Remembering suffering and resistance: memory politics and the Serbian Orthodox church
Assessing issues related to the Orthodox Church from an academic, secular point of view is a sensitive matter. However, by tracing and interpreting the engagement of the Serbian Church with the memory of Serbian heroic victimhood in World War II through a kind of “methodological agnosticism,” this v...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Book |
| Language: | English |
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| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Budapest Vienna New York
Central European University Press
2024
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| In: | Year: 2024 |
| Series/Journal: | Memory, Heritage and Public History in Central and Eastern Europe
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| Further subjects: | B
Collective Memory (Serbia)
B Civilians in war (Serbia) B RELIGION / Orthodox / Christianity B Memorialization B World War II resistance B War and society (Serbia) B Religious institutions B Srpska Pravoslavna Crkva Influence B Wars & Conflicts / Generals / HISTORY / World War II B Genocide B World War, 1939-1945 Social aspects (Serbia) B the Holocaust |
| Online Access: |
Cover (Verlag) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | Assessing issues related to the Orthodox Church from an academic, secular point of view is a sensitive matter. However, by tracing and interpreting the engagement of the Serbian Church with the memory of Serbian heroic victimhood in World War II through a kind of “methodological agnosticism,” this volume has managed to tackle the subtle topic in a very delicate and value-neutral way. Arguing that the search for a collective memory is particularly urgent in the face of societal uncertainty and that religious institutions often use their memory potential to reaffirm their public relevance, the book examines the motivations, forms, strategies, and outcomes of a wide range of mnemonic activities the Serbian Orthodox Church engaged in following the upheavals caused by the collapse of Yugoslav socialism, the violent dissolution of the country, and the fall of the Milošević regime. These activities, taking place within the memory fields framed by the post-socialist, post-conflict, and post-secular horizons, took liturgical and non-liturgical forms, often involving a hybrid fusion of the two. As a result of this mnemonic endeavor, the author argues, the Church was successful in reasserting its power and legitimacy in the public sphere of post-2000 Serbia "Assessing issues related to the Orthodox Church from an academic, secular point of view is a sensitive matter. However, through a kind of "methodological agnosticism," this volume has managed to tackle the subtle topic in a very delicate and value-neutral way. The book traces and interprets the mnemonic engagement of the Serbian Church with the memory of Serbian heroic victimhood in World War II. The author examines the motivations, forms, strategies, and outcomes of these activities in post-2000 Serbia, arguing that for late modern societies, a compact presence of the past in the present is of crucial importance. The search for a collective memory is particularly urgent in the face of societal uncertainty, to which Churches can provide an effective response. Religious institutions therefore often use their memory potential to reaffirm their public relevance. The Serbian Orthodox Church could develop a wide range of activities within the memory fields framed by the post-communist, post-conflict, and post-secular horizons. In doing so, the Church was motivated by its long-term goal of (re)establishing its position of power and (re)asserting its legitimacy in the public sphere of post-2000 Serbia. Its public engagement in this regard took liturgical and non-liturgical forms, often involving a hybrid fusion of the two. As a result, the author argues, the Church has become omnipresent at all levels of World War II-related memory production"-- |
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| ISBN: | 9633867444 |
| Access: | Restricted Access |