nationalism balkans lehti 070123

MAPPING IMAGINED BALKAN: 

MAPPING IMAGINED BALKAN Balkanizing and De-Balkanizing

Imagined Balkans – the Orient in Europe: 

Imagined Balkans – the Orient in Europe What is Balkan? Who belongs to it? Is it political, ethnographical, cultural or geographical entity? Compare with Southeastern Europe General myths/beliefs Mythical Past/Dominance of history Clash of Civilization?/on the border of civilizations/Orient in Europe Nationalistic/Violent/Immature etc.

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1st Balkan Myth: Division of the Roman World -Division of the Roman Empire (East/West) -Foundation of Constantinopole -Slavic invasion in the 6th and 7th centuries Slavic lands

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1st Balkan Myth: Division of the Roman World Byzantine as Image of the East (in West) Flourishing Byzantine (Roman) Empire Rumelia, Romans -Christiniazation Catholism vs. Orthodox

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1st Balkan Myth: Division of the Roman World -High Medieval Balkans -Fragmenting Byzantine -Serbia: orthodox -Croatia: catholic -Bosnian church -Venice Not a beginning of current nations

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2nd Balkan Myth: Kosovo Polje -Expansion of Ottomans and the fall of the Byzantine Empire -The Battle of Kosovo Polje 1389 (Important battle but how important) Stalemate, a long process of expansion, received later mythical position Collective memory?

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2nd Balkan Myth: Kosovo Polje 600th Anniversary: Milosevic speech & a banner of Lazar A myth of Heavenly Serbia How it is linked to Serbian identity

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3rd Balkan Myth: Islamization Islamisation: Bosnia and Albania Turkish invasion? Multireligional space Cities

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4th Balkan Myth: the Ottoman Empire Eastern & Islamic Tyranny, Dark age of slavery OR -Glorious centuries -European power? -Legacy of Byzantine -Balkan core areas

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4th Balkan Myth: the Ottoman Empire -Communication and trade roates Was not isolated (i.e. Greeks rich merchants)

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4th Balkan Myth: the Ottoman Empire

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4th Balkan Myth: the Ottoman Empire -19th Century Nationalism: myth of battle against Turks Nationalism was striving against Ottomans -political independence -cultural -denial of Ottoman legacy (compare Soviet legacy)

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5th Balkan Myth: Ottoman – Hapsburg Boundary -Expansion of Austria in the 18th century -Does it have relevance today? Borders

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6th Balkan Myth: Roots of National Conflicts Fragmentation of the Ottomans, the Eastern question

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6th Balkan Myth: Roots of National Conflicts Fragmentation of the Ottomans, the Eastern question

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6th Balkan Myth: Roots of National Conflicts Fragmentation of the Ottomans, the Balkan wars 1912-13

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7th Balkan Myth: Yugoslavia -Balkan federation plans Yugoslavia = south slav idea (ideal) Vs. Great Serbia Nationalistic creation Balkan unity?

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7th Balkan Myth: Yugoslavia Secession wars and ethnic cleansing -Key points of strivings: a) Bosnia b) Macedonia + Kosovo Multiethnic regions – legacy of Ottomans Towards ethnically homogenous areas (general national principle -Turkey and EUrope

IMAGINED BALKANS: 

IMAGINED BALKANS Books Maria Todorova: Imagining the Balkans (1997) David Norris: In the Wake of the Balkan Myth. Questions of Identity and Modernity (1999) Vesna Goldsworthy: Inventing Ruritania. The Imperialism of Imagination (1998) Catie Carmichael: Ethnic cleansing in the Balkans. Nationalism and the destruction of tradition (2002)

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”If Balkan has not existed it would have needed to be invented” Hermann Keyserling (1928) Origin of notion: western geographers in the late 19th century Previously: Rumelia (land of Roms) or Near East (for west) Ottoman disintegration and need to rename Orient in Europe (geographically European but not culturally) Imagined barrier (mountain range) Edward Said: Orientalism (1978) Orientalism is another form of western colonialism Intellectual construction of mirror image of the West/Occident Orient = stagnate, dominating by despotism, immature, lazy, unambitious, (sexual and thus moral decay) Superior West (progressive, moral, reason, democratic etc.) Balkan as well as Eastern Europe bear some of this features BUT is not totally orient (and can approach west) Image of Balkan was premodern (westerners were not interested their modernisation trends)

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Image of Balkan in popular culture Ruritania, Herzosolavkia, Syldavia/Borduria Three phases: Before 1918 (Anthony Hope: The prisoner of Zenda (1894) dynastic plotting plus first travel novels of Edith Durham Agatha Chritie: The Secret of Chimneys (1925), Hitchcock: The Lady Vanishes (1938); Herge: King Ottokar's Sceptre - (1938-1939) The Calculus Affair - (1954-1956) plus news films about assasination of Yugoslavian King Alexander at Marseilles Rebecca West Instability, revolts, secretiveness but also culture of violence Balkan adjective, no borders, more important what is to be Balkan than who are Balkan Inpolitcal publicity two images Violence and massacres (Macedonia, Balkan wars) Folly Europe (King Zog of Albania)

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Balkanization = disintegration of Ottomans would led to chaos and increase instability Small states are instabile and incable for survive Balkans need European guiding International treaties Plans and visions for united Balkan New terms and key points: Bosnia and Kosovo Violent by nature, Yugoslavian era just froze nationalistic feelings, nationalism = extremists Need superior West (civilisin mission) Ethnic cleansing (compare Holocaust) term invented to describe massacres