Trauma and Memory in Post-Yugoslav Cinema

Scientific paper - Review paper

• Author: Etami Borjan
• Author's institution: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; (Department of Italian language and literature)
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: HUMANISTIC SCIENCES; Art Sciences; Filmology

Abstract (english)

The article discusses cinematic representations of memory and trauma
in post-Yugoslav documentary and feature films that depict political
and social reality in the post-socialist period. Through different modes
of representation, from retrospective and testimonial to self-reflexive,
post-Yugoslav films address important issues related to recent violent
past. Since 1990s coming to terms with the past has been a central
topic in public discourses and the complex and powerful role of
memory in the formation of national identities has become a common
topic in almost all artistic and cultural practices. Memory has become
increasingly important in the construction of both individual and
collective identity. As such, it has also become a site of struggle and
identification. Contemporary post-Yugoslav filmmakers courageously
tackle various issues related to collective memory, offering their point
of view concerning events and personalities from Yugoslav history and
the impact they have had on contemporary society. Younger generation
filmmakers do not seek to perpetuate the nationalist discourse on war
that marked the film production in the first post-socialist decade. The
approach to recent history in their movies is more self-critical; the
filmmakers reject self-victimization and self-exoticization and focus
more on war-related guilt and embarrassment for the crimes committed
by all belligerent sides.

• Keywords (english): post-Yugoslav cinema; trauma and cinema; memory and cinema; post-socialist cinema; post-war cinema
• Language: english
• Publication type: Scientific paper - Review paper
• Publication status: Published
• Peer review: Peer review
• Publication version: Published version
• Journal title: Umjetnost riječi : Časopis za znanost o književnosti, izvedbenoj umjetnosti i filmu
• Numbering: vol. 65, no. 3-4, pp. 153-179
• p-ISSN: 0503-1583
• e-ISSN: 1849-1693
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.22210/ur.2021.065.3_4/02
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:131:248918
• Publication: 2021
• Document URL: https://hrcak.srce.hr/272764
• Type of resource: Text
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2022-05-05 08:21:52