The Controversial Commemoration: Transnational Approaches to Remembering Bleiburg

Pavlaković, Vjeran; Brentin, Dario; Pauković, Davor

doi:10.20901/pm.55.2.01

Cited by 16 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…However, a related event in Pliberk/ Bleiburg (12,14) in Austria appears much more problematic. According to the Croatian organizers, it is a peaceful mass event, but it is under strict police control and banned Ustasha iconography and symbols have been prominent at the event (Pavlakovi c et al, 2018). In 2018, "about 11,000 people arrived on the Bleiberg field to pay their respects to the fallen civilians and soldiers of the pro-Nazi Independent State of Croatia" (14).…”

Section: Contextual and Interpretive Analysis Of Dark Commemorative Events In The Western Balkansmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of dark commemorative and sport events in peaceful coexistence in the Western Balkans

Šuligoj

Kennell

2021

Journal of Sustainable Tourism

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In order to analyse the ways in which problematic ethno-national behaviour at dark events in the Western Balkans undermines the transition from conflict, to post conflict and then peaceful societies, this research employed a sociological discourse analysis to critique the role dark events play in post-conflict tourism development and peaceful coexistence. Accordingly, by combining previous analyses of dark commemorative events with a new analysis of sport events, this research explains the relationship between event tourism and 16th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) focused on peace, justice and strong institutions. This media-based analysis shows that dark commemorative and sport events share similar historical contexts, dissonant heritage and the dark leisure practices of attendees. These dark events attract tourism flows across national boundaries in the region, as well as including more widely dispersed diasporas, and international media and politicians. The prevalence of dark events in the region, which feature strongly in tourism flows, require significant attention in order to promote sustainable development. The findings of this research can be used to develop future research into the relationship between dark events and SDG16, using methods that build on this exploratory study and the new model of dark events that it provides.

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Section: Contextual and Interpretive Analysis Of Dark Commemorative Events In The Western Balkansmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of dark commemorative and sport events in peaceful coexistence in the Western Balkans

Šuligoj

Kennell

2021

Journal of Sustainable Tourism

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“…The Croatian Parliament became a sponsor of annual commemorations near the town of Bleiburg on the Austrian-Slovenian border, which memorialize events at the very end of the war when Partisan forces committed mass liquidations of captured war adversaries, mostly soldiers of the NDH. The Bleiburg commemorations have been controversial because they were established in the 1950s by Croatian émigré circles and regularly served not only to pay homage to the victims, but also as a memorial celebration of the NDH (Pavlaković, Pauković, Brentin, 2018;Tokić, 2018). On the other hand, there have also been periods since 1990 when this narrative was, more or less intensively, called into question, especially when the left or left-liberal political parties were in power (for example, in 2000-2003 or 2011-2015, during the coalition governments led by Social Democrats, the largest party of the Croatian center-left which evolved from the former League of Communists of Croatia).…”

Section: World War II and The Politics Of History In Croatia Since 1990mentioning

confidence: 99%

Dialogue Document Without a Dialogue: Current Debates on World War II in Croatia

Koren

2019

10.14746/pss

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The article deals with the recent controversies over the interpretations of World War II. The dominant narrative of World War II, which was created after 1945 to ensure the basis of legitimacy for the Yugoslav Communist regime, was revised at the beginning of the 1990s. One of the consequences of this revision has been the upsurge of historical revisionism regarding the fascist Ustashe movement. After years of bitter debates that had divided and polarized the Croatian society, the government appointed in 2017 a special council to deal with the World War II past and make the recommendations on the public usage of the symbols and insignia of the 20 th century "undemocratic regimes". The final product of its work was the so-called Dialogue Document whose provisions and impact are dealt with in the second part of the text.

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“…Bleiburg is a town in Austria where fleeing troops and members of the Nazi-aligned Independent State of Croatia surrendered and were handed to the Yugoslav Partisans in May 1945. The ideological divisions drawing upon the symbolic legacies of the Partisans or Ustase are nowadays present in multiple social arenas as the appropriation of the commemoration by nationalists perpetuates its controversial manifestation (Pavlakovic, Brentin, & Paukovic, 2018…”

Section: Type and Frequency Of Hate Speechmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ready for the Homeland

Damčević

Rodik²

2018

Ro. J. Comm. & PR

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The article analyzes nationalistically motivated online hate speech on selected right-wing public Facebook pages in Croatia. The rise of historical revisionism and populism paved the way for the growing presence of hate speech, with the most salient example being the resurfacing of the World War II fascist salute Za dom spremni (“Ready for the Homeland”) across different communicative situations. We account for the online dynamic of Za dom spremni as well as for the most frequent expressions of xenophobia that accompany the salute by presenting data gathered between 2012 – 2017 using Facebook Graph API. From the total of 4.5 million postings published by readers, those containing Za dom spremni and its variations were filtered and followed by the frequency and prevalence of the accompanying notions. By relying on cultural semiotics, we highlight the socio-communicative functions of hate speech on two levels. Firstly, the notion of the semiosphere helps us illustrate how hate speech is used to reproduce the idea of Croatianness as the dominant self-description. Secondly, we examine how the dominant self-description maintains the boundary between us and the other by merging diverse textual fragments and how their perseverance depends on the communicative situations they enter online.

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The Controversial Commemoration: Transnational Approaches to Remembering Bleiburg

Cited by 16 publications

References 8 publications

The role of dark commemorative and sport events in peaceful coexistence in the Western Balkans

The role of dark commemorative and sport events in peaceful coexistence in the Western Balkans

Dialogue Document Without a Dialogue: Current Debates on World War II in Croatia

Ready for the Homeland

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