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No escape from Balkan: The “Balkans” in the contemporary Croatian scientific thought

Authors:
No Escape from Balkan?:
The Balkansin the Contemporary
Croatian Scientific Thought
[克罗地亚]左立明
[克罗地亚]高山􀅰久尔杰维奇
内容提要 在本文中作者希望呈现和批判性地评价 20 世纪 90
年代到 2017 年克罗地亚科 巴尔干的不同展现学者
们从政治媒体历史教育 ()等多
研究巴尔干与克罗地亚之间的关系常得对立有时是混淆的结
论和观点由此本文的作者得出这样结论:克罗地亚学者的普遍
看法主要是基于玛莉亚􀅰托多洛娃所确定的方法巴尔干” —
克罗地亚以东起的区域以这两种面貌之一呈:外来的野蛮
又略带积极意义的或原始的粗鲁的未开化的消极 他者
的形象不过作者也通过赫姆􀅰尊德豪森的方法得出从克罗地亚
清除 巴尔干远没有看上去那么容易或必要的结论
关键词 克罗地亚 巴尔干 刻板印象 东南欧 西巴尔干 
中欧 地中海
作者简介 左立明 (Zvonimir Stopi '
)首都师范大学历史学院世
界史专业讲师高山􀅰久尔杰维奇 (Goran ̄
Durđevi '
)首都师范大学
历史学院考古学专业博士研究生
Abstract: With this paperꎬ the authors wish to present and critically
assess the different representations of the Balkans in the Croatian scientific
literature from the 1990s to 2017􀆰 Following the variousꎬ often opposing and
sometimes confusing conclusions and viewpoints of the scholars who
researched the connection between the Balkans and Croatia from the various
perspectives of politicsꎬ mediaꎬ historyꎬ education ( textbooks)ꎬ literatureꎬ
music and moviesꎬ the authors of this paper conclude that the general
Croatian view is mostly based on the approach identified by Maria Todorovaꎬ by
which the “Balkans” the area which starts “east of Croatia” is presented in
one of two views: exoticꎬ wild with slightly positive meaning or primitiveꎬ
rudeꎬ uncivilizedꎬ negativeꎬ image of the “Other. Howeverꎬ the authors
also concludeꎬ by using Holm Sundhausen􀆳s approachꎬ that eliminating
Balkan” from Croatia is far from as easy or necessary as it seems􀆰
Keywords: Croatiaꎬ the Balkansꎬ Stereotypeꎬ Southeastern Europeꎬ
Western Balkansꎬ Central Europeꎬ Mediterranean
Ⅰ. What Do the Croatian􀆳s Write About
When They Write About the Balkans?
    Generally speakingꎬ Croatians rarely write and talk about the “ Balkans 􀆰
When brought up in mediaꎬ political talk or general public discussions in Croatiaꎬ the
时政研究
The phrase “Balkan” is quite complex and consists of a mixture of geographicalꎬ politicalꎬ historicalꎬ
cultural and anthropological meanings􀆰 Literature about Balkans􀆳 different meaning is huge and it is still growing􀆰
For the basic ideas and different approaches see: Baki'
c ̄Hayden ( 2006 )ꎬ Bjeli '
( 2011 )ꎬ Bjeli '
and Savi '
(2003)ˇ
Colovi '
c (2008)ꎬ Goldsworthy (1998)ꎬ Jezernik (2007) ꎬ Jezernik (2010) ꎬ Luketi '
(2008) ꎬ Luketi '
(2013 )ꎬ Mateši '
c and Slapšak (2017) ꎬ Matoševi '
and Škoki '
c (2014) ꎬ Mishkova (2006 ) ꎬ Mishkova ( 2009)
Moranjak ̄Bambura '
( 2004) ꎬ Petrovi '
c (2009) ꎬ Skopetea (1991) ꎬ Sundhausen ( 1997) ꎬ and Todorova ( 2008) .
General histories of Balkans are written by many scholars around world􀆰 For understanding contemporary history of
this area see: Glenny ( 2000) ꎬ Jelavich ( 1983) ꎬ Mazower ( 2003) ꎬ P avlovi '
c (2004)ꎬ and Stoianovich (1995) .
phrase itself usually invokes negative connotations Croatians would ratherꎬ and
automaticallyꎬ project to others than link with themselves in any way􀆰 However
when Croatians do write about itꎬ whether it is to negate the Balkan elements or to
rationalize themꎬ they usually write about issues the “ Balkans create about the
Croatian identity” . The “Balkansꎬ whether it is an unspecified geographical region
of Europeꎬ or a phrase which encompass mostly negative connotationsꎬ is something
which all the Croatian political circles have no desire to identify withꎬ butꎬ due to the
complex culturalꎬ historicꎬ socialꎬ linguisticꎬ and ethnic connections Croatian lands
have with its southeastern neighboring countriesꎬ have a difficult time getting away
from􀆰 Thusꎬ the attempts of the Croatian politicians to shrug this phrase off Croatiaꎬ
deflect it into the direction of their neighborsꎬ and escape from it into the safety of the
phrases such as the “Central Europe” ꎬ the “Mediterranean or the “ Bridge between
Europe and the Balkans”ꎬ not only that becomes difficult to defend when they are
confronted with the various moments from Croatia􀆳s past and present realitiesꎬ but also
keep Croatia itself tied to the same Balkan stereotypes political discourse wishes to
project into others􀆰 The main goal of this article is not to provide yet another overview
of what “Balkans isꎬ what it meansꎬ or to explain where Croatia lies in it􀆰 This
article wishes to presentꎬ analyze and confront the colorful and sometimes
contradictory viewpoints about the Balkan which emanate from the Croatian politicsꎬ
art cultureꎬ public opinions and researchersꎬ and offer a rough sketch of the answer to
the questions of () why the Balkan stereotypes continue to live inside of Croatiaꎬ
despite of its continuous focus on Europeꎬ and (2) why the idea of “Balkans creates
巴尔干研究 (第一辑)
In public discourse during the past twenty yearsꎬ the phrase “Balkans” is usually being tied to Serbia and
Yugoslaviaꎬ and refers to to a negative stereotype􀆰 See: Luketi '
cꎬ Balkan:od geografije do fantazije (The Balkans:
From Geography to Fantasy)ꎬ Zagreb: K􀆰 Algoritamꎬ 2013ꎬ pp􀆰 183186􀆰
issues for the defining the Croatians identity􀆰 Although this article is written upon the
foundations of the wider discussions about the Balkansꎬ namely upon the work of
notable authors such as Maria Todorovaꎬ Holm Sunhaussenꎬ Milica Baki '
c ̄Haydenꎬ
Mark Mazowerꎬ Stevan Pavlovi '
cꎬ Katarina Luketi '
cꎬ Božidar Jezernikꎬ Svetlana
Slapšakꎬ Marina Matiši '
cꎬ Larry Wolf and many othersꎬ the paper will focus more on
the work of Croatian authors written in the past two decades who in many ways
attempted to deal with this wider discussion􀆰
Ⅱ. Perceptions of the Problem in the Croatian Eyes
The aversion Croatians have toward the phrase “Balkansꎬ as well as toward all
the phrases that can be derived from itꎬ comes more or less from the same stereotypes
时政研究
Croatian identity is usually described as a combination of Mediterraneanꎬ Southeastern and Central
European identitiesꎬ in which there is not any room the “Balkan one􀆰 This “ official interpretation has been
implemented in the education system through textbooks and has completely eliminated event the phrase “Balkans” .
On differences and similarities of the “imagined” Mediterraneanꎬ Central and Southeastern Europe and Balkansꎬ
Seeꎬ Luketi '
cꎬ Balkan:od geografije do fantazije pp􀆰 224 228􀆰 For understanding concepts of the “Central
Europe”ꎬ Seeꎬ Cipekꎬ “ Mitteleuropa: prilog povijesti germanskih ideja Srednje Europe do 1919ꎬ” ( Mitteleuropa:
A Contribution to the History of Germanic Ideas of Central Europe until 1919) Politiˇcka Misaoꎬ 35 (1) ꎬ 1997ꎬ
pp􀆰 154166ꎻ B􀆰 Matanꎬ eds􀆰 Srednja Europa:izbortekstova ( Central Europe: Selected Texts) ꎬ Gordoganꎬ
1987ꎬ pp􀆰 1718ꎻ Matan (1987 a)ꎬ Rider ( 1997) ꎬ and see Roksandi '
cꎬ “ Postoji li jošuvijek Srednja Europa?”
(Does Central Europe still exist?) Historijski zbornikꎬ 65 ( ) ꎬ 2012ꎬ pp􀆰 187 202􀆰 Different views of the
“ Mediterranean ” concept are presented by: D􀆰 Roksandi '
cꎬ P􀆰 Strpi '
cꎬ eds􀆰 ꎬ “ Mediteran: izbortekstovaꎬ”
(Mediterranean: Selected Texts) Naše Teme 33 (5) 1989ꎬ pp􀆰 979 1095􀆰 Concept of “ Southeast Europe” is
analyzed in by: Kolozovaꎬ “Identitet (jedinstva) u izgradnji O smrti ‘Balkana’ i ‘ rođenju’ Jugoistoˇcne Evropeꎬ”
(On the Death of the Name of the Balkans and the Birth” of Southeast Europe) in D􀆰 Bjelicꎬ O􀆰 Savi '
cꎬ
eds􀆰 ꎬ Balkans as Metaphorꎬ Belgradeꎬ Serbia: Beogradskikrugꎬ 2003ꎬ pp􀆰 295306􀆰
In this paperꎬ the authors analyze scientific papers published in the Croatian academic journals from 1991
to 2017􀆰 We didn􀆳t analyze popular or art papers as well as the writings about the Balkans in daily and weekly
magazines􀆰 Daily and weekly magazines are analyzed by: Razsaꎬ M􀆰 ꎬ Lindstromꎬ “Balkan is Beautiful: Balkanism
in the Political Discourse of Tudman􀆳s Croatiaꎬ” East European Politics and Societies 18 ( 4) 2004ꎬ pp􀆰 628
650􀆰 Rihtman ̄Auguštinꎬ Ulice moga grada ( The Streets of My City)ꎬ Belgradeꎬ Serbia: XXvekꎬ 2000ꎬ pp􀆰 211
236􀆰 And Luketi '
cꎬ Balkan:od geografije do fantazije (The Balkans: from geography to fantasy)ꎬ pp􀆰 220224􀆰
Maria Todorova pointed out in her book Imagining the Balkans􀆰For most Croatiansꎬ
especially in the political and diplomatic circlesꎬ the phrase “Balkans has almost
exclusively negative connotationsꎬ and refers not only to the not ̄to ̄well defined
geographic placeꎬbut also to a certain mentality which has the traits of being un ̄
civilizedꎬ wildꎬ rudeꎬ violentꎬ andꎬ what􀆳s most importantꎬ “ non ̄European .
