КЊИЖЕВНОСТ КАО ПРОСТОР ЗА ПОЛИТИЧКЕ ДЕБАТЕ: РЕЛАТИВИЗАЦИЈА КОНЦЕПТА „БАЛКАНИЗАЦИЈЕ” И „ЕВРОПЕИЗАЦИЈЕ” У ДЕЛИМА ДРАГИШЕ ВАСИЋА И ЉУБОМИРА МИЦИЋА
LITERATURE AS A SPACE FOR POLITICAL DEBATES: RELATIVIZATION OF THE CONCEPT OF BALKANIZATION AND EUROPEANIZATION IN THE WORKS OF DRAGISA VASIĆ AND LJUBOMIR MICIĆ

Summary/Abstract: In the 20th and 21st centuries, the terms ”Balkans” and ”Balkanization” have often received attention in global political discourse, and some researchers have pointed out their use as ”synonyms” for social conflict, war, and violence. This paper will analyse from a historical perspective two Serbian writers, Ljubomir Micić and Dragiša Vasić, who at the beginning of the 20th century questioned the meaning of the term ”Balkans” in relation to the policies of Western European countries. The paper suggests that the term ”Balkans” has been relativized and its meaning can be sought both in the political discourses of institutions and states, and in literary works. The research raises the question of what ”Balkans” means to these writers and how they perceive the construct of ”Balkans” in relation to ”Europe.” As a second question, the paper will open the topic of how their literary works on the relationship between the Balkans and Europe can be read and interpreted today in the context of contemporary Serbian politics. The analysis of the literary narrative has shown how political discourses can collide through works of art and how literature becomes a timeless field of ideological ideas. Writing books can be a reaction to social conditions at the time of the work’s creation. On the other hand, reading and reinterpreting a book can be an equally original reaction to the social conditions within which the reader reads the book. In their works, Micić and Vasić opened a field of discourse on ”Europe” and ”the Balkans”, which every reader can now supplement with their own interpretation and extract from it the content they need to build their identity or form political positions.

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