The Capital Predicament: Serbian National Narratives in Socialist Yugoslavia and the Remaking of Belgrade (1944–1961)
The Capital Predicament: Serbian National Narratives in Socialist Yugoslavia and the Remaking of Belgrade (1944–1961)

Summary/Abstract: The article investigates Serbian national narratives in the first two decades of Socialist Yugoslavia, focusing on the case study of Belgrade as one of key symbolic relevance. As the capital city of the new Federation, Belgrade was invested with a broader Yugoslav identity. Analyzing the politics of identity implemented in the city’s public spaces, nevertheless, the article argues that Serbian national narratives were also promoted in the city, articulated within the framework of the Party’s official ideology. Drawing on selected examples, the article highlights the emergence of disagreements and negotiations in terms of both content and the use of spaces and resources. As elsewhere in the Federation, ambivalences and revisions influenced the definition of the role of national identities in the building of the new socialist society and the balance with the Party’s Socialist Yugoslavism.

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