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Book Reviews / Southeastern Europe 36 (2012) 421–430

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Book Reviews / Southeastern Europe 36 (2012) 421–430 428 Book Reviews / Southeastern Europe 36 (2012) 421–430 Vangeli Anastas, Ancient present: a reflection on the Greco-Macedonian symbolic feud over Alexander’s legacy (Skopje: 2011: Templum). ISBN 978-9989-189-95-1 [In Macedonian]. In 2011, Templum press, Skopje released a book entitled Ancient present: a reflection on the Greco- Macedonian symbolic feud over Alexander’s legacy, written by Anastas Vangeli. The book is among the few scientific examinations published in the Republic of Macedonia that tackle the conflict between the Republic of Greece and the Republic of Macedonia about the heritage of Alexander the Great. It is a critical study of nationalism and nationalistic phe- nomena that are contextualized in the present, despite virtually always facing the past. This book by young researcher and activist Anastas Vangeli, in spite of venturing into a dissection of the intricacies of the historical aspects of the ancient legacy related to Alexander, still deals with contemporary Republic of Macedonia and its neighbors, mainly in terms of the inter-country relations between Macedonia and Greece and the conflict the Republic of Macedonia has with Greece about using its name Macedonia. The book also offers a comprehensive and quite metic- ulous analysis of the contemporary situation in which politicization and (mis)use of certain events and persons from the past prevail, i.e. the so-called antiquization of the process of redefin- ing the historiographic and national public discourse of post-socialist Macedonia. Anastas Vangeli’s book provides ample information to the large number of people who are interested in details of the origins of the Greco-Macedonian ownership conflict about the use of the name Macedonia and other identity-related issues. In addition, it is also inspirational and innovative reading for researchers from various branches of the social and humanistic disciplines who would like to conduct individual case studies about nationalism in the process of reproduc- tion, dissemination and instrumentalization of mythological narratives in the process of redefin- ing the idea of the nation. Vangeli is a researcher and an activist who works as an analyst at the Center for Research and Policy Making in Skopje. He was a member of an informal radical leftist and anti-militarist group from Skopje, which in 2008 joined a larger group of activists from the Republic of Greece in the movement called Antinationalist Anti-militarist Initiative (AAI). Their aim was “to review the discourse of radical nationalism, prejudice and mutual hatred in one’s own country” (p. 11). They organized a number of events, public debates and forums in cities throughout Macedonia and Greece. After taking up nationalist studies, the author started researching the issues related to the Greco-Macedonian conflict, as well as many other current political issues in the Republic of Macedonia related to nationalist discourses. As he states in the prologue of the Macedonian edi- tion of the book, his goals are to offer a modest contribution towards understanding the conflict between the two countries, as well as answer a number of important research questions. He is aware that in addition to providing answers, he also sheds light on important topics for discus- sion in Macedonia, its neighborhood and the broader region. From the very beginning of his work, he has been aware that not everyone would like his input, and that “what is a purely ana- lytical text abroad is destined to become politics at home” (p. 14). The book is highly esteemed in the academic circles and was discussed with a number of Macedonian researchers and activists, including Zarko Trajanovski, Ljubomir Gjorevski, Irena Stefoska, Misha Popovic, Dane Taleski, Nenad Markovski, Aleksandar Lambevski and Dimitar Ljorovski. The reactions to the book in the Macedonian scholarly circles and the broader public are not numerous, but they are positive. © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2012 DOI 10.1163/18763332-03603010 Book Reviews / Southeastern Europe 36 (2012) 421–430 429 Generally speaking, from the perspective of contemporary Macedonia, the book (published by Templum press and financially supported by the Open Society Institute – Skopje) and its author have already been branded as entities that oppose the government of the Republic of Macedonia. In my opinion, even though this may harm the book’s success in the long run, the author’s views are still very accurate. Anastas Vangeli’s scientific argument that history is excessively used in the contemporary Macedonian context for the purpose of redefining the Macedonian historiography and, most importantly, the Macedonian nation, is based on the theoretical discourse of renowned authors Benedict Anderson, Eric Hobsbawm, Anthony Smith, and Rogers Brubaker, and has been sup- ported by numerous contemporary case studies and examples from the region by theoreticians and researchers such as Keith Brown, Loring Danforth, Simon Harrison, Anastasia Karakasidou, Evangelos Kofos, Viktor Roudometof, Maria Todorova and others. The book comprises four main parts: “The Greek context,” “The Macedonian context,” “The ancient legacy,” and “The symbolic conflict,” and a final part dedicated to discussions on “The national myth of our ancient Macedonian ancestry.” In the first two parts, the author attempts to pinpoint both the Macedonian and the Greek context. In both cases the author discusses the broader historical and political context that forged the official national discourse in Greece and Macedonia. In fact, even in this part of the analysis, Vangeli’s starting premise is the dynamic nature of the contexts, and he observes and analyzes the contexts as dynamic processes. This section of the book focuses on how nation as a concept is conceived in Greece and in Macedonia, and it includes the conflicting approaches towards defining the terms “Macedonia” and “Macedonian.” The part in which the author discusses the Macedonian context is dominated by a critical analysis of the position and the role of the dias- pora, which is considered to be an instigating factor for Macedonian nationalism and “a catalyst of nationalistic resentment” (pp. 32–33), which in recent years have been crassly materialized into various neoclassicist or baroque monuments, a process publicly known as antiquization. The third part, “The ancient legacy and the symbolic conflict,” has a pivotal role both in the analysis and in the book. It is dedicated to the study of the social and political processes which have put the Macedonian ancient legacy and the representations of Alexander the Great among the authoritative resources, i.e. have turned them into symbolic capital and a source of political legitimacy, first in Greece, and as of 1991 also in the Republic of Macedonia. This part of the analysis is based on the theoretical framework of Simon Harrison that postulates four types of symbolic conflicts: proprietary conflicts, valuation conflicts, expansionist conflicts and innova- tion conflicts. Still, apart from the symbolic and property, i.e. proprietary rights to ancient Macedonia and Alexander, the question about the continuity of these values from ancient times until today has been causing strife on both sides for some time now. Vangeli notes that the issue has endured much longer than most of us would think. The expatriates from the region, the ethnic Macedonians and the ethnic Greeks in the diaspora, have discussed these issues since as early as the 1970s. These discussions moved to the parent states as late as the 1990s, especially after the independence of the Republic of Macedonia in 1991. The last part of the book, “The national myth of our ancient Macedonian ancestry,” analyzes how Greek and Macedonian politics have used the narratives about the ancient Macedonian ancestry as part of their self-identification and identity transfer. Building upon the views of the great thinkers of social and humanistic disciplines, Claude Levi-Strauss and Mircea Eliade, about the essence of the myth and the mythical transposition of reality, Vangeli cites Christopher Flood and calls it “potential for political mobilization,” claiming that the “flexibility” of the myth helps .
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