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Aleksandar Pavkovič / Christopher Kelen, Anthems and the Making of Nation States

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Aleksandar Pavkovič / Christopher Kelen, Anthems and the Making of Nation States Zitierhinweis Kreuter, Peter Mario: Rezension über: Aleksandar Pavkovič / Christopher Kelen, Anthems and the Making of Nation States. Identity and Nationalism in the Balkans, London: I. B. Tauris, 2016, in: Comparative Southeast European Studies, 65 (2017), 1, S. 184-186, https://www.recensio.net/r/ba3664509c8a4b4d890030e12618836e First published: Comparative Southeast European Studies, 65 (2017), 1 copyright Dieser Beitrag kann vom Nutzer zu eigenen nicht-kommerziellen Zwecken heruntergeladen und/oder ausgedruckt werden. Darüber hinaus gehende Nutzungen sind ohne weitere Genehmigung der Rechteinhaber nur im Rahmen der gesetzlichen Schrankenbestimmungen (§§ 44a-63a UrhG) zulässig. Südosteuropa 65 (2017), no. 1, pp. 184-194 BOOK REVIEWS Aleksandar Pavković / Christopher Kelen: the study. And that statement must always Anthems and the Making of Nation be kept in mind while perusing the book, States. Identity and Nationalism in as the reader will find no detailed analy- the Balkans, London et al.: I. B. Tauris sis of the music. On the one hand that is 2016 (International Library of Twentieth consistent and to advantage, for the aim Century History, vol. 82). 254 pp., ISBN here is not a history of the anthems just 978-1-78453-126-3, £ 15.99 for their own sake, for it is brimming with alternative texts of anthems, contemporary Let me begin with a suggestion to all statements and fancy details. On the other those interested in the topic of national hand, the music is as crucial to a national anthems. This book is well worth reading anthem as are the lyrics, so the authors lose even if its title is rather confusing, for the certain additional elements that might have main focus is on only the—more or less— helped their arguments. The section deal- ‘Yugoslavian’ anthems. But even with that ing with the Kosovar anthem from 2008 is narrower focus, Pavković and Kelen pro- particularly short—there is no text, and no vide the reader with a detailed and deep interpretation. look at the use of patriotic music in sup- The first part, sub-titled ‘National An- port of the idea of nationalism as well as thems: Their Themes and Origins’ (1- national states in the 19th and 20th centuries. 32) provides a general overview of an- Aleksandar Pavković, Associate Pro- thems—where they come from, how they fessor of Politics at Macquarie University emerge, and what kinds of anthems can in Sydney and author of several studies be distinguished. The different functions about the formation of national states,1 of anthems are discussed, from their use and Christopher Kelen—an Australian on official ceremonial occasions to sport- poet and visual artist as well as Professor ing competitions, and a basic classification of English at the University of Macau and of anthems is given. Pavković and Kelen author of a recently published study about distinguish between ‘Self-congratulatory national anthems2—have worked together anthems’ (with Denmark’s ‘Der er et yndigt on a number of occasions to consider the land’ as an example), the ‘Prayer for the question of national anthems and their ruler’s safety’ (referring here to the UK’s role in the history of South-Slavic people.3 ‘God save the King’ particularly) and the Now, they have pooled their knowledge ‘Original marching/fighting anthem’ (cit- in this study which combines Pavković’s ing ‘La Marseillaise’) (19-21).4 interest in states and how they come into There then follows a second part, called existence with Kelen’s mastery of the wide ‘Creating Nation States and National An- field of patriotic writings. As they put it, thems in Southeast Europe’ (33-220). And ‘This book is about the lyrics of national the title is well chosen, for Pavković and anthems’ (VI) and that is therefore the be- Kelen manage to show in those eight chap- ginning of the short ‘Preface’ (VI-VII) of ters of that second part that almost none of Book Reviews 185 the anthems of Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro Bosnia and Herzegovina’s anthem ‘In- or Macedonia is sung in the version written termezzo’ is an example of how problem- in the years between 1834 and 2008. As for atic the artificial introduction of a national the states with all their changing borders, anthem can turn out to be. First of all the glittering self-definitions and unclear eth- tune was composed with the clear intention nic compositions, their anthems were com- of avoiding any element that could be rec- posed in long processes in which the initial ognised as part of Serb or Croatian or Bos- creation was just the first step. It is impos- niak musical culture. The resulting melody sible to discuss here all the data given, all was somewhat tedious, a ‘western-sound- the stories told in this study, so I shall of- ing’ piece of music