Generally speakingꎬ it does seem that at the first glance the Croatiansꎬ often without
realizing itꎬ fully accept the Todorova􀆳s thesis that the Balkans are a construct of the
Westꎬ andꎬ due to their overzealous attempts to avoid being referred to as
Balkanian” ꎬ that the Balkans are also an imagination of the Balkanians themselves􀆰
Croatians􀆳 sensitiveness to any discourse that puts them into the same context with the
phrase Balkanꎬ which can be observed most clearly in the political discourseꎬ as
well as their aversion to any of the instances which tend to “re ̄create” the differences
巴尔干研究 (第一辑)
The explanations of the negative connotation of the phrase “Balkans” ꎬ as well as the logic behind the
Balkan area being the European “ Other is well described by Todorova in her book Imagining the Balkans
(2008) . Similar approach also developed by Božidar Jezernikin in his book Wild Europe:The Balkans in the Gaze
of Western Travelers􀆰 The book Gender and Balkan by Marina Mateši'
c and Svetlana Slapšak is refers to gender issues
and women travelersꎬ but also concentrates on the representations of Balkans in feministic and postcolonial
approach􀆰 While approaching to the topic of Balkansꎬ it is also quite informative to see the work of Holm
Sundhaussenꎬ who takes a different approach to the issue and contests Todorova􀆳s “imaginations” of Balkan with a
possibility that there actually exists quite enough of real and specific characteristics of the area which fuels and
shapes our perception of it the way it does􀆰
An informative analysis of the problems of defining the borders of Balkan peninsulaꎬ given from the
geographical perspectiveꎬ is provided by Mirela Slukan Alti '
c (2009). This question of border is quite important for
Croatians (and Slovenes)ꎬ because depending on the approachꎬ both countries have a geographic chance of being
placed outside of the detested peninsula􀆰 As Slukan Alti '
c explainsꎬ from the geographical point of viewꎬ it is quite
difficult to justify the old definitions of the Balkan peninsula” which places this part of the Europe below the
Trieste ̄Odessa lineꎬ and between the Adriaticꎬ Ionianꎬ Aegean and Black Seas􀆰 The problem lies in the fact that
the land border of 1􀆯 635 km is the longest oneꎬ opposing the 1􀆯 285 and 1􀆯 350 km long sea bordersꎬ which
contradicts to the geographical definition of “peninsula” by which the land borders is supposed to be the shortest
ones􀆰 As the solution to this issueꎬ Slukan Alti '
c proposes the complete abandonment of the “ Balkan peninsula”
designationꎬ and recommends the acceptance of the Croatian geographer Josip Rogli'
c􀆳s idea of introducing the
Greece ̄Albanian peninsulaꎬ since only that part of the today􀆳s Balkan area fulfills the geographical definition of the
“ peninsula”. See: Slukan Alti '
(2015) ꎬ pp􀆰 402405􀆰
The genealogy of such meaning is provided by: Todorovaꎬ Imagining the Balkansꎬ New York: Oxford
University Pressꎬ 2008 pp􀆰 3337􀆰
between the European East and West in which they belong to the “East” fits them
into Todorova􀆳s theory almost perfectly􀆰 In factꎬ several papers in the last decade
written by the Croatian authors about the perceptions the West has on Croatia and
Balkan indicate that Croatians do notice and are still bothered by the “old Western
stereotypes about the Balkan . Focusing on the representations of Croatiaꎬ Ivona
Grgurinovi '
in 2008 still found the need to point out the problem of the Rebecca
West􀆳s travel book about Yugoslavia “ Black Lambꎬ Grey Falcon ꎬ which was
originally published in 1941􀆰 Although she had no reservations when using a few
stereotypes about the “ imperial other herselfꎬ if we may noticeꎬ Grgurinovi '
c did
conclude that West􀆳s book is a typical example of how a traveler coming from an
imperial tradition whose superiority is symbolically and literally established through
centuries of history” creates and sets stereotypes and constructions of the “other.
Anotherꎬ more contemporary exampleꎬ is provided by Zlatan Krajina (2009) with his
article about the BBC􀆳s news􀆰 After detailed analysis of the news reportsꎬ Krajina
concluded that the reporters which made the news about Croatia continued to fall into
the traps of stereotypisationꎬ so that as a result the Croatia was at the time in the BBC
News still being presented as the Europe􀆳s “ Other” .In analyzing the Italian news
reports on the War in Croatiaꎬ Ivana Škevin and Iva Grgi '
c (2016) noted that the
Italian perceptions were filled with “ several types of polarized representationsꎬ for
exampleꎬ the one between the good ( Italy / Europe / West) and the bad ( Croatia / the
Balkansassociated with “primitive” nationalism and chaos) .” In the Italian caseꎬ
the Trieste was recognized as a demarcation point between west and eastꎬ good and
时政研究
Dividing Europe on the West and East is an 18th century idea which gradually replaced the traditional
division of the Europe ( and the world) on its northern and southern part􀆰 The creation of the “Eastern Europe” is
tightly connected with the Enlightenment movement􀆰 On “ Eastern Europe” and the meaning this phrase has in the
Western World see: Wolfꎬ Inventing Eastern Europe:The Map of Civilization on the Mind of the Enlightenment
Stanford: Stanford University Pressꎬ 1994􀆰
See: Grgurinovi '
cꎬ “Constructing the Other in Rebecca West􀆳s ‘Black Lambꎬ Grey Falcon’ꎬ” Etnološka
istraživanja (Ethnological Researches) ꎬ 12 / 13ꎬ 2008 ꎬ pp􀆰 159 169􀆰
See: Krajinaꎬ ‘ Mapping ’ the ‘ Other’ in Television News on International Affairs: BBC􀆳s ‘ Pre ̄
Accession’ Coverage of EU Membership Candidate Croatiaꎬ” Politiˇcka Misaoꎬ 46 (5) ꎬ 2009ꎬ pp􀆰 140170􀆰
See: Ivana Škevinꎬ Iva Grgi'
Maroevi '
cꎬ “ The Balkans as European Otherness: On Shaping Italian
Public Opinion about the War in Croatiaꎬ” Sic:ˇ
Casopis za književnostkulturu i književno prevođenje ( 2 )ꎬ
2016ꎬ p􀆰 9􀆰
badꎬ peace and warꎬ civilization and chaos􀆰 Yet another example of Croatian
noticing” the stereotypisation coming from the Westꎬ comes from Zrinka Boroveˇcki
and Martina Poljak (2013) ꎬ who pointed out to the reestablishment of the Balkan
stereotypes in connection to Croatia in the two recent Austrian novelsꎬ namely the Das
Handewerk des Tötens and Die gefrorene Zeitꎬ written by Norbert Gstrein and Anne
Kimꎬ respectively􀆰
As we can seeꎬ Croatians do notice the stereotypes “others have toward them􀆰
Although all these papers are focused on Croatiaꎬ the basic idea they all carry is that
the discourse about the Balkan is not something Europe should continue to developꎬ
because it does bring out the feeling of uneasiness into all those Europe designates as
it􀆳s Other . Howeverꎬ as we will soon showꎬ the issue does not lie only in the
Europe􀆳s understanding of what Balkan and / or Croatia are􀆰 Further in the text we will
sho how this awareness of the stereotypes gets misusedꎬ sustainedꎬ over ̄emphasizedꎬ and
how in realityꎬ on many different levelsꎬ the stereotypes of Balkan pulse out from Croatia
in much greater force than they would ever be forced upon Croatia form the outside􀆰
Ⅲ. PoliticsMediaTextbooks and Mentality:
More We LookBlurriest the Line Becomes
Between Croatia and Balkan
    If we were to pick through the political discourse in the pos1991 Croatia which
includes the phrase “ Balkan”ꎬ it is possible to roughly discern two phasesꎬ one before
and one after the parliamentary and presidential elections in 2000􀆰 As Nataša
巴尔干研究 (第一辑)
See: Ivana Škevinꎬ Iva Grgi'
Maroevi '
cꎬ “ The Balkans as European Otherness: On Shaping Italian
Public Opinion about the War in Croatiaꎬ” Sic:ˇ
Casopis za književnostkulturu i književno prevođenje ( 2 )ꎬ
2016ꎬ p􀆰 17􀆰
The Croatian parliamentary and presidential electionsꎬ held in January and February 2000ꎬ respectivelyꎬ
at least for a whileꎬ managed to change the political face of Croatia􀆰 In the parliamentꎬ the decade long rule of the
conservative center ̄right Croatian Democratic Union (Hrvatska Demokratska Zajednicaꎬ HDZ) was overturned by
the coalition of parties led by the center ̄left Social Democratic Party of Croatia ( Socijaldemokratska Partija
Hrvatskeꎬ SDP) ꎬ while in the presidential elections victory was won by an independent candidate Stjepan Mesi'
c􀆰
See: Zambelli (2011)ꎬ p􀆰 60􀆰
Zambelli (2010) presentedꎬ the newly elected political leadership after the mentioned
elections began shaping the discourse concerning Balkan and Croatia in a brand new
way􀆰 Although during the nineties Croatia never did label itself as a Balkan countryꎬ
and although it was never truly necessary to explain to the Croatians themselves that
Croatia does not belong to the Balkansꎬ but only in Europeꎬ the post2000 political
discourse was still taken to a completely new levelꎬ hoping that the Croatia􀆳s road to
the European Union could be made easier if Croatia provides an additional proof to the
European countries that Croatia is was always one of them􀆰 So what were the changes
and how was this done? Zambelli noticed that the new political leadership at that time
gave their best to present the newꎬ post2000 Croatia as a country that not only has
nothing to do with the Balkans mentality ( or geography) but also as a country that
wishes to distance itself from all of the negative moments which occurred in its recent
historyꎬ moments which were nothing but forced upon it􀆰 The two most important elements
of such discourse stand up: (1) the process of so called “de ̄Tuđmanization”ꎬ during
which the SDP􀆳s leaders began presenting the first Croatian president Franjo Tuđmanꎬ
who was also the paramount leader of their opposing political option HDZꎬ as a typical
representative of the Balkan mentalityꎬ which shouldn􀆳t be a part of European
Croatiaꎻand () the process of “ pushing Balkan to the East” ꎬ clearly demarking
Croatia􀆳s border with Serbia as the actual line after which true Balkan begins􀆰
Croatian leading politiciansꎬ as Zambelli emphasizedꎬ were at the time trying to
reconstruct Croatia􀆳s image as the undeniably true European countryꎬ and a country
which has the will to take the burden of connecting the Europe with the (uncivilized)
East􀆰 As far as stereotypes goꎬ the new developments in the political discourse were
not steered into the direction of negationꎬ but quite the contraryꎬ into direction of
making them more tangible􀆰 By placing Croatia on the European side of the imaginar
border Croatian politicians tried recently tried to adjustꎬ the political discourse which they
carried out as a direct result actually accepted and highlighted the European ̄Balkan
divisionsꎬ strengthening the visibility of the line between the civilized Europe and the
时政研究
See: Zambelli ( 2011)ꎬ p􀆰 56􀆰
Ibid􀆰 ꎬ p􀆰 60􀆰
See the statements of Ivica Raˇcanꎬ Tonino Picula and Stjepan Mesi '
c made in early 2000ꎬ in: Zambelli
(2011) pp􀆰 6263ꎬ 66ꎬ 71􀆰
uncivilizedꎬ violent Balkan which exists east of Croatia􀆰 In this discourseꎬ the foundations
of Croatian identityꎬ of courseꎬ were firmly anchored exclusively in Europe􀆰
This same shift in the political discourse was also noticed by Filip Juri'
c (2013)
who analyzed the Croatian high school history textbooks and tried to find in what
volume and in what manner did its authors used the phrase “Balkans”. Juri '
c􀆳s analysis
revealed two important findings􀆰 Firstꎬ it is quite clear that the usage of the phrase
Balkan never overlaps with the the phrase “Croatia” in any way􀆰 There are virtually
no occurrences in which Croatia is situated on the Balkanꎬ or in which Croatia is
referred to as “ Balkanian . Croatian landsꎬ no matter which historical period is
reviewedꎬ are always set next to the Balkanꎬ but they themselves never belong to it􀆰
When necessaryꎬ Croatia is always presented as it belongs to the Southeast
Europe􀆰 The other interesting find is that after the year 2000ꎬ the meaning contained
in the phrase “Balkan either completely evaporated from the history textbooksꎬ or
was thoroughly being substituted with the phrases such as the “Southeast Europe” .
