of contact around the role of the literature in the contemporary social context. The five parts of the book are dedicated to Ancient and Byzantine poetics and visual arts, Holocaust and Jewish history and culture (presented through archival documents on the Sephardi Jews in Ottoman Macedonia and the Sephardic literature), modern discourses of war, anthropology and deconstruction of the centers of power, contemporary Macedonian literature and shifts in the modern world literature challenged by the Russian avant-garde prose.[19]

Jewish and Holocaust history in the Balkans

Sofija Grandakovska is editor, author of the foreword and a co-author of the bilingual chrestomathy The Jews from Macedonia and the Holocaust: History, Theory, Culture [Евреите од Македонија и холокаустот: историја, теорија, култура] (2011). The book appeared in the context of a dearth of studies about the fate of the Jews from Vardar Macedonia during the Second World War. Of the 7,148 Macedonian Jews sent to the Treblinka extermination camp, none survived.[20][21] A first collection of documents on Holocaust in Macedonia was published only in 1986 by Vera Veskovic-Vangeli and Jamila Kolonomos. The 2011 book is considered the second landmark on this topic. The chrestomacy is structured as an interdisciplinary and intertextual approach, covering three major aspects of discussion regarding the Holocaust: history, culture and theory. It consists of original texts of 14 authors, as well as archival and photographic material.[22][23]

Grandakovska was a writer of the catalogue and co-curator (together with Zaneta Vangeli, the designer of the exhibition) of the multimedia exhibition The Jews from Macedonia and the Holocaust (Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Skopje, 2011, and Gallery of the Jewish Community, Belgrade, 2013), as a visual replica on the discursive level of the chrestomathy. The documentary film The Jews from Macedonia and the Holocaust, based on her research and collection of documents, was realized by Zaneta Vangeli and produced by the Institute for Social Sciences and Humanities Research "Euro-Balkan" (2011).[24]

Dr. Grandakovska has lectured, designed, organized and managed the first Summer School in Holocaust studies "The Diverse Survival Strategies of Jewish and Roma Communities in Macedonia: From Resistance to Memorialization" (2011) in the Republic of North Macedonia, attended by young scholars from European countries and complemented by follow-up activities.[25]

In 2011-12, Grandakovska worked with Michael Berenbaum and served as professional consultant and researcher for the conceptual development of the project "Permanent Exhibition of the Holocaust Memorial Museum for the Jews from Macedonia" for the Berenbaum Group (Los Angeles, California).[13]

She was consultant, researcher and writer on the segment focused on the deportation of the Jews from Macedonia and the reorganization of the Jewish community in the Socialist Republic of Macedonia after the World War Two from the documentary film The Jews from Macedonia, directed by Dejan Dimeski, produced by the Macedonian National Television and the Ministry of Culture of Macedonia (2016-17).[26][27]

In 2018, Sofija Grandakovska was principal researcher for Macedonia at the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure and author of the study on the project to identify Holocaust-relevant legal cases, including major trials in Macedonia.[28][29]

Poetry

Grandakovska is the author of two bilingual books of poetry. The Eighth Day (2005) is described as a modern lyric mythological-poetic epic around holiness perceived and understood as light, a subject of yearning for man, while The Burning Sun (2009) as a type of a modern religious imagination that adopts the discourse of prayer as its semiotic framework for understanding an intimate form of communication with the sacredness.[30]

Background

Sofija Grandakovska's ancestors were Sephardi Jews from the neighborhoods Big Yard and New Synagogue of the Ottoman Monastir (nowadays Bitola). Her more recent ancestors were among the few who survived the Holocaust by changing their name.[31]

Works

Comparative literature and cultural studies

- sole author

  • The Discourse of the Prayer [Говорот на молитвата] (2008)[3]
  • The Portrait of the Image [Портретот на сликата] (2010)[1]
  • The Achatistos Hymn Through Word and Fresco-painting [Неседалната химна низ слово и фреска] (2017)[6]
  • Miniatures and Maximums [Минујатури и максимали] (2020)[32]

- co-editor and contributor (author):

  • DOMA [HOME], vol. 0, a bilingual (English-Macedonian) book-zine edition, edited by Antonio Petrov, Sofija Grandakovska (2010)[33]

