The Beginnings of Archaeology in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the Light of Orientalism and Balkanism

Abstract

The paper explores the early phases of the institutionalization of archaeology in Bosnia-Herzegovina during the Austro-Hungarian administration (1878–1918), from the point of view of the post-colonial theory, the discourses of Orientalism and Balkanism. The example is positioned as a specific “third space” – as defined by Homi Bhabha – in which a contact occurs, causing overlapping and tensions between the colonial hegemony and the local endeavors at self-defining the cultural identity. Although Bosnia-Herzegovina was not a typical colony, all the basic elements of scientific colonialism are present: monopoly over knowledge production, the influx of “experts” from the power centers, as well as the exclusion of the local community from the epistemic processes.

The paper explores the ways in which the cultural heritage was appropriated, catalogized and presented in accordance with the colonial discourse. The role is discussed of museums and archaeological collections, functioning as the material confirmation of the “Europeanization” of the region, but as well as the means of control over the narratives of the past. An example is offered of the gift made by Ćiro Truhelka to Izidor Kršnjavi, demonstrating the practice of treating the heritage as a symbolic capital inside the power structures.

The ambivalent practices of resistance, hybridity, and mimicry are discussed, emphasizing that the colonial dominance was not absolute. The example of the writer Petar Kočić and his satirical representations of the institutions of power demonstrates that the local intellectuals used the strategies of irony and ambiguity to point to the hegemonic practices.

Finally, the paper proposes the interpretation of the Austro-Hungarian archaeology in Bosnia-Herzegovina as a hybrid space between Balkanism and Orientalism, where the processes of the colonial appropriation and local identity negotiations were simultaneously taking place.