The Politics of Kosovo Mythology in Serbian National Ideology

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  • Presentation speakers
    • Lara Jakica, Monash University, Australia
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    • Lara Jakica The Problem of Kosovo Mythology in Serbian Popular Culture.pdf

  Abstract:

  This paper explores the appropriation of Kosovo mythology in Serbian popular culture; its use and misuse in political rhetoric and propaganda. Kosovo mythology, which is based on a medieval battle against the Ottomans has been revisited in Serbian cultural discourse on a number of occasions over the centuries, especially at the times of national crisis and a political struggle in the country when it seems to serve as a stronghold of reinventing and re-establishing national identity. This paper focuses on those motifs of medieval Kosovo, which portray the impact of mythology on Serbian national identity today. To illustrate the presence of Kosovo reference in contemporary Serbian cultural canon I focus on most popular texts, such as are feature films and nationalistic pop-folk songs. I also suggest that Kosovo as a cultural agent can be approached through the psychoanalytic theory of subjectivity of Jacques Lacan, which leads to a critique of the concept of ‘nationalism’ in modern day Serbia.

 

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