Although the authors of the high school history textbooks did not go as far as politicians
in deliberately and directly projecting the image of Balkan to Croatia􀆳s neighborsꎬ and
by avoiding the phrase generally did in a way made the attempt to neutralize the
stereotipisation of the Balkanꎬ they also as Juri '
c noticesꎬ focused mostly on the
European” in the Croatian identityꎬ generally disregarding all else􀆰
巴尔干研究 (第一辑)
See: Zambelli (2011) ꎬ pp􀆰 65ꎬ 71ꎬ 74􀆰
See: Juri '
cꎬ “Balkan u hrvatskim udžbenicima povijesti za osnovnu školuꎬ” ( The Balkans in Croatian
History Textbooks for Elementary School) Povijest u nastaviꎬ 21 (1) ꎬ 2013ꎬ pp􀆰 3940􀆰
Ibid􀆰 ꎬ pp􀆰 3637􀆰
History as school course is in Croatia taught in two levels􀆰 The first level belongs to primary school where
history taught from 5th to 8th grade two hours per week (70 hours per year in every grade)ꎬ while the second level
belongs to the secondary (high) school whereꎬ depending on whether the school a grammar school (also called
gymnasiums) or a vocational schoolꎬ the history is thought 70 hours per year from the st to the 4th grade or 70
hours only one yearꎬ respectively􀆰 The curricula for the history course is designed so that students chronologically
learn about the world (mostly European) and Croatian history from the Paleolithic to the contemporary times􀆰
History textbooks are written by various teachers and university professors and published by different publishing
housesꎬ but the whole process is controlled from the state􀆰 The topicsꎬ titles as well as the major chronology of
events are suggested by the National Curriculaꎬ the Ministry of Education and Science provides anonymous peer
reviewers and must give its approval to each of the textbooks that wishes to enter the market􀆰 On average between
two and four history textbooks are approved for each grade􀆰 History teachers are allowed to freely choose textbook
they wish to useꎬ but teachers from a single school should agree to use the same history textbook􀆰
Despite of the differences in the development of the political discourse before and
after the year 2000ꎬ there is a clear consensus that Balkan is something that clearly
belongs to the east of Croatia􀆰 Howeverꎬ as Sandi Blagoni '
c (2016) and Jure Periši '
(2016) warns us aboutꎬ the solution for Croatian “ Balkans” problemꎬ because of how
Croatia functions on the insideꎬ is reality quite difficult to find in such a simplistic
way􀆰 Blagoni '
c analyzed the construction of identity of the Croatia􀆳s Istria peninsula and
reached the conclusion that in the case of Istrian identityꎬ the Balkan discourse was
being used in many ways as similarly as it has been used in the attempts to construct
the Croatian identity􀆰 As it seemsꎬ in the mind of Istria􀆳s politicians at leastꎬ Serbia
belongs to the Balkans from the perspective of the Croatians in the same way the rest of
the Croatia belongs to the Balkan from the perspective of Istria􀆰 Even if the shiny
political discourse is omittedꎬ as Blagoni '
c points outꎬ for Istrian people the Balkan
begins right after the mountain range Uˇckaꎬ which separates the peninsula form the
rest of the Croatia􀆰 In the minds of many Istriansꎬ Istria is a “land of good people”
which lies in opposition to the “ Other Croatians who live right across the Uˇcka
mountain􀆰 Adding more confusion to the discussionꎬ Jure Periši '
c points out to the
unavoidable emergence of certain contradictions when it comes to confronting the most
representative and most noticeable of all Croatian mentalitiesꎬ the one which has a
tendency to establish itself as the “proper Croatian mentalityꎬ with the attempts to set
up Croatia as a strictly “ non ̄Balkan country􀆰 urposely constructing it in the
opposition to the “communist mentality” by several political forces in many waysꎬ the
prominent “Dinarian mentality”ꎬ named after the mountain of Dinara which lies on the
border of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovinaꎬ render itself in a form of brave and
hospitable warrior who values the patriarchal social structureꎬ draws strength from
friendshipꎬ brotherly unity and strong leadersꎻ a man who is also cunningꎬ
resourcefulꎬ deceitfulꎬ has a knack for trade and lacks altruism sentimentꎬ revolution
时政研究
See: Blagoni '
cꎬ “ Istrijanski regere fines: Tradicijska kultura i Balkan u diskurzivnoj konstrukciji
identiteta (Istrianregere fines: Traditional Culture and the Balkans in Discursive Identity Construction) Problemi
sjevernog Jadranaꎬ 15ꎬ ( 2016)ꎬ pp􀆰 124 125􀆰
Ibid􀆰 ꎬ pp􀆰 123ꎬ 128􀆰
spiritꎬ willingness for a change and has an aversion toward the state ̄building
initiatives􀆰 man belonging to the “Dinarian mentality” also values mythologyꎬ is
fascinated by the heroic songsꎬ especially those of “hajduks” and owns emphasized
ethical valuesꎬ such as the condemnation of any insult made to the human physical or
moral personꎬ family or homeland􀆰 eriši '
c argues that all these “Dinarian mentality”
traits are actually the same ones which belong to the “Balkan mentality” stereotypesꎬ
which steadily kindle equally in the West and in Croatia􀆰 Paradoxicallyꎬ as it seemsꎬ
Croatia on one hand wishes to remove itself from the Balkan area and from all the
negative connotations glued to itꎬ but on the otherꎬ it gives a bit too much freedom to
the development of one particular mentality which creates an idea of what a “Croatian
man” should look likeꎬ never realizing how much it corresponds with the general idea
of a Balkan men”. To make things worseꎬ the Catholic Churchꎬ which exercises a
huge influence over the social developments in Croatiaꎬ as Periši '
c points outꎬ
continues to play an important “godfather role in singling out and breeding this
particular Croatian mentalityꎬ which in praxis only further supplements the general
notion of slow development of democracy and constitution based rule of law in
Croatians societyꎬ and creates a distance between Croatia and the ideas of European
values􀆰
These examples show that Croatians themselvesꎬ for various of reasonsꎬ tend to
keep the Balkan stereotypes alive􀆰 Whether these stereotypes are just a tool of one
巴尔干研究 (第一辑)
See: Periši'
cꎬ Balkansko u dinarskom mentalitetu: teološko viđenje dinarskog utjecaja u konstituiranju
suvrjeme hrvatske državeꎬ” (The Balkan Element in the Dinaric Mentality: A Theological View of the Dinaric
Influence on the Creation of the Modern Croatian State) Obnovljeni životꎬ 71 ( 1) ꎬ 2016ꎬ pp􀆰 107108􀆰
Todayꎬ word “Hajduk” invokes an idea of aꎬ as Mirosłav Dymarski (2016) explainsꎬ “ heroic guerrilla
defying unjust laws and fighting against the Ottoman (and Habsburg) authorities for the people􀆳s political and
religious freedom􀆰 ” Dymarski also brings out the observation of a Serbian linguist Vuk Karadži'
cꎬ who pointed out at
the hajduk􀆳s various criminal activity􀆰 Interestinglyꎬ “Hajduk” is also a name of one of the most successful Croatian
football clubs􀆰 See: Dymarski ( 2016)ꎬ p􀆰 85􀆰 Also see: http: / / hajduk􀆰 hr / eng/ .
