The Balkans

The Balkans
Author: Ivan Čolović
Publisher: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft Mbh & Company
Total Pages: 195
Release: 2011
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9783832963033

Download The Balkans Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

This book deconstructs culture as the catalyst for hatred and war in the Balkans. The book also pays particular attention to the post-war "patriotic" discourse and the use of culture in Serbia and other Balkan countries, with the intention of determining how and through which rhetorical strategies this sort of discourse manages to preserve its ability to trigger conflicts. The book focuses on myths about the so-called "national spiritual and cultural space": the alleged organic unity between the Balkan nations and the soil on which they live and to which they lay exclusive claim. The Balkans: The Terror of Culture devotes particular attention to the cult of national languages, national poets, graves and monuments, and the epic tradition and its main symbol - the musical gusle. The mainstay of these myths and cults is the representation of culture as a means by which national territory is occupied and kept.

The Balkans

The Balkans
Author: Colovic
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2011
Genre:
ISBN: 9783845229553

Download The Balkans Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Terror in the Balkans

Terror in the Balkans
Author: Ben Shepherd
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 375
Release: 2012-04-13
Genre: History
ISBN: 0674065131

Download Terror in the Balkans Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

"Ben Shepherd ... uses Austro-Hungarian Army records to consider how the personal experiences of many Austrian officers during the Great War played a role in brutalizing their behavior in Yugoslavia. A comparison of Wehrmacht counter-insurgency divisions allows Shepherd to analyze how a range of midlevel commanders and their units conducted themselves in different parts of Yugoslavia, and why"--Jacket.

Developing Cultural Identity in the Balkans

Developing Cultural Identity in the Balkans
Author: Raymond Detrez
Publisher: Peter Lang
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2005
Genre: History
ISBN: 9789052012971

Download Developing Cultural Identity in the Balkans Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

The fundamental contrast between convergent and divergent tendencies in the development of Balkan cultural identity can be seen as an important determinative both in the contradictory self-images of people in the Balkans and in the often biased perceptions of Balkan societies held by external observers, past and present. In bringing together case studies from such heterogeneous lines of research as linguistics, anthropology, political, literary and cultural history, each presenting insightful analyses of micro- as well as macro-level aspects of identity construction in the Balkans, this collection of essays provides a forum for the elucidation and critical evaluation of an intriguing paradox which continues to characterize the cultural situation in the Balkans and which, moreover, is of undeniable relevance for our understanding of recent political developments. As such, it also provides a window into the actual state of scholarly interest in the rich interdisciplinary field of Balkan studies. This book contains a selection of papers presented at the international conference «Developing Cultural Identity in the Balkans: Convergence vs. Divergence», organized by the Center for Southeast European Studies at Ghent University on 12 and 13 December 2003 in Ghent.

Balkan Worlds: The First and Last Europe

Balkan Worlds: The First and Last Europe
Author: Traian Stoianovich
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 498
Release: 2015-05-20
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 131747614X

Download Balkan Worlds: The First and Last Europe Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Encompassing the period from the Neolithic era to the troubled present, this book studies the peoples, societies and cultures of the area situated between the Adriatic Sea in the west and the Black Sea in the east, between the Alpine region and Danube basin in the north and the Aegean Sea in the south. This is not a conventional history of the Balkans. Drawing upon archaeology, anthropology, economics, psychology and linguistics as well as history, the author has attempted a "total history" that integrates as many as possible of the avenues and categories of the Balkan experience.

The Balkans in Focus

The Balkans in Focus
Author: Barbara Törnquist-Plewa
Publisher: Nordic Academic Press
Total Pages: 215
Release: 2003-01-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9187121719

Download The Balkans in Focus Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Discussing the complex weave of cultural links and the different religious and linguistic groups that have been living side by side in the Balkans for centuries, this anthropological study is the result of a project initiated to create a network of scholars from Scandinavia and the Yugoslav successor states devoted to the study of post-Yugoslav cultural and political developments. Nine papers on problems of cultural boundaries are presented with the idea of countering the picture of the Balkans as a huge borderland where irresolvable age-old ethnic and religious rivalries will inevitably cause conflict as informed by stereotypes and oversimplifications. Topics include the historical crossing of religious borderlines, the legitimizing efforts of elites to create national identities, struggles to declare "ownership" over the origins of a particular musical instrument, and similar topics.

