Death, Suffering and Memory: Contribution to the Study of the Use of Death, Suffering and Collective Memory for Political Purposes – the Example of Serbian-Bulgarian Relations after the World War I Cover Image

Смрт, страдање и сећање: Прилог проучавању политичке употребе смрти, страдања и колективног памћења на примеру српско-бугарских односа после Првог светског рата
Death, Suffering and Memory: Contribution to the Study of the Use of Death, Suffering and Collective Memory for Political Purposes – the Example of Serbian-Bulgarian Relations after the World War I

Author(s): Ivan Ristić
Subject(s): International relations/trade, Interwar Period (1920 - 1939), Politics of History/Memory, Peace and Conflict Studies
Published by: Institut za noviju istoriju Srbije
Keywords: Kingdom of SHS; Bulgaria; World War I; culture of memory; thanatopolitics; Surdulica; political symbols; stereotypes

Summary/Abstract: The Serbian-Bulgarian relations, which were often marked by political and diplomatic conflicts and wars, culminated in the World War I. After the war, the Bulgarians became deeply rooted in the collective memory of the Serbs as an “arch-enemy” and the most hated nation. This could also be seen in the way the common recent past was interpreted. The aim of this paper is to show the ways the publicly and officially treasured memory of the recent past of Serbian-Bulgarian relations can be used politically, and the way the war sufferings and calamities, historical dates and events, were used in the internal political and ideological discourse.

  • Issue Year: 2017
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 37-57
  • Page Count: 21
  • Language: Serbian