with a resemblance to fer three examples of the kind of insight a certain song from a Monty Python film.5 the reader will obtain from Pavković and In fact, in 2009 the anthem was found too Kelen’s book. to bear a resemblance to the score of ‘Ani- Of all countries which came into being mal House’, a Hollywood film from 1978 after the breakup of Yugoslavia Croatia is (181f.). Just like the music, the text avoids the only one that had no significant dis- any mention of anything that could be seen cussion about its national anthem. In De- as a specific element of one or other of the cember 1990 ‘Lijepa naša domovino’ from ethnic groups in the country so is really deep in the 19th century was proclaimed as nothing more than a list of platitudes like the official state anthem of Croatia, when ‘You are the light of the soul’ (183). Text a national flag and coat of arms were cho- and music alike have been denigrated eve- sen too. The newly-chosen anthem was rywhere, with the highest rate of disregard respected even among the Serbs of Osijek in the Republika Srpska (181). or Krajina even if ‘their anthem’ was actu- The book has a broad bibliography ally ‘Bože pravde’. The Croatian anthem (236-244) that contains not only material mentions plains, mountains, rivers and in English but also an enormous amount the wide blue sea and has a very peace- of literature from the countries themselves. ful, completely unmilitaristic tune; indeed The bibliography proves that Pavković and only in the third stanza does it even men- Kelen constructed their definitions and tion the Croats themselves. As a result, it drew their conclusions not, as so often in was adopted without problems and has the area of ‘anthem studies’, on hearsay nor remained uncontested (85f.). superficial overviews but on the basis of Slovenia’s rather bizarre discussion deep knowledge of the anthems’ texts and about its national anthem came about be- a quite superb overview of the scholalry cause the anthem has both Slovene and literature. pan-Slav-centred passages as well as more Is there anything to criticise? Only trivial cosmopolitan ones. ‘Zdravlijca’, actually things like the book’s rather annoying title a toast, dates from 1844 and was adopted (why not state clearly that it is about Yu- in the Spring of 1990. This anthem, with goslavia and its constituent states?) or the its melody made for a choir and with an fact that sometimes the role of the tune is upbeat or even joyful text, is not truly con- too much ignored. But that cannot change tested but the lack of any mention of Slo- this reviewer’s opinion— ‘Anthems and the venia itself or the Slovenes in the officially Making of Nation States’ is a formidable sung stanza led to attempts to change the study full of colourful details and deep text to give a clear focus on Slovenia (97f.). analysis, which adds to the large topic of 186 Book Reviews ‘how states are made’ and spotlights some and processes. Inspired by Maurice Hal- of the propagandistic use of lyrics and mu- bwachs, Pierre Nora and Jan and Aleida sic. Assmann, they explore the interaction between personal memories or traumas Peter Mario Kreuter (Regensburg) and state strategies intended to legitimize commemoration. In this expanding field 1 The Fragmentation of Yugoslavia. Nati- of study, researchers have moved beyond onalism and War in the Balkans, Basingstoke 2000; Creating New States. Theory and Prac- juxtapositions of distorted and instrumen- tice of Secession, Aldershot 2007. tal official views versus authentic personal 2 Anthem Quality. National Songs: A The- memories. In Valeska Bopp-Filimonov’s oretical Survey, Bristol 2014. PhD thesis (Leipzig University) too, the 3 Resurrection. A Tale of Two Anthems starting point is the mutual influencing of Sung by Serbs, Nations and Nationalism 16 collective and individual memories and (2010), no. 3, 442-461; Of Love and National identities rather than a regime imposing Borders. The Croatian Anthem ‘Our Beau- its views on society. tiful Homeland’, Nations and Nationalism 18 For reasons that are yet to be fully under- (2012), no. 2, 247-266; ‘Zdravljica’—Toast to stood, Romania is something of an excep- a Cosmopolitan Nation Anthem Quality in the Slovenian Context, Nationalities Papers 42 tion among post-communist East European (2014), no. 5, 828-847. polities in dealing with its national past. 4 While generally agreeing with Pavković More often than not the communist era has and Kelen’s information, I must disagree ut- by now been depoliticized and relegated terly with the description of the Danish Royal to the domain of academic historians. In anthem ‘Kong Christian’. That anthem is not Romania, however, not only does the De- a ‘marching song’ (20), but part of the overture cember Revolution of 1989 remain highly to an opera! contested, but so does the entire commu- 5 To be precise, this refers to the song nist era, for both are imbued with ques- ‘Every Sperm is Sacred’ from ‘The Meaning of Life’ (1983).
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