Serbian victimhood and historical injustice: Understanding heritage sites and narratives in the former Yugoslavia

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Damjanovic, Rebecca
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Lixinski, Lucas

Zhu, Yujie

Date
2024
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Abstract

People's experience of national history is rarely a linear process. The past is frequently used in contemporary political discussions, as well as in jumbled memories that underpin our sense of self. As a result, heritage sites have a critical role in understanding historical narratives, as well as how groups explore intercultural relations. Throughout the chapter I explore the mythologies and symbolism associated with and articulated through heritage sites associated with the Second World War victimhood in order to explore how these inform Serbian identities and cultural memories. Understanding heritage in this context facilitates migrants’ voice and memories, and destabilises dichotomous categories of perpetrator and victim that extend beyond particular wars to inform a deep sense of historical injustice and nationhood. The experiences of Serbs in the Bosnian War (1992–1995) are complicated by the tendency to talk about war through the prism of victims and perpetrators. In these binary frameworks, discussions about the culpability of Serbs and their role in the war has dominated research and silenced recognition of their own sense of being victims. However, for many Serbian communities, the perception that they have been deemed guilty of aggression and atrocity collectively ignores their individual experiences as well as the cultural trauma suffered by many Serbians more broadly. In this chapter, I look at how the international focus on the Srebrenica genocide has resulted in a counter-memorial that engages historical memories of the Second World War Serbian victimhood to articulate the challenges of contested victimhood in the region. In drawing attention to the need to destabilise victim/perpetrator dichotomies in communities connected to past conflicts, I contribute to the emerging exploration of victimhood as multifaceted and situated.

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Heritage, Conflict, and Peace-Building

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1st

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Archaeology

Historical studies

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Damjanovic, R, Serbian victimhood and historical injustice, Heritage, Conflict, and Peace-Building: Understanding heritage sites and narratives in the former Yugoslavia, 2024, 1st, pp. 62-80

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