Paschalis Kitromilides, ed., Enlightenment and Orthodox Christianity, 2018
In numerous works, Paschalis Kitromilides has demonstrated how the acceptance and promulgation of... more In numerous works, Paschalis Kitromilides has demonstrated how the acceptance and promulgation of Enlightenment ideas in the Balkans took place in conscious opposition to the spiritual heritage of the area shaped by the traditions of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. This in turn led to the wholesome reinterpretation of the history of its peoples and to a new visualisation of their future. 1 Embracing novelty was disquieting for Orthodox Christians because tradition maintained the link with their vision of a past golden age, the venerated harmony of Byzantine spiritual and secular powers that came close to heaven on earth. There were more down-to-earth reasons too, in the fact that the Orthodox clergy and hierarchy enjoyed somewhat privileged status and undisputed leadership over their folk within the Ottoman realm, which for centuries encompassed all of the Balkans. 2 The same principle of privileging religious leaders and fortifying their primacy was later adopted by the Hapsburg Monarchy, where many Orthodox Christians found refuge from the Ottoman conquest or where they fled during numerous wars and skirmishes between the two empires. 3 Moreover, centuries of distinct historical trajectories between the West and (in this case the Balkan) East were marred by conflict. The smaller and weaker side felt betrayed and victimised by the West, and by the eighteenth century developed elaborate discourses and images of its enemy. 4 Finally, the cultural and 229 1. Paschalis Kitromilides, 'The Enligtenment East and West', Enlightenment, nationalism, Orthodoxy (Aldershot, 1994), study 1. p.51-70 (55). 2. The Ottoman Empire was a caliphate clearly and significantly privileging Muslims over Orthodox Christians or any other non-Muslims. Orthodox Christians or the so-called Rum Millet nevertheless enjoyed certain rights and were represented by their religious leaders. For the Serbian Church under the Ottomans and the position of its clergy and hierarchy under the Rum Millet system, see László Hadrovics, Le Peuple serbe et son église sous la domination turque (Paris, 1947). 3. See Dinko Davidov, Srpske privilegije carskog doma habzburskog [Hapsburg
Polemos Casopis Za Interdisciplinarna Istraživanja Rata I Mira, Jan 28, 2014
Unatoč organiziranju nekoliko masovnih protesta i znatnom izbjegavanju vojne obveze, antiratnom a... more Unatoč organiziranju nekoliko masovnih protesta i znatnom izbjegavanju vojne obveze, antiratnom aktivizmu u bivšoj Jugoslaviji posvetio se mali broj ljudi. Opažanja i analize u ovom tekstu bave se najmanje dokumentiranom temom prigovora savjesti i dezerterstva, koje su bile moja preokupacija između 1991. i 1999. Tekst kontekstualizira antimilitaristički i antiratni angažman u (bivšoj) Jugoslaviji i ukazuje na neke od glavnih faktora koji su ga oblikovali, počevši od neizostavne uloge majki, preko feminističkog antimilitarizma, stranih aktivista/aktivistkinja, anarho-punka, pa sve do Kristova Govora na gori. Svjedočenje o mom učešću u antiratnom pokretu podijeljeno je na tri cjeline -kako sam postao aktivist, aktivizam i razmišljanja o aktivizmu. Posebno se bavim razlikama i vezama koje su postojale među antiratnim aktivistima/aktivistkinjama diljem bivše Jugoslavije koji/koje su se našli/ našle na suprotnim stranama fronta, kao i našim kontaktima s aktivistima/aktivistkinjama iz inozemstva. Efekti postjugoslavenskog antimilitarističkog angažmana su analizirani i prezentirani kako bi eventualno mogli koristiti međunarodnom mirovnom pokretu.
The Serbian Orthodox Church: haunting past and challenging future
International journal for the Study of the Christian Church, 2010
... One of its influential priests, Nenad Ilić, formulated this in the following statement: '... more ... One of its influential priests, Nenad Ilić, formulated this in the following statement: 'One should remain silent about the church if one is not ... Kosovo) and Nikanor of Banat, whom he often hosted in the monastery of Lipovac headed by Archimandrite Dionisije Pantelić, an eminent ...
Jovan Byford . Denial and Repression of Antisemitism: Post‐Communist Remembrance of the Serbian Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović. Budapest and New York : Central European University Press . 2008 . Pp. vii, 269. $35.00
In the chronology of events that marked the decade of crisis and breakup of Yugoslavia, the "appa... more In the chronology of events that marked the decade of crisis and breakup of Yugoslavia, the "apparition" of the Virgin Mary in Međugorje has remained largely overshadowed by symbolically more recognizable and politically more palpable historical events. My article traces the conflict potential of the events in
Slavs was strictly national, they acquired such a character through the constant struggle of reli... more Slavs was strictly national, they acquired such a character through the constant struggle of religious leaderships to differentiate their flock from that of the other faith. Secular intelligentsia and political elite as chief proponents of nationalism played a very particular role in such development, adopting and employing religion and religious heritage. Therefore, religious difference is not in itself the basis of antagonism among South Slav peoples, but rather the nature and aims of national ideologies formed as parts of political culture of these peoples and their elite. An important part of such ideologies of antagonisms among all Balkan peoples is the narrative of the phenomena of religious conversions that happened in the past. In the context of religious segregation and emphasized identification of ethnic and religious identity, religious conversions evoke distrust, hate and resistance. The paper discusses the formation of mythologized consciousness about causes, course and consequences of islamicization, the most significant conversions in the Serbian history, with a special focus on the role of the Serbian historiography in the process.
British-Serbian Relations from the 18th to the 21st Centuries, 2018
British women are by far the most ubiquitous foreign women in recent Serbian history. Consequent... more British women are by far the most ubiquitous foreign women in recent Serbian history. Consequently, their story was often told, their travelogues that often cast a positive light on Serbs and Serbia translated and re-published, and their humanitarian and unique military contributions celebrated. As British women are remarkable for often displaying different or alternative views from their male counterparts this article examines these specificities by illuminating some common motivations and trajectories that characterised these women and their experiences with Serbs and Serbia. Moreover, it examines how much the two sides knew and understood each other and what this relationship brought forward. Its time span stretches from the first contact until the Second World War before the relationship patterns changed and became much more complex.
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