| No 186
|
'Balkan Mentality': History, Legend, Imagination |
| Institution |
Department of Political Science; University of Athens: GR-10679 Athens, Greece |
|
Publication (Journal) |
Nations and Nationalism 2 no. 2 (July 1996): 163-91 |
| Published in |
USA, 1996 |
| Language |
English |
| Abstract |
Geographer Jovan Cvijic's 1918 notion of a shared Balkan mentality is examined. It is argued that the presence of multiple ethnic identities in the Balkans subverts the notion of a unified cultural and psychological community assumed by the notion of a Balkan mentality, which purportedly existed among the Orthodox Christians living in the Balkans during the eighteenth century. An analysis of the autobiographical writing of three prominent eighteenth century Eastern European authors, each writing in a different language, reveals mutual mental interests represented in their texts. However, it is contended that these texts demonstrate the widespread transition of national self-conception during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries throughout the Balkans, thus effectively eliminating the possibility of a unified Balkan mentality. |
| Availability |
Library of Central European University, Budapest |
| Discipline(s) |
history
, anthropology
|
| Source(s) |
historical data
, fieldwork
|