Myths and Boundaries in South-eastern Europe

Myths and Boundaries in South-eastern Europe PDF Author: Pål Kolstø
Publisher: C Hurst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 376

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Book Description
An examination of how historical myths have contributed to the crystallization of national boundaries in the Balkans, primarily among the South Slavs.

Myths and Boundaries in South-eastern Europe

Myths and Boundaries in South-eastern Europe PDF Author: Pål Kolstø
Publisher: C Hurst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 376

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Book Description
An examination of how historical myths have contributed to the crystallization of national boundaries in the Balkans, primarily among the South Slavs.

Myths and Mythical Spaces

Myths and Mythical Spaces PDF Author: Claudia Lichnofsky
Publisher: V&R unipress GmbH
ISBN: 3737008116
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 277

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Book Description
This volume addresses textbooks written in the Albanian language and in use in Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia. Political myths and mythical spaces play a key role in shaping processes of identity-building, concepts of ‘self’ and ‘other’, and ideas pertaining to the location of the self and nation within a post-conflict context. The Albanian case is particularly interesting because the majority of Albanians live outside the borders of Albania, despite the existence of the nation-state, which gives rise to fascinating complexities regarding the shaping of national identities and myths surrounding concepts of ‘self’ and ‘other’. What textbooks teach is always of political interest, as they represent society’s intentions for its next generation. This renders identity-building processes via textbooks in this context a particularly fascinating topic for research, here examined through the lens of myths and mythical spaces.

Strategies of Symbolic Nation-building in South Eastern Europe

Strategies of Symbolic Nation-building in South Eastern Europe PDF Author: Pål Kolstø
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317049365
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 301

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Book Description
After the conflagration of Tito’s Yugoslavia a medley of new and not-so-new states rose from the ashes. Some of the Yugoslav successor states have joined, or are about to enter, the European Union, while others are still struggling to define their national borders, symbols, and relationships with neighbouring states. Strategies of Symbolic Nation-building in South Eastern Europe expands upon the existing body of nationalism studies and explores how successful these nation-building strategies have been in the last two decades. Relying on new quantitative research results, the contributors offer interdisciplinary analyses of symbolic nation-building in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia to show that whereas the citizens of some states have reached a consensus about the nation-building project other states remain fragmented and uncertain of when the process will end. A must-read not only for scholars of the region but policy makers and others interested in understanding the complex interplay of history, symbolic politics, and post-conflict transition.

Myth, Identity, and Conflict

Myth, Identity, and Conflict PDF Author: Anamaria Dutceac Segesten
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 0739148672
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 315

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Book Description
Myth, Identity, and Conflict: A Comparative Analysis of Romanian and Serbian Textbooks, by Anamaria Dutceac Segesten, is an examination of how history and politics became entangled in Romania and Serbia. Segesten's findings confirm the presence of mythologized versions of the past in the history textbooks of both countries over the entire fifteen-year period studied (1992-2007), despite claims for professionalization of textbook-making. Ultimately, Myth, Identity, and Conflict, by Anamaria Dutceac Segesten, questions the alleged power of history textbooks to make a difference in ethnically divided societies prone to conflicts.

Memory Politics and Populism in Southeastern Europe

Memory Politics and Populism in Southeastern Europe PDF Author: Jody Jensen
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000378853
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description
This book explores the politics of memory in Southeastern Europe in the context of rising populisms and their hegemonic grip on official memory and politics. It speaks to the increased political, media and academic attention paid to the rise of discontent, frustration and cultural resistance from below across the European continent and the world. In order to demonstrate the complexities of these processes, the volume transcends disciplinary boundaries to explore memory politics, examining the interconnections between memory and populism. It shows how memory politics has become one of the most important fields of symbolic struggle in the contemporary process of "meaning-making," providing space for actors, movements and other mnemonic entrepreneurs who challenge and point to incoherencies in the official narratives of memory and forgetting. Charting the contemporary rise of populist movements, the volume will be of particular interest to regional specialists in Southeastern Europe, Balkan and postcommunist studies, as well as researchers, activists, policy-makers and politicians at the national and EU levels and academics in the fields of political science, sociology, history, cultural heritage and management, conflict and peace studies.

