“Tea party” with Branimir Janković: Yugoslavia as a taboo

Despite the crucial impact of the wars during the 1990s, there are numerous deeper reasons that have shaped the specific experiences of the single countries when talking about Yugoslavia and its legacy. This will be the topic of the lecture “The (Im)possibility of Speaking about Yugoslavia: The Croatian Case” by Branimir Janković.

In Slovenia, partisan songs have been declared part of the cultural heritage, in Serbia there is a Museum of Yugoslavia, while in Croatia many people are asking for a ban of the red star and the Yugoslav flag. How to explain such differences in the countries that emerged from Yugoslavia?

Janković will analyze the role played by, for example, the different circumstances of the Second World War, as well as the importance of the question whether the former Yugoslav republics see themselves as losers or winners, i.e. whether the construction of their national identity or independence was developed within the Yugoslav state framework or against it.

With a special focus on Croatia, the lecture will discuss how during the 19th and 20th centuries, Yugoslav and right-wing national ideologies were simultaneously active in Croatia. The first believed that Yugoslavia and Croatia were not incompatible, while the second believed that they were. Since in the meantime the latter prevailed, talking about Yugoslavia has been tabooed and turned into a disqualifying label.

In the end, Janković will try to answer why, despite the asymmetric power relations, polemics in the Croatian public about the Yugoslav experience still continue to go on.

Branimir Janković is an associate professor at the Department of History, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb. In his scientific and teaching work, he focuses on the history of historiography and contemporary historiography, intellectual and public history, as well as the comparative history of revolutions and nationalism. He is the author of the book Mijenjanje sebe same. Preobrazbe hrvatske historiografije kasnog socijalizma (2016) and co-editor of several edited volumes such a Reprezentacije socijalističke Jugoslavije: preispitivanja i perspektive (2019), Intelektualna historija (2013) and others. He also serves as the editor of the portal Historiografija.hr.

The lecture is part of the Regional Tea party titled “Yugoslavia” which is organized together with the Academic Network for Cooperation in Southeast Europe. It takes place in the Main hall of the Institute of social sciences, can be followed also online and will be moderated by Irena Ristić (IDN).

https://zoom.us/j/91063601299?pwd=apbU4LEemaM7sgjaLIihIkE6Q7rkJ2.1

Meeting ID: 910 6360 1299
Passcode: 887568