| Review of: | The formation of Croatian national identity: a centuries-old dream? by Alex J. Bellamy |
|---|---|
| Reviewed By: | Spyros Economides |
| Reviewed in: | International Affairs |
| Date accepted online: | 27/07/2004 |
| Published in print: | Volume 80, Issue 2, Pages 367-414 |
Europe
Contemporary Croatian history is itself a study in nationalism. Franjo Tudjman's Croatia, sprung from the belly of a rotting Yugoslavia, achieved its independence from the federal state through the pursuit of an at times pernicious and chauvinistic form of nationalism which both gave content to a latent national identity and played a shaping role in Yugoslavia's brutal dismemberment. With Tudjman's passing, Croatian nationalism has lent further westward and attempted to leave behind the destructiveness of Balkan ethnic conflicts in pursuit of integration into the West European mainstream.
This book provides a useful study of Croatian national identity in the 1990s and how a 'historical narrative', which at its core had the yearning for the creation of a Croatian state, was operationalized. It is an ambitious exercise concentrating as it does in its theoretical dimension on some of the major debates which inform the study of nationalism and national identity formation-especially that of the 'Great Divide' between primordialists and modernists. As the product of a fine doctoral dissertation the book exhibits good scholarship with extensive references to the relevant theoretical literature and a solid grasp of Balkan history and contemporary politics.
It is in the second half of the book that Bellamy really gets to grips with the formation of Croatia's modern national identity and where he certainly offers something novel. Bellamy makes a good case for the merging of theories of nationalism and the realities of the formation of contemporary Croatian national identity by employing a series of six highly informative, readable and provocative case-studies including the importance of football, the Catholic Church and Croatian national sentiment. These are what the author calls 'social practices' and are intended to illustrate practical manifestations of national identity as well as to buttress his hypothesis of multiple layers of Croatian national identity, which are constantly politically contested.
There is something in this book for a variety of audiences. The friend of abstract theorizing-especially one interested in the study of nationalism-will find much in the subtle reworking of existing assumptions and the blending together of traditionally counterpoised approaches. To the student of Croatia, this book offers a keen understanding of the various tensions-political and social-which emerged as a corollary to the race to achieve independent statehood on the back of a contested national identity in the 1990s. The reader interested in contemporary South-Eastern Europe will come away with greater insight into one of the pieces of what can be an infernally confusing regional mosaic.
This book is not faultless nor is it shorn of all controversy (it is impossible to write about Balkan politics without a heavy dose of the latter). Perhaps a more critical reading of Tudjman's role in the collapse of Yugoslavia would lend greater balance to the work, as would a comparative element with respect to other issues of national identity in South-Eastern Europe. But these points should not detract from what is a coherent and compelling whole. A great deal has been written in the last few years on the origins of Yugoslavia's bloody demise and this book certainly contributes to our understanding of this demise through its examination of the development of the national identity of one of the key actors in the unfolding tragedy.