Narrating Victimhood

Gender, Religion and the Making of Place in Post-War Croatia

Michaela Schäuble

• Publisher: Berghahn Books
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781785337406, 9781782382607
• eBook ISBN: 9781782382614
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Cultural & Social Anthropology
• Index: Social Sciences

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.

Table of contents

• Narrating Victimhood
• Narrating Victimhood Gender, Religion and the Making of Place in Post-War Croatia
• Contents
• 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 and Abbreviations
• Bibliography
• Index