See: Periši '
cꎬ “Balkansko u dinarskom mentalitetu: teološko viđenje dinarskog utjecaja u konstituiranju
suvrjemen hrvatske državeꎬ” ( The Balkan Element in the Dinaric Mentality: A Theological View of the Dinaric
Influence on the Creation of the Modern Croatian State) Obnovljeni životꎬ 71 ( 1) ꎬ 2016ꎬ pp􀆰 107108􀆰
See: Periši '
cꎬ “Balkansko u dinarskom mentalitetu: teološko viđenje dinarskog utjecaja u konstituiranju
suvrjemen hrvatske državeꎬ” ( The Balkan Element in the Dinaric Mentality: A Theological View of the Dinaric
Influence on the Creation of the Modern Croatian State) Obnovljeni životꎬ 71 ( 1) ꎬ 2016ꎬ pp􀆰 114117􀆰
political option against the otherꎬ the political projection of Balkan stigma to Croatia􀆳s
immediate political “Other —Serbiaꎬ the tools of politics inside of Croatiaꎬ or the
strange manifestations of the certain Croatian mentalityꎬ they continue to be a part of
Croatia􀆳s reality􀆰 As we will see in continuation of this paperꎬ politicians cannot all be
blamed for keeping these Balkan stereotypes alive􀆰 The idea of Balkanꎬ negative as
well as the positiveꎬ continues to emerge from many other aspects of the Croatian
society􀆰
Ⅳ. Balkan Wolf in European Skin:
MoviesLiteratureand Music
    Despite of all the attempts to misuseꎬ manipulate and project the Balkan
phraseology to their Eastern “ other ꎬ and despite of all of the contradictions
mentioned so farꎬ the Croatian politicians generally do all agree that “Balkans” is not
something either of them wishes to associate withꎬ and that Europe is the only proper
setting for modern Croatia today􀆰 Howeverꎬ as we already have hinted aboveꎬ if we
change the perspective and begin searching for “Balkans in Croatia􀆳s insidesꎬ one
can be quite surprisedꎬ overwhelmed evenꎬ just by how many “Balkan” elements it is
possible to find􀆰 Research the Croatian scholars made about Croatian filmꎬ literatureꎬ
artꎬ music and the general feeling of identityꎬ all steer us in that realization􀆰
Andrea Matoševi '
c (2011) ꎬ who compared the three moviesꎬ Prije Kiše [ Before
Rain] (1994)ꎬ Podzemlje [Underground] (1995)ꎬ and Kino Lika [The Lika Cinema]
(2007)ꎬ which came from three different Balkan authorsꎬ the Macedonian Milˇca
Manˇcevskiꎬ Serbian Emir Kusturica and Croatian director Dalibor Matani'
cꎬ
respectivelyꎬ indicated to the existence of many similarities between them regarding
the representation of Balkan􀆰 In these three moviesꎬ Matoševi '
c managed to detect
manyꎬ in her wordsꎬ “constitutional elements of the discourse on the untamedꎬ wildꎬ
时政研究
pre ̄modern Balkanꎬ the Id of Europe and showed us quite directly that the
examples of the “ auto ̄exotisation of the Balkan does not only belong to the areas
east” of Croatiaꎬ but to Croatia itself􀆰 We may add that Matani '
c􀆳s movieꎬ which
Matoševi '
used for his analysisꎬ was obviously not chosen as a unique occurrenceꎬ but
more because it can stand as a representative example of how (many) Croatian movies
look like in general􀆰 Trulyꎬ the Croatian directors quite often use exactly those kinds
of settings and iconography for the telling of their stories which can be characterized as
balkanian ith ease􀆰 The backwardꎬ distantꎬ unusualꎬ wildꎬ traditional and in
many other ways Balkan ̄stereotyped nature of the social structures and characters they
portrayꎬ as well as the over ̄emphasized sharp distinction between the “ Croatia ̄
Balkan” and the “European area / mentality/ society elementsꎬ is something which is
difficult not to notice􀆰 To name only a fewꎬ Ognjen Sviliˇci '
c􀆳s Oprostiza Kung Fu
[Sorry for Kung Fu] (2004)ꎬ Branko Schimdt􀆳s Put Lubenica [ The Melon Route]
Vinko Brešan􀆳s Sve'
cenikovadjeca [The Pries􀆳s Children] (2013) ꎬ as well as one of the
latest Matani '
c􀆳s movies Zvizdan [The High Sun] (2015)ꎬ all are movies in which we
find abundance of those elements􀆰 The question is why? Is it because all those
directors fell into a Todorova􀆳s imagination trap and deliberately chose such settings
because Europe wants itꎬ or it is because they simply want to artistically and critically
inspect the certain elements which are weaved into the fabric of the Croatian society?
The answer lies probably somewhere in the middle between the two extremes􀆰
Similar phenomenonꎬ as far as the research results allow usꎬ can also be
observed in literature􀆰 As Miranda Levanat ̄Peri ˇci '
c (2016) points outꎬ when it comes
to “metastasing of the Balkan stereotypes” the two Croatian names shine outꎬ standing
right next to the Slovenian authors Aleš Debeljak and Goran Vojnovi '
c􀆰 Critically
acclaimed authorsꎬ especially outside of Croatia􀆳s literary sceneꎬ Dubravka Ugreši '
巴尔干研究 (第一辑)
See: Matoševi'
cꎬ “ ( Auto) egzotizacija Balkana i etnografija nositelja znaˇcenja u tri primjera sedme
umjetnostiꎬ” [ (Auto) Exotisation of the Balkans and the Ethnography of the Bearer of Meaning in Three Examples
of “The Seventh Art” ] Narodna umjetnost 48 (2)ꎬ 2011 p􀆰 33􀆰
See: Levanat ̄Peri ˇci '
cꎬ “ Kako se gnijezdio Balkan na ‘ jugoslavenskoj Atlantidi􀆳 ( ˇ
Cetiri pogleda na
reprodukciju orijenatlizma u postjugoslavenskoj književnosti)ꎬ” [ How the Balkans nested on the “ Yugoslav
Atlantis” (Four views on the reproduction of orientalism in post ̄Yugoslav literature) ] Sic:ˇ
Casopis za književnost
kulturu i književnoprevđenjeꎬ 6 (2) ꎬ 2016ꎬ p􀆰 3􀆰
and Slavenka Drakuli '
c often invoke Balkan􀆳s negative connotations in their writing:
violenceꎬ primitivismꎬ backwardness and hate􀆰 Slavenka Drakuli '
cꎬ as Levant ̄P eriši '
noticesꎬ uses the phrase Balkan so that she could designate the universal or particular
evil􀆰 Similarlyꎬ Dubravka Ugreši '
c uses the phrase “Balkan to explain the political
violence tied to the territories of ex ̄Yugoslaviaꎬ and draws a distinctive line between
the “Balkanized” roatia and Europeꎬ which should take on the task of upbringing of
the people that live in that backward place􀆰 Even though the examples of Dubravka
Ugreši '
c and Slavenka Drakuli '
cꎬ due to their stigma of “ exile narration” cannot be
used to represent the ntire Croatian literatureꎬ they are still are far too influential to
be disregarded􀆰 Besidesꎬ other prominent Croatian writersꎬ such as Ante Tomi '
cꎬ
Miljenko Jergovi '
cꎬ Boris Dežulovi '
cꎬ Kristijan Novakꎬ Igor Mandi '
cꎬ Ivan Aralica and
othersꎬ all in various ways play with the “ Balkan elements in their work􀆰
Besides movies and literatureꎬ music is yet another interesting indicative media in
which the Balkan factor can be found living quite comfortably􀆰 In it􀆳s shortꎬ but
informative internet articleꎬ Barbara Matijevi'
( 2016) listed four popular musicians /
groupsꎬ namelyꎬ Elena Georgheꎬ Rambo Amadeusꎬ Neda Ukradenꎬ Dubioza
Kolektivꎬ and Maja Šuputꎬ coming from Romaniaꎬ Montenegroꎬ Serbiaꎬ Bosnia and
Herzegovina and Croatiaꎬ respectivelyꎬ all of who use the Balkan stereotypes in their
songs􀆰 Although violence is not mentioned in these songsꎬ the typical Balkan person is
still wildꎬ hedonisticꎬ belongs to a patriarchal social systemꎬ loves to drink Balkan
drinks and eat Balkan foodꎬ andꎬ for Rambo Amadeus at leastꎬ has questionable
时政研究
See: Levanat ̄Peri ˇci '
cꎬ “ Kako se gnijezdio Balkan na ‘ jugoslavenskoj Atlantidi􀆳 ( ˇ
Cetiri pogleda na
reprodukciju orijenatlizma u postjugoslavenskoj književnosti)ꎬ” [ How the Balkans nested on the “ Yugoslav
Atlantis” (Four views on the reproduction of orientalism in post ̄Yugoslav literature) ] Sic:ˇ
Casopis za književnost
kulturu i književnoprevđenjeꎬ 6 (2) ꎬ 2016ꎬ p􀆰 6􀆰
Ibid􀆰 ꎬ pp􀆰 6ꎬ 1718􀆰
During the early 1990sꎬ both Dubravka Ugreši '
c and Slavenka Drakuli'
c left Croatia because of political
reasons and pressures􀆰
For more on the “Balkans in the Croatian literature in the first part of 20th century see: Rihtman
Auguštin (2000) ꎬ pp􀆰 222234􀆰 On the “Balkans” in the Croatian contemporary literature see: Luketi'
c (2013)
pp􀆰 198199ꎬ 224ꎬ 225ꎬ 239􀆰
On Croatian popular music and “ Balkans ꎬ see: Luketi '
cꎬ Balkan:od geografije do fantazije ( The
Balkans: from geography to fantasy)ꎬ pp􀆰 399428􀆰
hygiene habits􀆰 As we can seeꎬ the Croatian popular music scene is not exempt from
this phenomena􀆰 Quite the contraryꎬ it is the content of the Croatian singer􀆳s songs
which actually implies on the existence of the commonly understood connection Balkan
people shareꎬ no matter from which Balkan country they are coming from􀆰 Another
authorꎬ Marin Cvitanovi '
c (2009) analyzed the connection between music and Balkan
elements more thoroughlyꎬ and reached several interesting conclusions􀆰 First of allꎬ as
he noticedꎬ the “ Balkan motif is commonly used in popular songsꎬ and when
compared with other phrases of similar typeꎬ the frequency of its usage is surpassed
only by more precise terminology which includes names of the states and
nations􀆰 Altogether he found 110 songs made in the two decades prior to time the
article was published and sang in Serbian and Croatian language which in one way or
another use the phrase “Balkan or some of its derivatives􀆰 Out of this numberꎬ 45 of
them used the phrase only as a geographical designationꎬ while 75 of them contain
coded messagesꎬ metaphorsꎬ or directly try to evoke and explain either the
atmosphere of warꎬ miseryꎬ conflictꎬ divisionꎬ passionꎬ or the one of beautyꎬ love and
pride􀆰 ”Out of those 75 songsꎬ most belong to the Bosnia and Herzegovina and
Serbiaꎬ while only 9 came from Croatia􀆰 Stillꎬ Croatian songs blend perfectly with the
other ones in their usage of the Balkan motifs􀆰 In those songsꎬ as Cvitanovi'
c points outꎬ
“Balkan” phraseology was used usually in four different waysꎬ mostly to denote (1) area
of war and conflictꎬ ( ) area of hedonismꎬ passion and fatalismꎬ ( ) dichotomy
between the primitive and aggressive male and beautifulꎬ proud and persistent female
巴尔干研究 (第一辑)
Songs Matijevi '
c mentions are: Balkan Girls (Elena Gheorgheꎬ 2009) Balkan Boy ( Rambo Amadeusꎬ
1989) Na Balkanu [On the Balkan] ( Neda Ukradenꎬ 2012)ꎬ and HejBalkano [Heyꎬ Balkan] ( Maja Šuputꎬ
2015) . See: Matijevi'
cꎬ B􀆰 ( 2016 )Balkanizam [ Balcanism]ꎬ Retrieved from (1 May 2018 ) : http: / /
cultstud􀆰 ffri􀆰 hr / kultura ̄u  ̄akciji/ osvrti / 564 ̄balkanizam ̄barbara ̄matijevicꎬ April 2016􀆰 Matijevi '
c also mentions
Dubioza Kolektiv􀆳s Balkan Funk (2010). Howeverꎬ it is worth mentioning that Dubioza Kolektiv􀆳s opus which deals
with the “Balkan elements” or the dichotomy between Balkan / Bosnia and the West is not limited just to this one
song􀆰 Among othersꎬ as examples of their workꎬ also see and listen 􀆰􀆰􀆰 ( 2013) Kažu [They say] (2013)
Volio BiH [I would like] ( 2013)ꎬ and especially No Escape (from Balkan) (2014) . Many of their songs are sang
in Englishꎬ which makes their messages understandable to wider audience􀆰
See: Ibid􀆰
See: Cvitanovi'
cꎬ “ (Re) konstrukcija balkanskih identiteta kroz popularnu glazbuꎬ” [ (Re) constructio
of the Balkan Identities through Popular Music] Migracijske i etniˇcketemeꎬ 25 (4) 2009ꎬ p􀆰 320􀆰
Ibid􀆰 ꎬ p􀆰 321􀆰
factorꎬ and (4) area which belongs to the European “other” .
