POLITICAL ECONOMY OF DEATH AND THE CONCEPT OF THE KING’S TWO BODIES: THE FUNERAL OF KING ALEKSANDAR KARAĐORĐEVIĆ I IN 1934
POLITICAL ECONOMY OF DEATH AND THE CONCEPT OF THE KING’S TWO BODIES: THE FUNERAL OF KING ALEKSANDAR KARAĐORĐEVIĆ I IN 1934
Author(s): Tijana S. Borić, Igor BorozanSubject(s): History, Recent History (1900 till today), Pre-WW I & WW I (1900 -1919), Wars in Jugoslavia
Published by: Istorijski institut, Beograd
Keywords: King Aleksandar Karađorđević; Kingdom of Yugoslavia; assassination; funeral ceremony; the king’s two bodies; body politic; body natural; mass media; ephemeral spectacle
Summary/Abstract: The assassination of King Aleksandar shook the European public at the dawn of WWII. It had even more pronounced effects in the compound South Slavic state. In such a tense moment, it was necessary to preserve state unity and fill the legal and symbolic vacuum caused by the King’s murder. Thus, the elites employed the old medieval concept of the king’s two bodies. According to this principle, the funeral of King Aleksandar assumed the features of a mass performance wherein the death of the ruler turned into the symbol of state unity.
Journal: Историјски часопис
- Issue Year: 2020
- Issue No: 69
- Page Range: 517-538
- Page Count: 22
- Language: English