Contested memories: the Bosnian genocide in Serb and Muslim minds

Coffee after cleansing?

“…For more detailed analyses of Serb(ian) attitudes toward war, history and ethno-national identity see, among others, Anzulovic (1999); Jansen (2003); Judah (1997); van de Port (1999). Explorations of the often significant differences in historical memory between Serbs and Bosniacs include Duijzings (2007) and Miller (2006). 11.…”

Leveraging Rebranding of ‘Unattractive’ Nation Brands to Stimulate Post-Disaster Tourism

“…That is, sources of negatively viewed nation brand can be manmade such as holocaust, genocide, mass killing, torture camp, prison and penal sites, which are avoidable, while others are due to natural occurrences such as earthquake, tsunami and hurricane. Example of sources of negatively viewed nation brand identity include the following: the killing fields in Choeung Ek and Tuol Sleng, Cambodia (Hughes, 2008), where Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge government killed about 1.7 million Cambodians, almost 21 percent of the population, between 1975 and 1979; the Srebrenica genocide (Miller, 2006) that occurred in July 1995 in which more than 8000 Bosnian Muslims were killed by Bosnian Serbs, leading to the exodus of between 25,000 and 30,000 Bosnian Muslims from their homes in and around the town of Srebrenica; the Rwanda genocide (Grosspietsch, 2005) that occurred between April and July 1994, when the militias of Hutu ethnic majority, the Interahamwe and the Impuzamugambi , supported by the Hutu-led government, gruesomely murdered about 800,000 Tutsi minority in Kigali.…”

“…A nation whose personality, image, identity and reputation are adversely affected by genocide, mass killing, penal torture or natural disaster requires a great deal of marketing creativity to endear itself to global tourists and other stakeholders. In a situation where genocide is externally inflicted, as in the case of Bosnian Serbs against Srebrenica Muslims (Miller, 2006), there is high possibility of genuine international sympathy that the nation can leverage to project distinctively sober and empathetic brand identity to tourists. However, where the genocide is internally motivated as in the case of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge in Cambodia (Hughes, 2008) and Hutus against Tutsis in Rwanda (Grosspietsch, 2005), there is likelihood of ambivalent responses – revulsion and sympathy – from different segments of the international community and tourists.…”

“…Comprehending the world from the standpoint of suffering, Nietzsche finds the secret of joy in the mystery of tragedy. Some scholars contend that dark tourists like listening to stories of humans butchered and starved to death, or embark on a spiritual re-awakening to empathise with the pains of death as in Cambodia (Hughes, 2008), Rwanda (Grosspietsch, 2005), Srebrenica (Miller, 2006) and Dachau (Marcuse, 2001). In addition, Mills (1993) confirms in an attitude interpretation study that tragedy appeals to people more than pleasant events.…”

Dealing with negative symbolism of destinations with difficult heritage: Analysis of Ugandas image

“…Novelli et al (2012) argues that while for some, conflict sites may become a "new post conflict symbolic landscape", such heritage could continue evoking painful memories for many communities (McEvoy, 2011). Scholars argue that tourists attracted to difficult heritage like listening to stories of humans butchered and starved to death, or embark on a spiritual re-awakening to empathize with the pains of death as in Cambodia (Hughes, 2008), Rwanda (Grosspietsch, 2005), Srebrenica (Miller, 2006) and Dachau (Marcuse, 2001). Earlier, Mills (1993) argued that tragedy if well interpreted can appeal to people more than pleasant events and according to Amujo and Otubanjo (2012) nations with unattractive brand identity resulting from difficult heritage can leverage the hidden and often ironic Nietzschean joy in tragedy to persuade and attract consumers towards this kind of heritage.…”