At the end of the analysis of Balkan ̄themed songsꎬ Cvitanovi '
c notices that the
negative stereotypes about Balkan in the songs are actually never questionedꎬ but
taken for granted and often reaffirmed as a part of one􀆳s identityꎬ and then criticizedꎬ
acceptedꎬ turned into auto ̄parodyꎬ or used as a undeniable and unavoidable fact
which is present in various aspects of life􀆰 ”As we have seen aboveꎬ this last part of
Cvitanovi '
c􀆳s observations can easily be extended to the spheres of filmꎬ literature and
personal identity􀆰 As it seemsꎬ the idea of “ Balkan does actually live within the
people of Croatia in the similar way it does in “ other Balkan countries􀆰 We cannot
really say thatꎬ apart from the attempts from the state and certain politiciansꎬ who also
use the phraseology to achieve their particular agendasꎬ a widespread social or cultural
revolt against the Balkan elements exists in Croatian society􀆰 In factꎬ out of the
numerous articles we consulted during the writing of this paperꎬ we could only find
one which covered instances of direct revolt against the invoking of the Balkan
stereotypes􀆰 So besides the works of Serbian film director Dušan Makavejevꎬ Croatian
and Serbian / Canadian illustrators and cartoonists Irena Juki '
Pranji '
c and Nina
时政研究
See: Cvitanovi'
cꎬ “ (Re) konstrukcija balkanskih identiteta kroz popularnu glazbuꎬ” [ (Re) constructio
of the Balkan Identities through Popular Music] ꎬ p􀆰 317􀆰
Ibid􀆰 ꎬ p􀆰 332􀆰
Politicians continue to hold their ground􀆰 Just recentlyꎬ for exampleꎬ Croatian President Kolinda Grabar
Kitarovi '
c spoke about the “Balkans in negative manner several times􀆰 In June 2018ꎬ during the panel in
Bruxellesꎬ organized in honor of the Croatia􀆳s five ̄year EU membershipꎬ she argued against the phrases “Balkans”
and “Western Balkans” and suggest the use of the phrase “ Southeast Europe hen needed for Croatia􀆰 Quite
interesting is the phrasing she usedꎬ for example: “ I don􀆳t want Balkan in my homeꎬ but it is not true that I don􀆳t
want it for neighbors􀆰 ” What is also quite interesting is thatꎬ on several occasions when she mentioned talked about
the Croatian connections with the Central Europe and the identities in the Central Europe (during the UN General
Assembly in New York in July 2016ꎬ at the Diplomatic academy in Zagreb in June 2017ꎬ during the Initiative of
Three Seas summit in Warszaw in July 2017ꎬ at the Corvinus University in Budapest in September 2017)
President Grabar Kitarovi'
c always avoided making any connections with the “ Balkans and focused on ( re)
establishing Croatian links with Central Europe ( more ) or Southeastern Europe ( less ) . See: http: / /
hr􀆰 n1info􀆰 com / a309707/ Vijesti / Termin ̄Balkan ̄ne ̄zelim ̄u ̄svojoj ̄kuci􀆰 html https: / / www􀆰 vecernji􀆰 hr / vijesti/
hrvatska ̄predsjednica ̄na ̄korvinovu ̄sveucilistu ̄o ̄vaznosti ̄srednje ̄europe ̄1194044ꎬ https: / / direktno􀆰 hr / direkt/
trump ̄ova ̄regija ̄mi ̄je ̄vazna ̄grabar ̄kitarovic ̄mi ̄smo ̄srednja ̄europa ̄91086/ ꎬ https: / / www􀆰 tportal􀆰 hr / vijesti/
clanak / predsjednica ̄nezadovoljna ̄imidzem ̄hrvatske ̄u ̄svijetu ̄20170605ꎬ https: / / dnevnik􀆰 hr / vijesti/ hrvatska /
kolinda ̄grabar ̄kitarovic ̄zavrsava ̄posjet ̄poljskoj ̄ ̄ ̄424769􀆰 htmlꎬ https: / / www􀆰 jutarnji􀆰 hr / vijesti/ hrvatska / sve ̄
tajne ̄kolindine ̄uspravnice ̄kako ̄sefica ̄drzave ̄stvara ̄novu ̄regiju / 4491053 / September 2018􀆰
Bunjevacꎬ respectivelyꎬ and Serbian painter and writer Mileta Prodanovi '
cꎬ whoꎬ as
Tomislav Oroz (2016 ) noticedꎬ “ disassemble or ironically perpetuate the imposed
visions of Balkanꎬ leading them to the absurdityꎬ”and probably a few others no one
bothered to notice and scientifically processꎬ the restꎬ no matter being aware or not of
the theoretical implicationsꎬ generally accept the Balkan stereotypisation􀆰 In the end
as it seemsꎬ still way too many writersꎬ directorsꎬ musiciansꎬ and others do just that
purposelyꎬ mostly because they see itꎬ or some parts of it at leastꎬ as true􀆰
Ⅴ. What Do Croatians Think
About Where Their County Lies?
    As we have seen so farꎬ Balkan stereotypes and discourse are quite present in
moviesꎬ literature and musicꎬ similarly in Croatia as much as in other “ Balkan
countries􀆰 Howeverꎬ the most vivid indication that part of Croatian identity might in
fact lurk somewhere on the inside of the Balkan ideaꎬ or at least a glimpse of
understanding of why the Balkan stereotypes continue to vibrate in Croatiaꎬ all appear
when we began conducting research on how the newꎬ youngꎬ and presumably modern
generations see themselves and understand what Balkan means and is􀆰 This kind of
research was done by Laura Šakaja ( 2001)ꎬ who investigated the extent of Balkan
stereotypes of young people from Zagrebꎬ Ksenija Klasni '
c and Izvor Rukavina
(2011)ꎬ who tried to see what Croatians themselves think influences the Croatian
image abroadꎬ and Alistair Rossꎬ Saša Puzi '
c and Karin Doolan (2017)ꎬ who made
the attempt to inspect the identities of young people in Croatia in terms of “place
identifications”.
