Political Myths in the Former Yugoslavia and Successor States
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POLITICAL MYTHS IN THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA AND SUCCESSOR STATES. A SHARED NARRATIVE INSTITUTE FOR HISTORICAL JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION SERIES Published under editorial responsibility of The Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation The Hague VOLUME 1 POLITICAL MYTHS IN THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA AND SUCCESSOR STATES A SHARED NARRATIVE Edited by Vjekoslav Perica and Darko Gavrilović Translation: Dana Todorović A joint production of the Centre for History, Democracy and Reconciliation, Novi Sad and The Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation, The Hague DORDRECHT 2011 Cover Design / Illustration: DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this book are those of the authors alone. They do not necessarily reflect views of the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data ISSN 2211-3061 hardbound ISBN 9789089790668 paperback ISBN 9789089790675 © 2011 Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation and Republic of Letters Publishing BV, Dordrecht, The Netherlands / St. Louis, MO. All rights reserved. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Republic of Letters Publishing has made all reasonable efforts to trace all rights holders to any copyrighted material used in this work. In cases where these efforts have not been successful the publisher welcomes communications from copyright holders, so that the appropriate acknowledgements can be made in future editions, and to settle other permission matters. Authorization to photocopy items for personal use is granted by Republic of Letters Publishing BV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents v List of Abbreviations vi Acknowledgements vii Contributors viii Foreword by Richard J. Goldstone xi Introduction 1 Myths, Political Mythologies and Nationalism 13 Ethnogenesis Myths 21 A Post-Communist Serbo-Russian Romance: Eastern Relic of the Pan-Slavic Myth 35 Myths About Borders 45 Myths About World War II and the Socialist Era 51 Ethnic Diaspora as Political Actor and National Myth 57 Myths and Countermyths and the Incorporation of Myth into New National Ideologies 67 The Mythologization of Mass Graves and Deceased Persons 77 Nostalgic/Patriotic Mythology after Yugoslavia 85 The Impact of the Hague War Crimes Tribunal on Nationalist Politics, Mythmaking and Transition 93 Recommendations on Conflict Management in Southeastern Europe 109 Bibliography 121 Index 129 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AHCR Association for History, Cooperation and Reconciliation AVNOJ Anti-Fascist Council of the People’s Liberation of Yugoslavia CACR Croatian Association for Cooperation and Reconciliation CHDR Centre for History, Democracy and Reconciliation EU European Union FPRY Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia (1945-1963) FRY Federal Republic Yugoslavia (1992-2002) HDZ Croatian Democratic Union ICTY United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia IHJR Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation JNA Yugoslav People’s Army NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NDH Independent State of Croatia (1941-1945) NGO Non-governmental Organization NOR National Liberation War in Yugoslavia (1941-1945) SPO Serbian Renewal Movement SPS Socialist Party of Serbia SFRY Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1963-1992) UN United Nations USA United States of America USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics VHP Vishva Hundu Parishad ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This book evolved from one of several core projects that since 2007 have been carried out under the auspices of the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation (IHJR) headquartered previously in Salzburg, Austria under the Salzburg Global Seminar and then transferred to The Hague, The Netherlands, in cooperation with the Centre for History, Democracy and Reconciliation (CHDR) based in Novi Sad, Serbia. The team that produced this book worked together on a number of projects with many other colleagues and activists associated occasionally or permanently with CHDR and devoted to the cause of post-conflict recovery in Southeastern Europe. In the final stage of the making of this “shared narrative” the co- authors met for a workshop at the IHJR’s main office in The Hague on 22- 26 February 2010. There we planned to complete the task by the end of 2010 and eventually succeeded as intended. Needless to say, our own efforts would not have sufficed for making, publishing and disseminating this product had it not been for many other people to whom we would hereby like convey our gratitude. The project was developing and advancing as planned thanks to invaluable support, guidance and collegiate partnership from the entire IHJR leadership and staff. However, our special appreciation goes out to the incumbent IHJR Executive Director Catherine Cissé van den Muijsenbergh, the previous Executive Director Elazar Barkan, Marie-Louise Ryback, Senior Advisor of Development for the IHJR, and Joke Oranje, Senior Program Coordinator. We are also thankful for the suggestions and comments that we have received in the final phase of writing the manuscript from Steven Blockmans, Professors Wim Blockmans, Margaret MacMillan and Jacques Rupnik. Their kind assistance and expertize has considerably improved our final product, both substantially and methodologically. On the part of CHDR, Darko Gavrilović has participated not only in the writing but the co-authors owe him recognition for his tireless management of CHDR and for bringing us together. Last but by no means of less importance, we are thankful to Dana Todorović for translating the original contributions in English, Hilmara Requena for copy-editing and Laura Boerhout who compiled the index section and bibliography. CONTRIBUTORS Editors Vjekoslav Perica is a Professor of History at the University of Rijeka, Croatia. He obtained a PhD in History from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, USA in 1998. He has taught at several US and European universities and is a former Research Fellow of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the United States Institute of Peace. In 2007 he was a US Fulbright scholar in Belgrade, Serbia. Vjekoslav Perica is the author of Balkan Idols: Religion and Nationalism in Yugoslav States (New York, 2002; Belgrade, 2006) and most recently, Saint Sava’s and Saint Peter’s Churches in Split: Sacred Symbols as Metaphors of Historical Changes (Belgrade, 2009). Darko Gavrilović is a Professor of History at universities in Bosnia and Serbia. He is the Director of the Centre for History, Democracy and Reconciliation. He is an editor of the journals Shared History and Culture of Polis and the author of several books, including The Fields of the Serbian Medieval Culture, The Light and the Darkness of the Modern World, 1775-2000, The Strikes of Destiny – Political Myths in the 20th Century, In the Meanstrom of the Nationalism, The Image of Jesus in the History of Culture (Novi Sad, 2009) and most recently, The Prisoners of the Myths of Nationalism and Communism. Darko Gavrilović received a Jewish Society Reward in Yugoslavia in 1999 and 2000, and a Diploma “St. Cirilo and Metodije” from the Faculty of Philology in Lodz, Poland. Authors Aleksandar Bosković is Director of Research and Head of the Center for Political Studies and Public Opinion Research at the Institute of Social Sciences in Belgrade, Serbia. He is also Professor of Anthropology at the University of Belgrade and Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana. His research interests include history and theory of anthropology, contemporary theory, myth, ethnicity, nationalism and gender. Aleksandar Bosković is the author and/or editor of eight books, including Other People’s Anthropologies Ethnographic Practice on the Margins (New York, 2008) and A Brief Introduction to Anthropology (Zagreb, 2010). CONTRIBUTORS ix Ana Dević is a lecturer at the Sociology Department of the University of Glasgow. After obtaining her MA in politics of development at the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, she completed her PhD in Sociology at the University of California in San Diego. Ana Dević specializes in the sociology and politics of ethnic divisions, nationality, citizenship, gender, social movements, and in the consequences of globalization and Western interventions in civil society building in the region of former Yugoslavia. She has published articles in journals, such as National Identities, Ethnopolitics, International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society, and Anthropology of East Europe Review. Elma Hašimbegović graduated in history at the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo and obtained her MA at the Medieval Studies Department of the Central European University (CEU) in Budapest. Since 2001 she has been working as a curator at the Museum of History of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo. She is a PhD candidate at the Medieval Studies Department at CEU, where she is working closely on manuscripts of the Bosnian Church. Elma Hašimbegović is the author of the book Fleur-de-lis in Medieval Bosnia (2009). Besides medieval studies she is also interested in research on the use of medieval history, myths