Post-War Identification: Everyday Muslim Counterdiscourse in Bosnia Herzegovina

ISBN-13: 9788779343139 / Angielski / Miękka / 2008 / 315 str.

Torsten Kolind

Opis

Before the war, ethnic identity in Bosnia Herzegovina was only one identity among others, and ethnic differences were embedded in everyday practices. Today, ethnic difference is all there is. The Muslims of Stolac are fully aware that as Muslims, they constitute a totally separate group - and that ethnic identity is by far the most important form of identity in present-day Bosnia Herzegovina. In that regard, the nationalist project has succeeded. Such a crystallization and explication of identity fits in well with the structurally inspired anthropology of war and violence, which theorizes that the function of violence is to create unambiguous identities. However, Post-War Identities shows that for the Muslims of Stolac, the creation of unambiguous ethnic identities is only half the story.