Imagining Bosnian Muslims in Central Europe

Imagining Bosnian Muslims in Central Europe PDF Author: František Šístek
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 1789207754
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 259

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Book Description
As a Slavic-speaking religious and ethnic “Other” living just a stone’s throw from the symbolic heart of the continent, the Muslims of Bosnia and Herzegovina have long occupied a liminal space in the European imagination. To a significant degree, the wider representations and perceptions of this population can be traced to the reports of Central European—and especially Habsburg—diplomats, scholars, journalists, tourists, and other observers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This volume assembles contributions from historians, anthropologists, political scientists, and literary scholars to examine the political, social, and discursive dimensions of Bosnian Muslims’ encounters with the West since the nineteenth century.

Discourses on Identity in 'First' and 'Other' Serbia

Discourses on Identity in 'First' and 'Other' Serbia PDF Author: Ana Omaljev
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 3838267117
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 285

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Book Description
Serbia is still widely thought of as an unfinished state, whose people struggle to establish a compelling identity narrative in answer to the question 'who are we?'. While existing literature has over-analyzed Serbian nationalism, the Serbian public sphere remains largely ignored. This engaging and timely book fills this gap by giving context to the persistent and overwhelming dialogue between opposing factions on the identity spectrum in Serbia. Omaljev's focus on elite discourses provides a fresh perspective on this contentious subject. It offers an original understanding of the competing arguments surrounding 'First' and 'Other' Serbia and of the contested visions of Serbian national identity and broader European identity.By closely examining the identity vocabulary of Serbian elites and the opposing ways in which these elites view the use of labels such as 'anti-Serbian', 'patriot', and 'traitor', this book provides a vital lesson in post-conflict nation-building and raises important questions about the symbolic representations of political and cultural identities. A much-needed and compelling intervention in the Serbian identity discourse, Omaljev's work is a must-read for any researcher on the Western Balkans.

Instrumentalizing the Past

Instrumentalizing the Past PDF Author: Jan Rydel
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110769824
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 180

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Book Description
In today's world, we can point to many international disputes and interstate conflicts fueled by past events. Historical resentments or memories of past suffering or fame are often used to justify political, economic and even territorial demands. Inter-state disputes and historical conflicts should be understood as evidence of political and social tensions related to active, serious differences in the assessment of the common past. The book explains the role of such conflicts in international relations and suggests ways of classifying them. It presents examples of the internationally relevant instrumentalisation of history from different regions of the world and outlines ways of overcoming them.

Mediterranean Frontiers

Mediterranean Frontiers PDF Author: Dimitar Bechev
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0857714678
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
The identity of any nation-state is inextricably linked with its borders and frontiers. Borders connect nations and sustain notions of social cohesion. Yet they are also the sites of division, fragmentation and political conflict. This ambitious study encompasses North Africa, the Middle East, and South and South East Europe to examine the emergence of state borders and polarised identities in the Mediterranean. The authors look at the impact of political boundaries upon the region, along with pressures from European and economic integration, the resurgence of nationalism, and refugee and security concerns. The authors explore the politics of memory, and ask whether echoes from the imperial past - Ottoman and colonial - could provide the basis for conflict resolution, region-building and economic integration.

Framing the Nation and Collective Identities

Framing the Nation and Collective Identities PDF Author: Vjeran Pavlaković
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351381784
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
This book analyzes top-down and bottom-up strategies of framing the nation and collective identities through commemorative practices relating to events from the Second World War and the 1990s "Homeland War" in Croatia. With attention to media representations of commemorative events and opinion poll data, it draws on interviews and participant observation at commemorative events to focus on the speeches of political elites, together with the speeches of opposition politicians and other social actors (such as the Catholic Church, anti-fascist organizations and war veterans’ and victims’ organizations) who challenge official narratives. Offering innovative approaches to researching and analyzing commemorative practices in post-conflict societies, this examination of a nation’s transition from a Yugoslav republic to an independent state – and now the newest member of the European Union – constitutes a unique case study for scholars of cultural memory and identity politics interested in the production and representation of national identities in official narratives.