Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.15176/vol52no203
On “Bosnian Mentality”: From Distanced Observations to Anti-nationalist Practices
Alenka Bartulović
; Odsjek za etnologiju i kulturnu antropologiju Filozofski fakultet, Sveučilište u Ljubljani
Abstract
This article traces the revitalization of the idea of Bosnian identity in the post-Dayton Sarajevo. In the post-war society, characterological depictions have found their way into antinationalist discourse (which is closely related to an idealized model of imagined civic nationalism), where they are used as strategies of resistance against the violence of ascribed and imposed identities. At the same time they function as a tool of (re)construction and political promotion of the inclusive category of Bosnians and Herzegovinians. In that sense, the idea of a “Bosnian mentality”, which is the product of entanglements of older local and foreign travelers' scholarly and literary perceptions and beliefs about Bosnian and Herzegovinians, became a crucial element in the visualization of a desirable future in the post-war society.
Keywords
antinationalism, Bosnia and Herzegovina, mentality, Bosnian paradigm, identification
Hrčak ID:
149472
URI
Publication date:
14.12.2015.
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