CULTURICIDE AGAINST THE SERBS IN CROATIA IN THE CONTEXT OF THE WARS OF THE NINETIES

/in /by

The paper discusses the problem of the destruction of Serbian cultural heritage
in Croatia during the war in Yugoslavia (1991‒1995) while pointing to the fact that cultural and spiritual genocide against the Serbs took place in the mentioned area in three
forms: devastation of Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries, destruction of books
and libraries, namely the funds consisting of works by Serbian authors, those written in
Cyrillic or published in Serbia, and also the demolition of monuments dedicated to the
anti-fascist struggle as well as those built in honor of famous people of Serbian origin.
Having in mind all three aspects of the premeditated eradication of traces of the Serbian
culture, we point out that the Serbs as a nation are exposed to continuous trauma caused
by one of the greatest cultural crimes committed after the Second World War.

SERBIAN BOOK AND THE NATIONAL SELF-AWARENESS

/in /by

This paper presents changes in the meaning of the term “Serbian book” in the
national bibliography and literary history, from the beginning of the 19th century to the
present day. It points out the consequences which political needs and tasks of Yugoslavian government had on the Serbian Bibliography: Books 1868–1944. Here, new conceptualisations of Serbian literature in regional and transnational literary histories have also
been presented, of which the first one is in English (History of the Literary Cultures of
East-Central Europe: junctures and disjunctures in the 19th and 20th centuries, eds. M.
Cornis-Popeand J. Neubauer) and the second one is in Russian language (Лексикон
южнославянскихлитератур, ред. Г. Я. Ильина). The possible consequences of uncritical
application of language codes in the bibliographic descriptions of literary works of Serbian
authors have also been shown.

THE TRAUMA OF THE GREAT WAR IN THE SERBIAN AVANGARD NOVEL

/in /by

The Serbian avant-garde novel expresses war experience that goes from nihilistic experience of historical terror and complete collapse of all values to the activation
of vitalistic potentials, exaltation of the senses, physicality, sexuality, the need for reconstruction and new establishment of the individual and the collective being. This is evident
in each of the mentioned novels: in The Journal of Čarnojević (Dnevnik o Čarnojeviću) it
moves from the senselessness of the war to the need for metaphysical consolation; in Red
Fogs (Crvene magle) heroes are facing both cowardice and desertion, but also find the
strength to sacrifice themselves for others and make heroic gestures that a man is capable
of making only in war; in The Wings (Krila) there is a range of phenomena from grotesque
and horror to visions that war pilots experience while observing the skies. Finally, the novel The Sixth Day (Dan šesti) tells a brilliant story of war and peace, of the everlasting cycle
of birth and death on the earth. The literature that was created in the years immediately
following the Great War is characterized by the motifs of disappointment, disaster and
revulsion for the forces of destruction. It doubts the ethical and humanistic values. The
literature calls into question the social progress and the ability of history to give answers
to the questions about the meaning of life and of the world.

ULISSESES WITH NO ITAKA

/in /by

The essay discusses different ways in which contemporary Serbian poetry
responded to the experiences of the wars for the Yugoslav heritage, as well as to the experiences of the consequences of those wars. A broader overview of four characteristic approaches to these topics is given, in the works of Stevan Tontić, Duško Babić, Đorđe Nešić
and Nebojša Devetak. These poets artistically articulate painful experiences of suffering,
destruction, loss of homeland, exile and the search for new ways of affirming personal and
collective identity.

THE TRAUMA OF JASENOVAC

/in /by

Јасеновачки логор карактеришу масовни и садистички злочини, јединствени у историји. Стога је Јасеновац не само наша национална траума већ и једнако озбиљна траума како за човечанство тако и за хришћанство. Јасеновац, можда
још више него Аушвиц, отвара питање природе човека и његових потенцијала за господарење над природом и историјом, а с друге стране актуелизује питање разумевања Божије промисли и историје као дешавања спаса. Траума Јасеновца може бити
превлaдана првенствено у култури – као свеукупном пољу поезиса које укључује
уметност, философију, религију и науку – а овај оглед је прилог том превладавању.

