Heroic Cut for the European Suit: Redesigning the Politics of Serbian Memory at the Start of the 21st Century

Abstract

Using the undeniable influence the public has on the creation of social cohesion as a starting point, this paper questions the idea that social conditioning shapes collective memory out of the political anticipation of contemporary and future needs of society. This thesis, illustrated through the analysis of the reconstruction of memory pertaining to Dositej Obradovic in print media, is considered within the context of social changes occurring after the year 2000 and the state’s endeavor to join the European Union. Aside from the context in which Dositej is used as a means for political affirmation of the idea that the Serbian people belong in the EU, and provides a cultural foundation for it, the utilization of Dositej is treated a one possible approach within the wider inquiry into the ways in which Serbia’s official discourse attempts to overcome its “bad past” through utilizing a “useful past”.