After interviewing 395 high school students from Zagreb in 2001ꎬ Šakaja
concluded that in the minds of the young students the phrase “Balkan” was at the time
usually oversimplified and generalizedꎬ encompassing the negative meaningꎬ such as
巴尔干研究 (第一辑)
See: Orozꎬ “ ‘Mislim da sam vidio Micu Macu’ : animalna naliˇcja Balkana i popularna kulturaꎬ” [
Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat” : Reverse Faces the Balkans and Popular Culture] Narodna umjetnostꎬ 53 (2) ꎬ 2016ꎬ
p􀆰 30􀆰
agressionbarbarism and destruction􀆰As the students explainedꎬ the Balkan
peninsulaꎬ excluding Greeceꎬ was their least desirable place to liveꎬ a sentiment
which probably did not change much since thenꎬ and a place which begins just east of
Croatia􀆰 Out of all of the Balkan countriesꎬ many of which they did not know much
aboutꎬ except again for Greeceꎬ the country which they understood to be the mos
closely related to the most negative connotations of the phrase “Balkan at the time
wasꎬ as expectedꎬ Serbia—a country “ which always creates warsꎬ but loses all the
time􀆰 ”For the studentsꎬ the phrase “Balkan” was a synonym for all of those who
do not belong to the Westꎬ and a phrase which is the opposite form the phrases such
as culture” and “ civilization” . The students themselvesꎬ when confronted with the
Balkan ̄Serbia ̄violence ideaꎬ always answered that they belong to the Westꎬ of
course􀆰 Ten years after Šakaja􀆳s paper was publishedꎬ Klasni '
c and Rukavina took
upon themselves to investigate not the perceptions others have of Croatiaꎬ but the
Croatians􀆳 own understanding of what influences the perceptions of others over them􀆰
As it turned outꎬ at the time Croatia was getting close to enter the European Unionꎬ
Croatians still felt that the two basic images influenced the outside perception of
Croatia the most: the image of tourism and the image Balkan􀆰 Finallyꎬ just recentlyꎬ
Rossꎬ Puzi '
c and Doolan made a new research which showed that the young Croatians
today not only do not have such a strong aversion toward Balkan ideaꎬ but also that
the Balkan is actually is recognized and acknowledged as an important part of their
identity􀆰 As the authors concludeꎬ “the young people showed a sense of aspiring to be
Europeanꎬ of feeling almost Europeanꎬ of being not ̄quite ̄yet Europeanꎬ of being
时政研究
See: Šakajaꎬ Stereotipi mladih agrepˇcana o Balkanu: Prilog prouˇcavanju imaginativne geografijeꎬ
(Stereotypes Among Zagreb Youth Regarding the Balkans: A Contribution to the Study of Imaginative Geography)
Revijaza Sociologijuꎬ 32 (12) ꎬ 2001ꎬ pp􀆰 27ꎬ 31􀆰
Ibid􀆰 ꎬ p􀆰 28􀆰
Ibid􀆰 ꎬ pp􀆰 3132􀆰
Ibid􀆰 ꎬ p􀆰 32􀆰
As the authors explainꎬ the Croatians felt that the Balkan image was influenced by the indictments from
The Hague International Criminal Tribunalꎬ corruptionꎬ organized crimeꎬ the violent behavior of sport club and
national teams supportersꎬ and the communist heritage􀆰 See: Klasni'
cꎬ Rukavina ( 2011)ꎬ pp􀆰 138ꎬ 145􀆰
Balkan” .In the minds of the interviewed young peopleꎬ Croatia was understood as
being on a “ thresholdꎬ though still leaning towards the Balkan side: underdevelopedꎬ
with littered streets and quarrelsome people􀆰 ” Europe wasꎬ as an entity on its
ownꎬ seen primarily as political—it was over thereꎬ offering financial mutual supportꎬ
travel opportunities and education􀆰 ”
Each one of these three analysis show that the stereotypes about the “Balkans
are continuously excepted by the generations of young people in Croatia􀆰 What these
three studies also showꎬ as is also indicated by the studies of Croatian moviesꎬ
literature and musicꎬ is that as the time moved forward from 2001ꎬ the Balkan
stereotypes not only did not evaporateꎬ but also managed to infiltrate intoꎬ or re ̄
emerge fromꎬ the Croatian identity􀆰 There is one important differenceꎬ howeverꎬ in
the meaning of the phrase Balkan has today and had twenty years agoꎬ which can be
noticed and should be further investigated􀆰 The research done by Šakajaꎬ Klasni '
c and
Rukavinaꎬ and Rossꎬ Puzi '
c and Doolanꎬ does indicate that although not completely
goneꎬ violenceꎬ as the prime association with the Balkan phrase has been substituted
with the underdevelopment and backwardness􀆰
Ⅵ. Balkan as an Area of Freedom?
The Past and the Present...
    So far we have shown that the Balkan stereotypes continue to exit in Croatia
todayꎬ and that they are even latently accepted by the Croatians as part of their own
identityꎬ despite the fact thatꎬ generally speakingꎬ country officially do wish to
escape” form Balkan and hide itself in Europe􀆰 The question which yet remains
unanswered is why? Perhaps history can aid us in understanding this phenomenon􀆰
The politiciansꎬ when the “Balkans issue” appearꎬ as we have shownꎬ usually hold
巴尔干研究 (第一辑)
See: Alistair Rossꎬ Saša Puzi '
cꎬ Karin Doolanꎬ “ Balkan and European? Place Identifications of Young
People in Croatiaꎬ” Revijaza Sociologijuꎬ 47 (2) ꎬ 2017ꎬ p􀆰 125􀆰
Ibid􀆰 ꎬ p􀆰 143􀆰
Ibid􀆰 ꎬ p􀆰 144􀆰
their groundꎬ often reaching for the irrefutable (and superficial) historical facts which
are to prove that Croatian lands were always a part of the civilization circle belonging
to the western Europe􀆰 After allꎬ all of the Croatian history textbooks teach us that
when Croatians arrived to their lands centuries ago they did not settle on the Balkanꎬ
but on the former Roman provinces and the Adriatic coast􀆰 For most of the history
which followedꎬ Croatian lands were always a part of European kingdoms and empiresꎬ
and were never effectively ruled by the Ottoman empireꎬ as the other Balkan
countriesꎬ excluding the Sloveniaꎬ were􀆰 Alsoꎬ not only that Croatia ( and Slovenia)
do not share the Oriental heritage from which a large part of the “ Balkan
characteristics emerge fromꎬ Croatia itself has always proudly been the only Balkan
country which belonged to the heritage of the Western Christianity—Catholicism􀆰
Further moreꎬ as Igor Despot (2012) noticesꎬ the “Western Croatia” did not perceive
the Balkan wars as it􀆳s own affairꎬand was submerged in the Balkan affairs only after
the political “ mistakes were made during the aftermath of the First World War􀆰
Howeverꎬ what is usually not mentioned by politicians and all the others who jump
into this complex discussions without a wish to see or understand the bigger picture is:
(1) the entire Balkan areaꎬ and not only Adriatic coast were a part of the Roman
Empire at least at one point in history and Croatia is not an exceptionꎻ () at the
moment Croatians “ arrived to their final settling placeꎬ Roman provinces did not
exist for more than three centuriesꎻ (3) it is true that the Croatian lands were never a
part of the Ottoman Empireꎬ but it is also true that for many centuriesꎬ the European
empires did not exercise an effective rule over the large part of today􀆳s Croatiaꎬ thus
allowing ethnicꎬ religious and cultural mixtureꎻ (4) the lack of interest in the Balkan
Wars by one part of Croatia was mirroredꎬ as Despot also notesꎬ by the substantial
interest of some other parts􀆰
As far as the “political miscalculations” ꎬ made in the final years of the First
World War which took Croatia away from Europe and tied it with the first Yugoslaviaꎬ
are concernedꎬ two important things are often conveniently forgotten􀆰 Firstlyꎬ these
时政研究
See: Juri '
cꎬ “Balkan u hrvatskim udžbenicima povijesti za osnovnu školuꎬ” ( The Balkans in Croatian
history textbooks for elementary school) ꎬ p􀆰 39􀆰
See: Despotꎬ “ Sjeverozapadna hrvatska vrijeme Balkanskih ratovaꎬ” ( Northwest Croatia during the
time of the Balkan Wars) Podravina 11 ( 22)ꎬ 2012ꎬ p􀆰 80􀆰
miscalculations” were far from being momentary lapse of judgmentꎬ since they􀆳ve
been for the large part influenced by the ideas envisioned of many prominent and
influential Croatians in the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century􀆰 And
secondlyꎬ those decisionsꎬ despite of being painful to look at by someꎬ especially
when still recent memory of the violent end of Yugoslavia are taken under
considerationꎬ not only that managed to encompass all of the Croatia􀆳s territory under
one jurisdiction for the first timeꎬ but alsoꎬ since Croatia was actually on the losing
side of the First World Warꎬ also managed to save the Croatian lands from being
permanently dismembered by more powerful European forces􀆰
Looking from such perspectiveꎬ we could say that at the beginning of the 20th
centuryꎬ Croatian politicians saw the Balkans not as the place Croatia needs to escape
fromꎬ but as an area of freedom and security in which Croatia could achieve its full
independence􀆰 Not from the Ottomansꎬ but from all of those European empires and
kingdomsꎬ which are so much valued today􀆰 Indication that the political decisions
made in history were not the only demonstration of Croatia􀆳s aversion to Europe can be
shown with the case of the central figure of Croatian 20th century literature—Miroslav
Krleža􀆰 Vastly influential “Croatia􀆳s greatest writer and encyclopedistꎬ Krleža spent
his entire life creatingꎬ discovering and mapping the unique Croatian cultural identityꎬ
巴尔干研究 (第一辑)
As Neven Budak pointed outꎬ in the Croatian territories prior to the 19th century it is possible to
distinguish more ten different identitiesꎬ depending on their ethnical or territorial affiliation: Slavoniansꎬ
Dalmatiansꎬ Slavicnessꎬ Illyriansꎬ Slavicsꎬ Unionistꎬ and Austroslavicsꎬ to name only some􀆰 An attempt to unify
this diversity was made in during the 19th century when the Illyrian movement (named after the southeastern part of
Habsburg Empireꎻ other name used much today is Croatian National Revival) and its leader Ljudevit Gaj pushed
for the idea of a linguisticꎬ cultural and ethnic unity􀆰 This idea under the Illyrian name was not successfulꎬ
howeverꎬ but it did give a significant push to the creation of idea of separate South Slavic nations such as ones of
Slovenia or Croatia􀆰 In the second half of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuryꎬ the continuation of this
movement eventually led to the creation of a modern Croatian nation􀆰 Howeverꎬ it is important to note that aside
from the idea of the unity under the Illyrian name and later Croatian nameꎬ in the 19th century Croatian lands there
were other ideas of national unityꎬ at certain moments equally strong and influentialꎬ out of which the most
prominent were Panslavism ” and Yugoslavism ”. See: Budakꎬ Hrvatski identitet između prošlosti
modernitetaꎬ” ( roatian identity between past and modernity) in Budakꎬ N􀆰 ꎬ Katunari'
cꎬ V􀆰 ( eds􀆰 ) ꎬ Hrvatski
nacionalni identitet globaliziraju '
cem svijetu (Croatian national identity in globalized world) ꎬ Zagrebꎬ Croatia:
Center for democracy Miko Tripaloꎬ 2010ꎬ pp􀆰 12􀆰 Luketi '
cꎬ Balkan:od geografije do fantazije ( The Balkans:
from geography to fantasy) ꎬ p􀆰 293􀆰 Roksandi '
cꎬ “ Yugoslavism before Creation of Yugoslaviaꎬ” Biserkoꎬ S􀆰
(eds􀆰 )Yugoslavia in Historical Perspectiveꎬ Belgradeꎬ Serbia: Serbian Helsinki Committeeꎬ 2017ꎬ pp􀆰 2961􀆰
See: Jakovinaꎬ Trenutci Kararze (Moments of Catharsis) ꎬ Zagrebꎬ Croatia: Frakturaꎬ 2013ꎬ p􀆰 28􀆰
basing it equally on the distinctions toward the Westꎬ as well as from the East􀆰
The feeling of reservations toward Europe do exist even todayꎬ and was observed
by Branko Caratan ( 2008 ) during the time Croatia was struggling to enter to the
European Union􀆰 As Caratan noticedꎬ the Croatian “ euroscepticism” was not based
on the same reasoning Switzerland or Norway shared over entering the European
Unionꎬ or the United Kingdom􀆳sꎬ Sweden􀆳s or Denmark􀆳s reservations toward their
inclusion to the Eurozone􀆰 Croatians were not bothered by the political issues brought
by the federalization ideas of the EUꎬ fears of non ̄transparent non ̄national structure of
the European Union or by the loss of jobs due to the influx of the cheaper workforce􀆰
Croatian reasons for saying no to Europe were exhausted mostly in the the fears of
losing sovereignty and selected parts of the “ traditional” Croatian identity􀆰 Listening
to the whispers of the ghosts of the pastꎬ the largest Croatian fear was still the one that
Croatia will once again be politically or economically “ruled or dominated by the
greater powersꎬ or even manipulated ( again) into the new Yugoslavia ̄type political or
economical entity􀆰 Because of such attitudesꎬ it is not so surprising to understand
why many Croatians on some level do feel a connection with the idea of “Balkans” ꎬ as
well as with the stereotypes this idea invokes􀆰 In a wayꎬ despite all of its misgivingsꎬ
when necessaryꎬ Balkan does from time to time emerge as an imaginary geographical
and political area of freedomꎬ a place in which Croatia “can be itselfꎬ and area in
which there might be even an opportunity for Croatia to play a role of a ( regional)
leaderꎬ something it could never become in Europe􀆰
Ⅶ. Conclusions:BalkanEuropean
MediterraneanSoutheast European
or a Bridge Between the East and West?
