ORIJENTALISTIČKI STEREOTIPI I BALKANISTIČKI DISKURS : DVA VEKA POPULARNE KNJIŽEVNOSTI O BALKANU
ORIENTALISTIC STEREOTYPES AND BALKANISTIC DISCOURSE : TWO CENTURIES OF POPULAR LITERATURE ABOUT THE BALKANS

Summary/Abstract: In the 19th century, hundreds of reports, novels, short stories and travelogues representing the Balkans as a border between civilization and noncivilization (between Europe and Asia) were published. This was at a time when an important imperial shift occurred: the Ottoman Empire lost its power, while new kingdoms arose in the West. Within this political, territorial, economic and cultural change, the Great Powers began to question the heritage and division of Ottoman territories. This paper focuses on three problems to test the applicability of Orientalist, Balkanist and postcolonial paradigms: 1) orientalization of the Balkans through discursive connections with the Orient; 2) notions of the inversion of European values; 3) construction of the Balkan character. The examples of Bosnia and Serbia are used as paradigmatic specimens.

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