Islamic Terror and the Balkans

Islamic Terror and the Balkans
Author: Shaʾul Shai
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2007
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 076580347X

Download Islamic Terror and the Balkans Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

The disintegration of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s ended the Yugoslavian Federation, which for nearly fifty years had succeeded in preserving a delicate coexistence among the ethnic, religious, and national components contained within it. Following this, the Balkans became a violent arena of confrontation due to these warring factions. "Islamic Terror and the Balkans" describes and analyzes the growth of radical Islam in the Balkans from its inception during the years of World War II to the present. Shay's account shows how the Bosnian War between the Muslims and the Serbs provided the historical opportunity for radical Islam to penetrate the Balkans, at a time when the Muslim world, headed by Iran and the various Islamic terror organizations, including Al-Qaida, came to the aid of the Muslims in Bosnia. In the framework of the mobilization of these entities in aiding the Muslim side in the conflict, the operational and organizational infrastructure of Iranian intelligence and the Revolutionary Guards was established, as well as those operated by other Islamic terror organizations. When war in Bosnia ended, terrorist infrastructures remained in the Balkans and served as a basis for these entities' intervention in the confrontation that developed in the Balkans in the late-1990s, specifically in Kosovo and Macedonia. Today, the Balkans serve as a forefront on European soil for Islamic terror organizations, which exploits this area to promote their activities in Western Europe, Russia, and other focal points worldwide. Shay's analysis of terror activity in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and exposure of terror cells throughout the world, and particularly in Europe, attest to the increasing involvement of the "Balkan alumni" and of the terrorist infrastructure from this area in creating global terror activity. "Shaul Shay" has served in various senior capacities in Israel's intelligence community. He is a research fellow at the International Counter-terrorism Policy Institute at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya and heads the Israel Defense Forces' Department of History. An expert on international and Fundamentalist Islamic terrorism, he has published studies and articles in Israel and abroad and written ten books on the subject including "The Axis of Evil," "The Red Sea Terror Triangle," and "The Shahids" (all Transaction).

Balkan Cultural Legacies

Balkan Cultural Legacies
Author: Jelena Milojković-Djurić
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2010
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9780880336741

Download Balkan Cultural Legacies Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

The land, people, and history of the Balkan Peninsula have often attracted the attention of foreign historians and writers. Yet a lack of research in primary sources and an absence of critical evaluations of Serbian, Bosnian, and Croatian histories undermines the credibility of such work. This collection, penned by eminent historians, examines Balkan cultural legacies in a variety of contexts. They combine approaches from history, literature, fine arts, and architecture, and address issues crucial to the cultural identities of the Balkans and Serbia in particular. Topics range from the activities of the Middle Ages to the early disintegration of Yugoslavia. Contributors focus on the question of territory and people and their geographical proximity. They examine commonalities of language, history, and cultural legacies, and revise perceptions of nationalism and ethnicity through an exploration of historical records and the political borders of state sovereignty.

A Short Border Handbook

A Short Border Handbook
Author: Gazmend Kapllani
Publisher: Portobello Books
Total Pages: 144
Release: 2013-11-14
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1846275725

Download A Short Border Handbook Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

'It is not a recognized mental illness like agoraphobia or depression ... It's largely a matter of luck whether one suffers from border syndrome: it depends where you were born. I was born in Albania.' After spending his childhood and school years in Albania, imagining that the miniskirts and quiz shows of Italian state TV were the reality of life in the West, and fantasizing accordingly about living on the other side of the border, the death of Hoxha at last enables Gazmend Kapllani to make his escape. However, on arriving in the Promised Land, he finds neither lots of willing leggy lovelies nor a warm welcome from his long-lost Greek cousins. Instead, he gets banged up in a detention centre in a small border town. As Gazi and his fellow immigrants try to find jobs, they begin to plan their future lives in Greece, imagining riches and successes which always remain just beyond their grasp. The sheer absurdity of both their plans and their new lives is overwhelming. Both detached and involved, ironic and emotional, Kapllani interweaves the story of his experience with meditations upon 'border syndrome' - a mental state, as much as a geographical experience - to create a brilliantly observed, amusing and perceptive debut.