    Seems like the task of where and how to place Croatia on the geographical
时政研究
See: Roksandi '
(2012) ꎬ pp􀆰 187188􀆰 On Krleža􀆳s positioning concerning the project of Encyclopedia
of Yugoslavia see: Roksandi '
c (2015).
See: Caratanꎬ “ Hrvatska regionalnom kontekstuꎬ ” ( Croatia in Regional Context ) Anali Hrvatskog
politološkog društvaꎬ 4 ( 1) ꎬ 2008ꎬ p􀆰 63􀆰
politicalꎬ cultural and even historical map of Europe is not an easy one􀆰 Howeverꎬ in
realityꎬ the task would not be that difficult if the Croatians themselves wouldn􀆳t have
such a problem in confronting and coming to terms with their own past and present
realities􀆰 All we have presented in this paper indicates that the unique manifestation of
the “Balkan element in Croatia􀆳s identity is the one that continuously stirs up the
Balkan stereotypesꎬ and not the other way around􀆰 If we look closelyꎬ it is obvious
that it is quite difficult to explain the persistent existence of the Balkan stereotypes in
Croatia only through the imaginings of the West􀆰 After all we have stated aboveꎬ we
could conclude that Croatians do actually believe in the existence of the Balkanꎬ in the
similar manner Sundhaussen (1997 ) would implyꎬ and that many believe that the
stereotypes they invoke aren􀆳t just stereotypesꎬ but actual characteristics of the
area􀆰 Whether this is just a case of “ nesting Orientalism” ꎬ as Milica Baki '
c ̄Hayden
would describeꎬ or notꎬ its is hard to say􀆰 But the one thing is clear: Croatians do
not negate the existence of the Balkan or it􀆳s stereotypesꎬ but only their own direct
connection to it􀆰
One of the popular solutions of how to overcome the problem of Croatia􀆳s
connections with Balkan is to proclaim that although it did belong to the European
cultural circles for most of its historyꎬ because of their circumstantial proximity to the
Balkanꎬ Croatia always played a specific and important historic role of the “ bridge or
borderland” between West and the Eastꎬ between Europe and Europe􀆳s “ Other .
Such explanations are quite convenient because they at the same time do allow Croatia
to be in contact with the “eastern” elementꎬ but alsoꎬ by placing Croatia safely on the
better” European sideꎬ allow it to maintain the Balkan stereotypes in general􀆰 These
types of explanationsꎬ howeverꎬ fail to provide an answer to the question of why much
to often the Croatians themselves feel that their country belongs to the Balkansꎬ
巴尔干研究 (第一辑)
Holm Sundhaussen questioned Todorova􀆳s approachꎬ confronting her directly with the several unique
characteristics which do make the Balkan area as the recognizable subject of history􀆰 See: Sundhaussenꎬ “Europa
balcanica: Der Balkan als historischer raum europasꎬ” (Europa Balcanica: The Balkans as a historical space o
Europe) Geschichte und Gesellschaftꎬ 25 (4) ꎬ 1997ꎬ pp􀆰 638651􀆰 Also see: Luketi '
cꎬ Balkan:od geografije do
fantazije (The Balkans: from geography to fantasy)ꎬ p􀆰 115􀆰
See: Baki '
c ̄Hayden (1995) ꎬ pp􀆰 917931 and Baki '
c ̄Hayden (2006) ꎬ p􀆰 54􀆰
For an overview of such interpretation see: Mirjana Kasapovi'
c􀆳s (2007) paper “ Area Studies and Eastern
Europe: How Eastern Europe Collapsed”.
despite of their apparent European heritage and current European Union membership􀆰
Deeper analysisꎬ as usualꎬ gives complex results􀆰 Looking from a wider historical
contextꎬ Drago Roksandi '
c (2012) will say that although since 16th century Croatia is
country which belong to the “Central Europe ꎬ the “ important questions of it􀆳s
( Croatia􀆳s ) preservation in 19th and 20th century belonged always to the
Mediterranean / Adriatic (area)ꎬ while the process of Croatian national integration in
the same period is impossible to absolve outside of the Balkan context􀆰 By
superimposing the ideas of Balkanꎬ Mediterranean and Danube conceptsꎬ evaluation
the definitions of “ family typesꎬ and looking at the origins of Croatian literatureꎬ
Dunja Rihtman ̄Auguštin (1999)ꎬ Jasna ˇ
Capo ̄Žmegaˇc (1996) ꎬ Maja Boškovi '
c ̄Stulli
(2000)ꎬ respectivelyꎬ further questioned the attempts to define the traits of Croatian
identity in a narrow one ̄dimensional wayꎬ without including the wider regional
context􀆰 These authors give the impression that not only Croatia was not strictly tied to
Europeꎬ but that the whole Croatia ̄border between Europe and its own imagined
theory of the East is not viable when a wider context is considered􀆰 Croatia is not a
border of anythingꎬ butꎬ as Jasna ˇ
Capo ̄Žmegaˇc eloquently statedꎬ “ multicultural
area crossroad of different cultural and historical influences and ecologic zones”.
When we confront these and many other indications of Croatia􀆳s multiculturality and its
undeniable connections to the Balkans with the simplified political discourse one
cannot neglectꎬ in whichꎬ as we have seenꎬ the idea of Balkans is often purposely
demonized and misusedꎬ sharp contradictions and confusion are immediately born􀆰 So
while on one sideꎬ the attempts to provide a bigger picture of Croatia􀆳s placement in
past and current realities do show that it is understandable that Croatians on many
levelsꎬ as we have seenꎬ do feel connected with their Balkan neighborsꎬ the blind
misuse of the Balkan stereotypes in political and public discourseꎬ in the attempts to
place Croatia on the East ̄West colored map of Europeꎬ on the otherꎬ not only create
the severe case of the “split personality” of Croatian identityꎬ in which the Balkan is
时政研究
See: Roksandi'
cꎬ “Postoji li jošuvijek Srednja Europa?” ( Does Central Europe still exist?) Historijski
zbornikꎬ 65 (1) 2012ꎬ p􀆰 191􀆰
See: ˇ
Capo ̄Žmegaˇcꎬ “ Konstrukcija modela obitelji u Europi i povijest obitelji u Hrvatskojꎬ” ( The
Construction of Family Models in Europe and Family History in Croatia) Narodna umjetnost:hrvatski ˇcasopis za
etnologiju i folkloristikuꎬ 33 (2) ꎬ 1996ꎬ p􀆰 191􀆰
often treated as an “abjectꎬ as Julia Kristevaꎬ would put itꎬ but also continues to
keep the Balkan stereotypes alive and well􀆰 Further moreꎬ as Rossꎬ Puzi '
c and
Doolan􀆳s research have indicatedꎬ the short ̄sightedness of the negative projections and
misuse of the Balkan phrase backfired in a wayꎬ and are nowꎬ probably due to the
recent and continuous politicalꎬ economic and social failuresꎬ being reflected back to
Croatia by it􀆳s own population􀆰 Vastly disappointed by the current economicꎬ social
and political situationꎬ the Croatians today find it hard not to place Croatia anywhere
else except on the Balkansꎬ despite of the fact that their country has been a member of
the European Union for the past five years􀆰 After allꎬ in the minds of many Croatiansꎬ
if it is not communismꎬ it is war􀆰 If it is not warꎬ then it is economic and social
depression􀆰 If it is not depressionꎬ then it is corruption􀆰 If not corruptionꎬ then it is
institutional inefficiency􀆰 If not institutional inefficiencyꎬ then it is clientelistic and
self ̄serving politics􀆰 If not politicsꎬ then it is the ideological distortion of reality􀆰 If
not for nationalismꎬ communism or other ideologiesꎬ then it is the overtaxed stateꎬ the
non ̄function healthcare systemꎬ the unadjusted education systemꎬ the Catholic
Church􀆳s meddling into public and political lifeꎬ or the hordes of young people fleeing
the country in the search for a better life􀆰 In the endꎬ if not all which is mentionedꎬ
then it is the mentality and the general feeling of resignation and fatalismꎬ which
eliminates prospect of any kind of progress􀆰 Many would sayꎬ it is simply “Balkan”.
