Framing the Nation and Collective Identities: Political Rituals and Cultural Memory of the Twentieth-Century Traumas in Croatia [Hardcover]

This book analyzes top-down and bottom-up strategies of framing the nation and collective identities through commemorative practices relating to events from the Second World War and the 1990s Homeland War in Croatia. With attention to media representations of commemorative events and opinion poll data, it draws on interviews and participant observation at commemorative events to focus on the speeches of political elites, together with the speeches of opposition politicians and other social actors (such as the Catholic Church, anti-fascist organizations and war veterans and victims organizations) who challenge official narratives. Offering innovative approaches to researching and analyzing commemorative practices in post-conflict societies, this examination of a nations transition from a Yugoslav republic to an independent state  and now the newest member of the European Union  constitutes a unique case study for scholars of cultural memory and identity politics interested in the production and representation of national identities in official narratives.

Framing the Nation: An Introduction to Commemorative Culture in Croatia  Part 1: Socio-Cultural, Philosophical and Linguistic Approaches to Croatia's Commemorative Culture  1. Sociocultural and Ideological Determinants of Memory Culture in Croatian Society  2. A Contemporary Philosophical Perspective on Cultural Memory in Croatia  3. An Ontological and Constructional Approach to the Discourse Analysis of the Commemorative Speeches in Croatia  Part 2: The Second World War Commemorations: Contested Sites of the Shared Past?  4. Framing the Narrative About Communist Crimes in Croatia: Bleiburg and Jazovka   5. Contested Sites and Fragmented Narratives: Jasenovac and Disruptions in Croatias Commemorative Culture  Part 3: The Homeland War Commemorations&nbslÌ