Dr. Stephanie McKenzie

The latest published work by Dr. Stephanie McKenzie comes after she spent three and a half months in Serbia in 2017 studying the gusle and the oral literature that accompanies this instrument. The book, titled Bow’s Haunt: The Gusle’s Lessons, was published in Serbia, and follows extensive research by Dr. McKenzie on the gusle, a musical instrument that commonly accompanies epic poetry in Southeastern Europe. Bow’s Haunt was inspired by Dr. McKenzie’s longstanding interest in the fieldwork of American scholars Milman Parry and Albert Lord. Years back, Parry and his then student Albert Lord conducted extensive and groundbreaking research in this area, studying the epic traditions of Yugoslavian singers.

Dr. McKenzie took gusle lessons while in Serbia, despite the fact that the instrument is traditionally played only by men. She was offered membership in a gusle association. Her current and future work employs "some of the aesthetics and characteristics of these oral literatures and a significant amount of Indigenous literature and poetry."

Her broader research interests are concerned with the intersections of oral and written literatures, and how written works maintain the spirit and character of oral literatures. Other current projects on which Dr. McKenzie is working included co-editing a selection of works by Pamela Mordecai.