BECOMING MIXED: MIXED MARRIAGES OF BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA DURING THE LIFE AND DEATH OF YUGOSLAVIA BY FEDJA BURIC DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2012 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Professor Maria Todorova, Chair Professor Keith Hitchins Professor Peter Fritzsche Professor Diane Koenker Professor Robert M. Hayden, University of Pittsburgh ii ABSTRACT This dissertation is a twentieth-century social history of the relationship between mixed marriage and national identity in Bosnia-Herzegovina. More precisely, it examines the ways in which different types of elites—political, religious and social—operating under different regimes—Austro-Hungarian, royal Yugoslav, Yugoslav Communist, and post-Yugoslav nationalist—used the idea of mixed marriage to articulate their conceptions of national identity. Starting in 1911 and ending in 1994, the dissertation illustrates how mixed marriage stirred anxieties even among those who professed to be immune to the seductive power of nationalism, including the Communists. It argues that the mixedness of marriages between members of different ethnic groups becomes socially relevant only at moments of ethnic polarization, reflecting the episodic nature of ethnicity itself. The episodic character of ethnicity is why the dissertation focuses on three moments in the twentieth-century life of Bosnia: the 1930s, the late 1960s, and the early 1990s. Chapters 1 and 2 focus on the mixed marriage cases which came before the Sarajevo Supreme Shari’a Court during the 1930s. The decisions of the court in these cases are viewed within the larger context of a cultural civil war engulfing much of the Bosnian Islamic establishment during the interwar period. The hardening of the court’s position vis-à-vis mixed marriage by the end of the decade is seen as a symptom of the more profound transformation of Bosnian Muslim ness from a purely religious to a more secular, national, identity. Chapter 3 puts to rest the widely accepted notion that the Yugoslav Communists actively encouraged mixed marriage as a trope for a Yugoslav identity. It argues that mixed marriage emerged in the thoughts of regime’s ideologues only as an afterthought, and only after the regime had abandoned Yugoslavism and embraced nationalism. The Communists’ embrace of iii nationalism in the late 1960s resulted in a political and statistical neglect of mixed marriage which made their identities all the more vulnerable in the 1990s when the nationalists marked them as threats to the health of nations. Finally, Chapter 4 is an exploration of how the breakup of Yugoslavia affected the identity of one family, my own. The unorthodox methodology employed in this chapter is essential in unearthing the subjectivity of those declared as mixed during Yugoslavia’s violent death and in illustrating the overwhelming ability of nationalism to rope ordinary people into its smothering embrace. Consulting a variety of archives—from Sharia court records, personal correspondence of clerics, to Communist party archives and author’s personal diaries—and interpreting these via a variety of methodologies—from legal anthropology to autobiography and oral history—the dissertation aims to move the discussion of mixed marriage in the former Yugoslavia beyond the polarizing and, by now stale, debates of the 1990s. More specifically, it uses mixed marriage not to explain the breakup of Yugoslavia, argue for or against the Yugoslav project in general, or measure the ethnic distance between certain groups, but rather to explain how and why nationalism is able to exploit mixed marriages for its own ends, and how ordinary people experience this process. The last chapter in particular makes a case for the unapologetic use of autobiography in the study of history. iv Acknowledgments This dissertation would not have been possible without Professor Maria Todorova who was not only my advisor but also a patient friend who guided me through the many ups and downs, which characterized the writing process. From Maria, I learned about intricacies of Balkan history, theories of nationalism, and the layers of historical legacies, but more importantly, she taught me that historical objectivity is still a goal worth aspiring to despite its fate at the hands of the post-modern turn in historiography. As a former Yugoslav, a Bosnian, a survivor of the breakup of Yugoslavia, and a child of a mixed marriage, I was privileged to have an advisor like Maria Todorova who with her precise, honest, and diligent feedback kept me from becoming too attached to the characters in my story and reminded me of the many virtues of being an historian. She went far and beyond of what is required of an advisor, offering a sympathetic ear wherever I needed it, inviting me into her home, and organizing unforgettable Balkan feasts for my fellow graduate students and me. I will always be grateful to her for celebrating my passing of preliminary exams by opening what must have been the last Yugoslav bottle of šljivovitza she had found somewhere in Chicago. This act of kindness was one of many. The community of scholars, colleagues, and friends at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign made what was supposed to be my temporary stay in the town into a journey which I never wanted to end. Professor Keith Hitchins’ extraordinary intellectual vigor, kindness, and humor made me look forward to our classes on Eastern Europe and to our many cups of coffee at the Espresso Royale. Professor Peter Fritzsche inspired me to trust my instincts when writing. Professor Diane Koenker’s brilliance often made me regret not becoming a Russianist. Working at the Slavic Review with Professor Mark Steinberg and Jane Hedges was v my most memorable experience in my graduate career and I am glad to have both of them as dear friends. The history department at the University of Illinois was always a steadfast supporter who never failed to lend me a friendly hand, sponsoring my first research trip, a pre- dissertation excursion, and offering financial support throughout my long graduate career, even in the midst of the 2008 crisis. The list of friends and colleagues at the University of Illinois is impossible to recount in these few pages, but the patience of Rob Whiting, James Douglas Courzier Walker, among many others, in listening to my arguments on an innumerable number of topics made the graduate life a true blessing that it was. This dissertation would certainly not have been possible without the consel and friendship of Professor Robert M. Hayden from the University of Pittsburgh. It would take almost a decade from the time I first was inspired by his book The Blueprints for a House Divided to study Yugoslav history to the time I finally met him, at a time when my dissertation writing was stuck in a seemingly neverneding writers’ block. His intellectual honesty is greater than that of any other writer of the former Yugoslavia I have read and despite our often divergent views on some issues, such as Bosnia, Bob always impressed me with his remarkable courage in sticking to his empirically-derived opinions, even when these were the least popular ones. I also could not have completed this dissertation without the help of the American Council for International Education, whose generous dissertation research grant made my second research trip, from 2010-2011, possible. It was during the second research trip that my dissertation began to take the shape in which I am submitting it today. Furthermore, the help of some extraordinary people in Bosnia-Herzegovina made my research not only possible but also enjoyable. The help of Edin Čelebić, the director of the Mostar city archive, was essential in getting me started and connecting me with the other archival institutions in the country. The vi help of the unceasingly generous staff at the Archive of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sonja, Mina and Boro, brought all those dusty files to my attention and ensured the success of my dissertation. Further, the help and friendship of Svetlana Broz, the sefless human rights activist in Sarajevo and the granddaughter of late President Tito, served as my inspiration during both of my research trips. Finally, my numerous relatives in Mostar—my uncle, my aunts, my cousins—all proved to be extremely generous in putting me up in their homes, feeding me, and being understanding of my incessant comings and goings. My parents’ extraordinary thirty-nine years long marriage is the mixed marriage behind this dissertation. Life asks that they nurture and love their children of every parent, but the demands life has exacted on my parents have been particularly burdensome. The sudden intrusion of nationalism into their lives in 1991—an illustration of which begins this dissertation—required that they undertake previously unimaginable feats in rescuing their children from the hell that was the Bosnia of the early 1990s: hiding in a TV stand, traveling around the entire former country under the cover of false identity papers and the eyes of suspicious border guards, pushing past the angry, trigger-happy soldiers, and finally, discarding their comfortable pasts for the factory-work of Midwest America. In addition, my brother’s encouragement over many pints of beer during my writing made this dissertation finally come to completion. His lovely wife Vesna’s tasty dishes and a warm heart always reminded me why Louisville