Elegy for Kosovo

Ismail Kadare. Elegy for Kosovo. Peter Constantine, tr. New York/London. Arcade/Harvill. 2000.121/87 pages. $17.95/L6.99. ISBN 1-55970-528-0/1-86046-- 707-5.

IN 1389 ALBANIANS AND SERBS suspended ancient enmities to unite against the Turks at the Battle of Kosovo. Ismail Kadare's three-part prose poem traces the fate of war minstrels who must entertain the troops and memorialize the battle. His voice that of a medieval chronicler, his chosen moment mythic and historic, embedded with past, pregnant with future, his treatment of the various Balkan groups compassionate, Kadare shows how myth fuels violent history.

"The Ancient Battle" features minstrels singing hate songs to troops newly allied. Confronting mockery, they explain, "This is where we've always turned to find parts for our songs, and this is where we will always turn." Their...