By counterbalancing the instrumentalization of the ethno-nationalist restorative nostalgia – which was not only the affective and imaginary fuel of the mnemonic wars fought, starting from the 80s, on the territory of “the country that no longer exists”, but also that of both the subsequent tragedies and cultural-political polarizations –, Yugonostalgia emerged in the painful 90s as a privileged form of post-Yugoslav mnemonic imagination. Against the background of the persistent mnemonic conflicts within the region, the multidirectional/ agonistic Yugonostalgic memory appears nowadays as a catalyst of the emotional and ethical commitment with the recent past, particularly able to inspire “visions of a better future”.
Keywords: Yugonostalgia, multidirectional/ agonistic memory, retrospective utopia, post-Yugoslav divided memories, retrotopia