Narrating Victimhood - Gender, Religion and the Making of Place in Post-war Croatia

Mythologies and narratives of victimization pervade contemporary Croatia, set against the backdrop of militarized notions of masculinity and the political mobilization of religion and nationhood. Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork in rural Dalmatia in the Croatian-Bosnian border region, this book provides a unique account of the politics of ambiguous Europeanness from the perspective of those living at Europe's margins. Examining phenomena such as Marian apparitions, a historic knights tournament, the symbolic re-signification of a massacre site, and the desolate social situation of Croatian war veterans, Narrating Victimhood traces the complex mechanisms of political radicalization in a post-war scenario. This book provides a new perspective for understanding the ongoing processes of transformation in Southeastern Europe and the Balkans.

List of contents

List of Figures

Preface

Acknowledgements

Notes on the Text

Introduction

Chapter 1. (In-)Subordination at the Margins of Europe

Chapter 2. Marian Devotion in Times of War

Chapter 3. Re-Visions of History through Landscape

Chapter 4. Of War Heroes, Martyrs, and Invalids

Chapter 5. Mobilising Local Reserves

Concluding Remarks

Glossary

Bibliography

Index

About the author

Michaela Schäuble is Assistant Professor in Social Anthropology at the University of Berne (Switzerland). Previously she was a Lecturer in Social and Visual Anthropology at the University of Manchester and has held postdoctoral fellowships at the Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard University and the Institute of Advanced Studies at Bologna University.

Product details

• Authors: Michaela Sch, Michaela Schauble, Michaela Schäuble, Schauble Michaela, Schäuble Michaela, Michaela Scheauble
• Publisher: BERGHAHN BOOKS, INC
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 15.04.2014
• EAN: 9781782382607
• ISBN: 978-1-78238-260-7
• No. of pages: 392
• Dimensions: 160 mm x 236 mm x 25 mm
• Series: Space and Place; Space and Place
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology; Social sciences, law, business > Social sciences (general); Soziologie, Religion, allgemein, Gender Studies: Gruppen, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Gender Studies, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology of Religion, Archaeology / Anthropology, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural & Social