Jewish and Holocaust history in the Balkans

- editor and co-author

  • The Jews from Macedonia and the Holocaust: History, Theory, Culture [Евреите од Македонија и холокаустот: историја, теорија, култура] (2011)[34][35]

Poetry

  • The Eight Day [Осмиот ден] (2005)[36]
  • The Burning Sun [Препечено сонце] (2009)[37]

Literary translations

  • Sephardic Stories [Сефарски приказни] (2014), literary stories by Eliezer Papo, translation from Serbian to Macedonian[38]
  • Sarajevo Megila [Сараевска Мегила] (2014), novel by Eliezer Papo, translation from Serbian to Macedonian[39]
  • The Master and His Students [Учителот и неговите соговорници] (2016), novel by Eliezer Papo, translation from Serbian to Macedonian[40]
  • 54 poems and one verse [54 песни и еден стих] (2018), book of poetry by Aleksandar Petrov, translation from Serbian to Macedonian[41]

Awards

  • Testimonial for academic and research work on cultural heritage in Macedonia (project The Female Monasticism in Macedonia), awarded by Ford Grant and the Museum of the City of Skopje (2004)
  • Best Young Scientist of the Year Vita Pop-Jordanova Award from the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, for her extraordinary academic work and internationally published research papers in the field of Comparative Literary Studies, in accordance with international classification (2006)
  • National Recognition by the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia regarding receiving the Vita Pop-Jordanova Award from the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts (2006)
  • Award as a sign of recognition for the affirmation of Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje regarding receiving the Vita Pop-Jordanova Award from the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts (2006)
  • Certificate of gratitude from the Directorate for Protection of the Cultural Heritage of Macedonia (of the Ministry of Culture), for her participation in a project of historical significance for the Republic of Macedonia, Macedonia: Millennial Cultural and Historical Facts (2013)