GIVING NAME AND VOICE TO THE VICTIM – COLLECTIVE TRAUMA AND THE TOPIC OF GENOCIDE OF SERBS IN THE INDEPENDANT STATE OF CROATIA (1941−1945) IN CONTEMPERARY SERBIAN LITERATURE

/in /by

The paper considers the phenomenon of collective trauma caused by genocide over the Serbian people in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) during WW2
(1941−1945), which is sporadically present in the Serbian literature. The scale of its representation is diametrically opposite to the scale of this institutionalised crime (manifested as fascism and religious fanatism), which is saved in collective experience, memory
and documents. A review of the literary production in socialist Yugoslavia indicates that
only after the dissolution of Yugoslavia poetical elaborations of this topic appear, mostly
in the form of poems, like in the collection Last Rites (Opela) by Milan Komnenić, and at
the start of the 21st century by some refined, intimist opuses like the collection Pain (Bol)
by Miroslav Maksimović, or based on the archive materials of truly recorded and revived
voices of victims who were given back the dignity of existence (after mass and most violent killings, mostly without burials), like in the collection Suffering (Stradanja) by Jelena
Kovačević. On the example of these three poetry collections, different stylistic and artistic
methods, genesis and different approaches to the aesthetics of horror are observed. Conclusion is that only in the 21st century a fully mature, highly estheticized creation have
appeared as permanent contributions to Serbian literature, serving also as a paradigm for
some future works to be inspired by this topic

SERBIAN TRAUMA – CRUCIFIXION ON THE EAST-WEST CROSS

/in /by

Географски положај дубински одређује карактер народа. „Ми смо своју
кућу подигли насред пута”, описао је српски геоплотички положај Јован Цвијић. У
Другом светском рату – између Лондона и Москве – Срби су се сусрели с врхунцем
те трауме. Наша два антифашистичка покрета наши савезници су претворили
у унутарнародно непријатељство које, ни после две трећине века, не иде ка националном помирењу. Драма је у томе што је та траума судбоносни проблем пред
изазовима које доносе нови односи моћи Истока и Запада.

WE COULD NOT HAVE ANTICIPATED THAT – NOT EVEN IN OUR DREAMS

/in /by

This paper presents mental disorders of the Serbs caused by war actions from
Balkan Wars to the wars at the end of the last century. Both the stress/traumatic events
(war actions, camps, refugees) and changes in the forms of mental disorders (war tremors
in the First World War, partisan hysteria in the partisan war and the post-traumatic stress
disorder in the wars of the 1990s) are listed. A huge lack of data for special categories of
population is evident for the First World War (civil victims, Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina) and for the Second World War (members of the King’s Yugoslav Army in the
Homeland, detainees in German and other camps, civilians in the war and after the war).
The data show that the most severe psychological consequences, in addition to the horrors
of war, were caused by torture in the camps and prisons of war

MEMORIZED COLLECTIVE TRAUMA AS A FACTOR OF NATIONAL IDENTITY

/in /by

During their existence and historical confirmation on the Balkan Peninsula,
the Serbs were exposed to great suffering by those who sought to conquer these regions.
This suffering was especially pronounced in the twentieth century, in which a full blown
genocide was committed against the Serbian people in the Independent State of Croatia.
After the Second World War, in the communist Yugoslavia, that great national trauma
was suppressed and minimized. Instead of the truth, an ideological lie was created which
is being repeated to this day in order to diminish the numbers of the Serbian victims.
The elucidation of this historical truth is a topical issue, because after half a century, the
Ustasha ideology, new crimes and pogroms against the Serbian people reappeared in order to create an ethnically cleansed Croatia. The victims were declared aggressors, and
their mass killing and expulsion is celebrated today as the biggest national holiday. This
sacralization of crimes whose historical depth hides a total genocide against the Serbian
people has become the most important factor of Croatian national and state identity. The
questionability of this monstrous project requires an adequate response. In this paper, the
author proves that such a response can only be a complete remembrance of this trauma as
a factor of the Serbian national identity.

INTRODUCTION

/in /by