Cinema and Memory of the 'Homeland War'
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HIDDEN DIALOGUES WITH THE PAST: CINEMA AND MEMORY OF THE ‘HOMELAND WAR’ By Tamara Kolarić Submitted to Central European University Doctoral School of Political Science, Public Policy and International Relations In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science Supervisors: prof. Nenad Dimitrijević CEU eTD Collection prof. Lea Sgier Budapest, Hungary December 2018 DECLARATION I hereby declare that this dissertation contains no materials accepted for any other degree in any other institution. This dissertation contains no materials previously written and/or published by another person, except where appropriate acknowledgment is made in the form of bibliographical reference. Tamara Kolarić 31st December 2018 CEU eTD Collection i ABSTRACT This dissertation analyses the relationship between fiction films and collective memory in Croatia specifically related to the memory of the ‘Homeland War’ – the armed conflict which took place in the country between 1991 and 1995. The analysis is based on the films produced in the period between 2001 and 2014. While literature on post-Yugoslav cinema is abundant, little has been written about the role films play – or have the potential to play – in shaping collective memory. Inspired by the adverse reactions fiction films frequently caused in public, this dissertation started from the following question: what was it that these films “do” – or were perceived to do – to the story of the war? This was then broken down into two research questions: as a point of departure, I looked into whether the war was present in contemporary Croatian cinema, i.e. whether films offered material with regard to the war. Further, if the war was present, how was it addressed – a question that required probing for a suitable explanatory framework. A theoretical framework was built on the literature on collective memory, enabling me to observe the filmic texts as potential artefacts of cultural memory, which offer narrative interventions into the dominant memory narrative of the ‘Homeland War’. A further assumption was made regarding the nature of this dominant narrative: in the heavily memory-saturated environment of contemporary Croatia, the story of the war developed by political officials during the war evolved into a narrative of political memory through active production, media control and occasional use of force to silence dissonant narratives. This then also became a schematic narrative template for shaping further memory of the war – thus mostly excluding dissonant stories from national memory. To answer the first question, thematic analysis was conducted on a preliminary data body, including all feature fiction films made in the period between 2001 and 2014 that were produced, or majority co-produced in Croatia. The ‘Homeland War’ was identified as a prominent topic appearing in four different ways, thus constituting the second data body, consisting of four groups of films in which the war was present as a topic (major, minor, background or silent). In the second stage of analysis, I explored the dialogical relations between films dealing with the war and the dominant memory narrative (in its extrapolated core/narrative template form), observing the different strategies films take in their responses. In doing so, and to understand the film-memory dynamic, I adapted Bakhtin’s concept of hidden dialogicality as read by Wertsch (2002). Through the analysis, the dissertation found three groups of films with regard to their strategies of engaging with the dominant memory narrative. First, films dealing with the past, which dialogically challenge the dominant narrative, reject it through failed polyphony or trauma-silence, or affirm the dominant narrative. Second, films bypassing the past by focusing on the present, depoliticizing and challenging the dominant narrative limitedly. Finally, films assuming the past, which provide cues for a particular war narrative to be “written in,” thus maintaining or subverting the dominant narrative. These findings cast a new light on how fiction films in Croatia address the ‘Homeland CEU eTD Collection War’, enhancing the understanding of the role films play – or can play – in shaping collective memory, and vice versa. This opens the way for future research with regard to both cinema and memory, but also narrativity and memory more generally. It also reveals the need for a more systematic understanding of relationship between narratives and memory in post-war context, not just from the perspective of cultural or memory studies, but political science as well. ii CEU eTD Collection iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is a convention in academic writing to give thanks to all those who have helped in the process of creation of a work, yet to insist that all faults remaining are author’s own. This disclaimer is certainly more than a courteous formality in the case of this dissertation. The author – myself, here spoken of awkwardly in third person – owes gratitude to so many, yet also feels responsible for the time, effort and advice given and dedicated by them in best faith, only to find that the resulting work could have been so much better had the author only had the knowledge (and the time) to implement it all. The burden of living with this fact is my own; yet the gratitude I feel for the selflessness of others is even greater amplified by a slight tinge of guilt. And there are many to whom I owe much more than a ‘thank you’ expressed here. Biggest gratitude is owed to my supervisors, prof. Lea Sgier and prof. Nenad Dimitrijević. To Lea for her immense patience, kindness and positivity, but also the most critical eye; to Nenad for his thorough comments and always open doors; and to both for pushing me to continue even when I did not see clearly the road ahead. I am grateful to the Doctoral School of Political Science, Public Policy and International Relations of Central European University for having me and supporting me throughout these past years, intellectually, administratively and financially (including two short-term grants); and in particular to Kriszta, who made sure things were running smoothly so I would have nothing to focus on but work. To have spent all these years working here in Budapest was both a pleasure and a privilege. #istandwithCEU And then there are my colleagues, spending time with whom was not only academically fruitful, but also challenging, exciting and wonderful. I am thankful to my joint commitment members, Miki and Ioana, whose wonderful work served as inspiration for me to do better, and whose warmth made even the toughest academic times easier to work through. I am grateful to all my academic year colleagues for inspiring class discussions, and to the younger students I’ve had the pleasure of meeting while serving as a TA, whose intellectual curiosity would often serve as a boost to my own. Outside of CEU, I am grateful to Christian Axboe Nielsen, Vjeran Pavlaković, Arnaud Kurze & others for teaching the most inspiring summer school on Cres a CEU eTD Collection few years ago, which opened the gateway towards memory literature for me – and made me a tiny bit more courageous regarding things I wanted to pursue. To everyone who allowed me to present my work in progress and gave me valuable feedback: the organizers and participants of the 2nd Annual Memory Studies conference in Copenhagen, the summer school “Moving Image Memory Cultures” in Potsdam, as well as the Third International Conference on Balkan Cinema in Bucharest, three places that provided me with feedback from (at least) three different iv disciplines. To UDIK, who generously sent me some of their data 10 days before the submission, thus making this dissertation ever so slightly better (and my last few days of working lest stressful). To various producers and filmmakers in both Croatia and Serbia who helped out with acquiring the films, and to Miroljub Stojanović of the Film Center Serbia for his generosity and encouragement (so much so that I terribly regret not including Serbia in the final version of this work). To Zoran, Đorđe, Ivan, Miloš and Kristina for interesting discussions during my stay in Belgrade (& for just being great, inspiring individuals). Finally, to all my Filmonaut colleagues, for being both incredible sources of useful information and the most tolerant of my editorial (& writerly) slacking. I am grateful to my family: to my parents for their endless support & for mostly not asking how the dissertation is going (although I know they wanted to); to Naty, for the cheers and cat pics; and most of all to B. for suffering through all my highs and lows, moments of despair and those of joy (the ratios were not great there, to say the least). I am grateful to my friends, those of many years and those I met only recently, but whom I feel like I’ve known for a lifetime. To all the lab(s) people for the candy (matcha brownies!), coffees, discussions & support. To Kiki, for her love and craziness. To Maggie, whose company has always been therapeutic (& who still makes the best breakfasts). To Jelena, who heroically suffered through my stories with a smile, and whose work ethic never stopped inspiring me. To Nikolina, the superwoman in academic disguise. To Nataša, my long-distance social critic and sanity check. To Gorana & Sanja, the best lab companions, lunch dates & smart ladies extraordinaire, whom I knew I could always count on and it meant the world to me. And finally, to C., my partner in crime. I cannot wait to see what awaits