Soꎬ when and how can Croatia actually “leave” the Balkan and free itself from
the Balkan stereotypes? Firstꎬ once the country stops projecting the image of the
Balkan away from itself to the it􀆳s neighborsꎬ and use the negative stereotypes to
巴尔干研究 (第一辑)
Julia Kristeva introduced a phrase “abject” as something between the subject and object in a patriarchal
culture which denies / rejects / disturbs and represents taboo elements in social order􀆰 Social elements which fall
under abject are often loathed by the dominant currents of the societyꎬ despite the fact that they are an undeniable
part of it􀆰 If we were to use this approach to the case of Croatian issue of the Balkansꎬ we could conclude that some
of the politiciansꎬ journalists and scholars do treat (loathe) the Balkans as it were an abject of Croatia􀆰 Some
authors began exploring the discussion in this direction􀆰 See for example Dunja Rihtman Auguštin􀆳s paper “Why
and when are we terrified of the Balkans?” on the Croatian discourse of the Balkans in the 1990s and Ivan ˇ
Colovi '
c􀆳s
paper Why are we proud of the Balkans?” on the Serbian discourse of the Balkans􀆰 Also see Bjeli '
c􀆳s critical
assessment of the Julia Kristeva􀆳s approach􀆰 See: Kristevaꎬ Powers of Horror􀆰An Essay of Abjectionꎬ New York:
Columbia University Pressꎬ 1982ꎬ pp􀆰 2􀆰 Rihtman ̄Auguštinꎬ Ulice moga grada (The Streets of My City)
pp􀆰 211236􀆰 ˇ
Colovi '
(2010) ꎬ pp􀆰 113118ꎬ and Bjeli '
c (2011).
devalue its neighbors􀆰 Secondlyꎬ once the the whole area of Balkan enters the
European Unionꎬ andꎬ what is more importantꎬ actually begins to act like it wants to
be part of European processes of democratization􀆰 Thirdlyꎬ once the conditions are
made for the creation of a system in which the healthy economic prosperity will
neutralize the continuous economic and social depressionꎬ and a widespread feelings
disparityꎬ resignation and self ̄pity􀆰 Finallyꎬ Croatia will escape the Balkan once it
begins politically and publicly confront its historicꎬ current and future positions in the
wider regionalꎬ European and world contextsꎬ and realizes that there is actually no
need to do so in the first place􀆰
References:
Baki'
c ̄Haydenꎬ M􀆰 (1995)ꎬ “Nesting Orientalisms: The Case of Former Yugoslaviaꎬ” Slavic Reviewꎬ 54ꎬ 917931􀆰
Baki '
c ̄Haydenꎬ M􀆰 (2006)Varijacije na temu Balkan ( Variations on the Theme “ Balkans” ) ꎬ Belgradeꎬ
Serbia: Filip Višnji '
c􀆰
Bjeli '
cꎬ D􀆰 ( 2011 ) ꎬ Normalizing the Balkans:Geopolitics of Psychoanalysis and Psychiatryꎬ Farnhamꎬ
Burlingtonꎬ VT: Ashgate Publishing Limited􀆰
Bjeli '
cꎬ D􀆰 Savi '
cꎬ O􀆰 ( eds􀆰 ) ( 2003)ꎬ Balkan kao metafora:između globalizacije i fragmentacije (Balkan as
Metaphor: Between Globalisation and Fragmentation)ꎬ Belgradeꎬ Serbia: Beogradskikrug􀆰
Blagoni '
cꎬ S􀆰 ( 2016 ) ꎬ “ Istrijanski regere fines: Tradicijska kultura i Balkan u diskurzivnoj konstrukciji
identitetaꎬ” ( Istrian Regere Fines: Traditional Culture and the Balkans in Discursive Identity Construction)
Problemi sjevernog Jadrana 15ꎬ 113132􀆰
Boroveˇckiꎬ Z􀆰 ꎬ Poljakꎬ M􀆰 ( 2013 ) ꎬ “ Zamrznuti Balkan—Narativne trauma i litraumatiziranje narativa u
suvremenom književnom diskurzu?” ( Frozen Balkan—Narrating trauma or Traumatizing of the Narration in the
Contemporary Literary Discourse?) Jat:ˇ
Casopis studenata kroatistikeꎬ 1ꎬ 134 159􀆰
Boškovi '
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Croatian Oral Literature)ꎬ Narodna umjetnostꎬ 37 (2)ꎬ 151162􀆰
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modernity) in Budakꎬ N􀆰 ꎬ Katunari '
cꎬ V􀆰 ( eds􀆰 )ꎬ Hrvatski nacionalni identitet u globaliziraju'
cem svijetu
(Croatian national identity in globalized world) ꎬ Zagrebꎬ Croatia: Center for democracy Miko Tripaloꎬ 312􀆰
时政研究
Similar ideas to approach Balkans are presented in: Luketi '
c (2013)ꎬ Balkan: od geografije do fantazije
(The Balkans: from geography to fantasy).
Close to Skopetea (1991). Different political discourses from European Union to (Western) Balkans are
analyzed in: P etrovi'
c (2009).
Similar in: M􀆰 Mazowerꎬ Balkan:kratkapovijest ( The Balkans: A Short History) ꎬ Zagrebꎬ Croata:
Srednja Europaꎬ 2003􀆰
Caratanꎬ B􀆰 ( 2008 )ꎬ “ Hrvatska regionalnom kontekstuꎬ” ( Croatia in Regional Context ) Anali Hrvatskog
politološkog društvaꎬ 4 ( 1) ꎬ 6172􀆰
Cipekꎬ T􀆰 (1997)ꎬ “ Mitteleuropa: prilog povijesti germanskih ideja Srednje Europe do 1919ꎬ” ( Mitteleuropa: A
Contribution to the History of Germanic Ideas of Central Europe until 1919) Politiˇcka Misaoꎬ 35 ( )ꎬ 154
166􀆰  
Cvitanovi '
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ˇ
Capo ̄Žmegaˇcꎬ J􀆰 ( 1996) ꎬ “ Konstrukcija modela obitelji u Europi i povijest obitelji u Hrvatskojꎬ” ( The
Construction of Family Models in Europe and Family History in Croatia) Narodna umjetnost:hrvatski ˇasopis za
etnologiju i folkloristikꎬ 33 (2)ꎬ 179196􀆰
ˇ
Colovi '
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Dymarskiꎬ M􀆰 (2016)ꎬ “ The Ottoman Tradition as the Model of the Culture of Power in the Balkans in the 19th
20th c􀆰 ꎬ” Historijski zbornikꎬ 59 (1)ꎬ 7190􀆰
Glennyꎬ M􀆰 ( 2000) The Balkans 18041999:NationalismWar and the Great Powersꎬ London: Granta books􀆰
Goldsworthyꎬ V􀆰 ( 1998) Inventing Ruritania:The Imperialism of the Imaginationꎬ New Haven: Yale University
Press􀆰
Grgurinovi '
cꎬ I􀆰 ( 2008) ꎬ “ Constructing the Other in Rebecca West􀆳s ‘Black Lambꎬ Grey Falcon’ ꎬ” Etnološka
istraživanja (Ethnological Researches) 12 / 13 ꎬ 159 169􀆰
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Jezernikꎬ B􀆰 ( 2007 )ꎬ Divlja Evropa ( Wild Europe: The Balkans in the Gaze of the Western Travellers)
Belgradeꎬ Serbia: XXvek􀆰
Jezernikꎬ B􀆰 ( eds􀆰 ) ( 2010) ꎬ Imaginarni Turˇcin (Imagining The Turk) ꎬ Belgradeꎬ Serbia: XXvek􀆰
Juri '
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Kasapovi '
cꎬ M􀆰 (2007)ꎬ “Regionalna komparatistika i Istoˇcna Europa: Kako se raspala Istoˇcna Europaꎬ” ( Area
Studies and Eastern Europe: How Eastern Europe Collapsed) Anali Hrvatskog politološkog društvaꎬ 4 (1) ꎬ 73
96􀆰  
Klasni '
cꎬ K􀆰 ꎬ Rukavinaꎬ I􀆰 (2011) ꎬ “ Što utjeˇce na Sliku hrvatske u inozemstvu?” ( What Affects the Image of
Croatia Abroad) Socijalna ekologijaꎬ 20 (2) ꎬ 131145􀆰
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«巴尔干研究»
出版单位:首都师范大学文明区划研究中心
  :梁占军
副 主 编:李建军
学术顾问 (以姓氏笔画为序):
马细谱     钱乘旦
编 委 会 (以姓氏笔画为序):
王洪起 孔凡君 刘文明 刘作奎 朱晓中
        梁占军
Alexandre Kostov  Božo Repe  Florian Bieber
Ivan Ilchev  Ljubodrag Dimi '
c  Tvrtko Jakovina
特约编辑:Zvonimir Stopi '
Article
The author analyzes the process of geospatial diversification of the traditional historical and cultural Balkan region in the national discourses of a number of Balkan countries. It is based on the search for a new identity in the context of a strengthening European political orientation and the desire to minimize the existing negative image of the Balkans, associated in the European political tradition with the phenomenon of «Balkanization». The formulation of the concept of a new broader political space of South-Eastern Europe, the definition of which appeared at the beginning of the 19th century, is accompanied by the discussions in both public and academic circles in the states of the region regarding the combination of traditional cultural and historical identity traits and strengthening the political component that determines the course towards a «return to Europe» as a way out of the so-called geo-historical Balkan impasse. The search for a «geographical alternative» in the modern Balkans has acquired the character of a sharply expressed contrast between the so-called traditional historical Balkan realities and the new trend of Europeanization of this region. At the same time, the Balkan self-identification continues to be preserved in the public narrative in a number of countries, and it is adjacent to the definition of South-Eastern Europe that is increasingly gaining strength and has a wider geographical scope. It is this that allows to emphasize the historical ties of the Balkan peoples and their states with neighboring countries located in the «border zone» between the so-called classical Europe and its virtual periphery.
East European Politics and Societiesꎬ 18 (4)ꎬ 628-650
  • Croatiaꎬ
Croatiaꎬ" East European Politics and Societiesꎬ 18 (4)ꎬ 628-650
Revijaza Sociologijuꎬ 47 (2) ꎬ 125-150
  • Croatiaꎬ
Croatiaꎬ" Revijaza Sociologijuꎬ 47 (2) ꎬ 125-150