Shared Concepts, Diverging Perceptions. Left-liberal Intellectuals and the Wars in Yugoslavia
Shared Concepts, Diverging Perceptions. Left-liberal Intellectuals and the Wars in Yugoslavia

Summary/Abstract: This essay examines the “prehistory” of the relations between German and Yugoslav intellectuals concerning the war in Yugoslavia. In order to understand the “muteness” of German left-wing intellectuals regarding the violence in Yugoslavia, it is necessary to look at the relations during the preceding decades. Such a look reveals that there were contacts and relationships between Yugoslav left-wing dissidents and German left-liberal intellectuals after 1968 and throughout the 1970s and 80s. Against the background of muteness, it is even more surprising that in the 1980s a journal existed that was co-edited by German, North-American and Yugoslav intellectuals. This makes it all the more difficult to answer the question of why, despite such close contact, muteness emerged. The concluding section develops a perspective for further research and argues that attention should be paid to the theoretical framework through which the developments in Yugoslavia were perceived by German intellectuals.

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