Politics & Ideology behind the National Myth

Pre-requisites: Knowledge of sociology of culture(and mass culture), sociology of religion, anthropology, history, ideologies, national literature and of the arts in general.

Course objectives: Understanding basic facts about the ideological use of myth, insight into the theoretical orientations on the issue, with a particular focus on contemporary circumstances in Serbia.

Course description: Ideological usage of the national myth as a modern phenomenon. The period of constitutionalization of modern european states, followed by others, is marked by a return to myth, functioning as a pre-vision and is essential to the forming of a nation. The return to myth ideologically marked the newly constructed classes and their cultural, political and ideological leanings.During this process, the myth had to be re-fabricated and constructed. As a rule, during times of crisis elite classes reach for the instrumental value provided by a mythical view. A focus will be put on the the process of the refabrication of the Serbian myth in the post-bolshevic period. The breakdown of the social order was followed by instilling the myth in the conscience of Serbia and other republics. On the one hand,the national myth was reborn as an ideology in an otherwise ideologically vacuous space, but on the other hand, the process of re-traditionalization of culture, the reproduction and presentation of myth holds a fundamental value. Presentations of applicable material. Analyzing content and messages in media, literature and public performances.

Learning Outcomes: Developing a holistic and critical approach towards understanding the phenomenon of remythologizing society in Serbia.

Literature/Reading:

• Đokica Jovanović, Jasmina Petrović, Saša Madić, Parodija tragičnog, Kič kao konstituens političke i kulturne ideologije. Istraživanje dominantnih političkih stavova i kulturnih preferencija u Srbiji. (
• Milan Matić, Mit (politički), u: Enciklopedija političke kulture, Savremena administracija, Beograd, 1993.
• Srpska strana rata: Trauma i katarza u istorijskom pamćenju, (priredio: Nebojša Popov), Republika, Beograd, 1996.
• Miodrag Popović, Vidovdan i časni krst, XX vek, Beograd, 1998.
• Cvetan Todorov, Mi i drugi, XX vek, Beograd, 1994.
• Dušan Bandić, Carstvo zemaljsko i carstvo nebesko, XX vek, Beograd, 1997.
• Ivan Čolović, Mitska Srbija i komentari, Dijalog, pilot broj, jesen-zima, 1995.
• Izmišljanje tradicije, uredili: Erik Hobsbaum, Terens Rejndžer, XX vek, Beograd, 2002.
• Kornelijus Kastorijadis, Uspon beznačajnosti, Gradac, Čačak, 1999.
• Leh Mruz, Mit i mitsko mišljenje, Kultura, 33-34/1976.
• Mirča Elijade, Mitovi i istorija, u: Mit, tradicija, savremenost. U: Delo, Beograd, 1972.
• Olivera Milosavljević, Radmila Radić, Obrad Savić, Srpska elita, Helsinški odbor za ljudska prava, Beograd, 2001.
• Raul Žirarde, Politički mitovi imitologije, XX vek, Beograd, 2000.