References

  1. ^ a b "Портретот на сликата : книжевна и визуелна семиотика / Грандаковска, Софија". COBISS+ North Macedonian Library Database. ISBN 978-608-65215-0-9. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  2. ^ Vasil Mickovski (30 April 2013). "д-р Софија Грандаковска: Македонскиот идентитет не е пластелин за универзални фигури со фолклорна моќ". Globus (314): 199–202. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Говорот на молитвата / Грандаковска, Софија". COBISS+ North Macedonian Library Database. ISBN 978-9989-2244-2-3. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  4. ^ Katica Kulavkova. ""Acrybic representations of the scientifically available and perceptible types of prayer", in: Sofija Grandakovska, Discourse of Prayer (Skopje: Premin, 2008)" (PDF). Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  5. ^ "Промоција одржана на 4 март 2010 година" (PDF). University Gazette of the Ss Cyril and Methodius University [Универзитетски весник, издание на Универзитетот Св: Кирил и Методиј] (104): 8–9. March 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Неседалната химна низ слово и фреска / Грандаковска, Софија". COBISS+ North Macedonian Library Database. ISBN 978-608-200-339-9. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  7. ^ "Fellowship program - Sofija Grandakovska". apexart. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  8. ^ "Gazette of the Institute for Social Sciences and Humanities "Evro Balkan" (Skopje)I/13". 14 September 2009. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  9. ^ "The Scientific Committee Report by Professor Elizabeta Seleva PhD, Professor Marija Pandevska PhD and Professor Aneta Sukarova PhD" (PDF). Gazette of the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje (1070): 199–202. 16 June 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  10. ^ "Past Research Fellows". Yad Vashem. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  11. ^ הרצאת צוות חוקרים - סופיה גרנדקובסקה, Annual Lecture by Dr. Sofija Grandakovska: "Deportation of Macedonian Jews", International Institute for Holocaust Research of Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, January 16, 2014
  12. ^ "Sofija Grandakovska". Claims Conference Saul Kagan Fellowship in Advanced Shoah Studies. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  13. ^ a b "C.V. of Sofija Grandakovska" (PDF). John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  14. ^ "Sofija Grandakovska". John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  15. ^ Acad. Katica Kulavkova (10 November 2008). "Излезе од печат „Говорот на молитвата" од Софија Грандаковска". Premin. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  16. ^ "After-words by prof. Elizabeta Dimitrova: "The Portrait of the Image"" (PDF). Premin. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  17. ^ "Sofija Grandakovska Portretot na slikata KIC". alter 85. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  18. ^ Prof. Elizabeta Dimitrova (12 August 2020). "За „Акатистот низ слово и фреска" (Скопје: Менора, 2017) од Д-р Софија Грандаковска". Premin. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  19. ^ "Introductory word to Miniatures and Maximums (2020) by Dr. Katerina Josifoska". Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  20. ^ Sofija Grandakovska. "Whose Citizens Were the Jews Deported From Macedonia?" (PDF). History, journal of the Association of the Historians of the Republic of Macedonia (in bilingual (English-Macedonian) edition) (1, L/LI, 2015/2016). Skopje: ZIRM: 239–256. ISSN 0579-0263. Retrieved 13 June 2021.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  21. ^ "Sofija Grandakovska - Unearthing Catastrophe in Macedonia - John Jay Fall 2019 Visiting Scholar". John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  22. ^ "Review of The Jews from Macedonia and the Holocaust: History, Theory, Culture by Prof. Dr. Krinka Vidakovic Petrov, Ohrid, 2011". Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  23. ^ "Review of The Jews from Macedonia and the Holocaust: History, Theory, Culture by Episcope of Pakrac and Slavonia (Croatia) and president of the Jasenovac Committee, Jovan Ćulibrk, MA, Ohrid, 2011". Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  24. ^ "Symposium project space". Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  25. ^ "The Diverse Survival Strategies of Jewish and Roma Communities in Macedonia: From Resistance to Memorialization (Summer School in Holocaust studies)" (PDF). Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  26. ^ "Episode 2 of the documentary film The Jews from Macedonia, about the deportation of the Jews from Macedonia". Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  27. ^ "Episode 3 of the documentary film The Jews from Macedonia, about the reorganization of the Jewish community in the Socialist Republic of Macedonia after the World War Two". Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  28. ^ "North Macedonia". European Holocaust Research Infrastructure. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  29. ^ "Immovable Property Restitution Study" (PDF). European Shoah Legacy Institute. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  30. ^ "After-words by Prof. Bojana Stojanović Pantović in: Sofija Grandakovska, The Burning Sun (2009)". Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  31. ^ "Sephardic Genealogy, Ottoman Macedonia". interview with Sofija Grandakovska by the Center for Jewish History. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  32. ^ "Минујатури и максимали / Грандаковска, Софија". COBISS+ North Macedonian Library Database. ISBN 978-608-4646-35-8. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  33. ^ Antonio Petrov, Sofija Grandakovska. "DOMA [HOME]" (in English-Macedonian) (0). Massachusetts: The Harvard University/Skopje: Kino Oko. ISBN 978-608-65159-0-4. Retrieved 13 June 2021. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  34. ^ "The Jews from Macedonia and the Holocaust: History, Theory, Culture / Grandakovska, Sofija". COBISS+ North Macedonian Library Database. ISBN 978-9989-136-75-7. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  35. ^ "Евреите од Македонија и холокаустот: историја, теорија, култура / Грандаковска, Софија". COBISS+ North Macedonian Library Database. ISBN 978-9989-136-74-0. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  36. ^ "Осмиот ден = The eighth day / Грандаковска, Софија". COBISS+ North Macedonian Library Database. ISBN 9989-168-00-8. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  37. ^ "Препечено сонце = The burning sun / Грандаковска, Софија". COBISS+ North Macedonian Library Database. ISBN 978-9989-189-52-4. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  38. ^ "Сефардски приказни / Папо, Елиезер". COBISS+ North Macedonian Library Database. ISBN 978-608-4714-07-1. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  39. ^ "Сараевска мегила / Папо, Елиезер". COBISS+ North Macedonian Library Database. ISBN 978-608-4714-06-4. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  40. ^ "Учителот и соговорниците / Папо, Елиезер". COBISS+ North Macedonian Library Database. ISBN 978-608-65529-7-8. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  41. ^ "54 песни и еден стих / Петров, Александар". COBISS+ North Macedonian Library Database. ISBN 978-608-261-000-9. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
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