Religious Separation and Political Intolerance in Bosnia-HerzegovinaMitja Velikonja has written a comprehensive survey that examines how religion has interacted with other aspects of Bosnia-Herzegovina's history. Velikonja sees the former Ottoman borderland as a distinct cultural and religious entity where three major faiths -- Islam, Catholicism, and Orthodoxy -- managed to coexist in relative peace. It is only during the past century that competing nationalisms have led to persecution, ethnic cleansing, and mass murder. Emphasizing the importance of religion to nationalism as a symbol of collective identity that strengthens national identity, Velikonja notes that religious groups have a tendency to become isolated from one another. He believes Bosnia-Herzegovina was unique in its sarlikost, or diversity, because while religion defined ethnic communities there and kept them separate, it did not create a culture of intolerance. Rather than suppressing one another, the region's ethno-religious groups learned to cooperate and mediate their differences -- useful behavior in an area that served as buffer between East and West for most of its history. Velikonja believes that Bosnians went beyond tolerance to embrace synthetic, eclectic religious norms, with each religious group often borrowing customs and rituals from its rivals. Rather than the extreme orthodoxy evident elsewhere in Europe, Bosnia became the home of heterodoxy. Sadly, nationalism changed all that, and the area became the scene of systematic persecution, forced conversion, and mass slaughter. Velikonja considers the misfortunes suffered by the Bosnians during the 1990s as largely the result of actions by their neighbors and local militants and inaction by the international community.But he also sees the tragedy that unfolded as the result of the exploitation of ethno-religious differences and myths by Serbian chauvinists and Croatian nationalists. Despite the tragedy that overwhelmed Bosnia-Herzegovina |
Contents
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11 | |
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3 Pax ottomanica Religions in Ottoman Bosnia | 55 |
4 Honed mindsThe Origins of ContemporarySerbian and CroatianReligioNational Mythologies | 91 |
5 Beneath the twoheaded eagle ReligioNational Issues in BosniaHerzegovina18781918 | 117 |
6 Between the serbs and the croats Religious and National Issuesin BosniaHerzegovina during Karadordevics Reign in Yugoslavia | 143 |
7 Bellum Omnium in Omnes Politics National Groups andReligions in BosniaHerzegovinaduring the Second World War | 163 |
8 M or m? Political vs ReligioNational Myths in Postwar BosniaHerzegovina | 185 |
9 A war over differences The Religious Dimensions of Conflict in BosniaHerzegovina 199295 | 235 |
10 Dinal deliberations Maximum Diversity in Minimal Space | 287 |
Notes | 297 |
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351 | |
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Religious Separation and Political Intolerance in Bosnia-Herzegovina Mitja Velikonja Limited preview - 2003 |
Common terms and phrases
affiliation Alexander Archbishop Austro-Hungarian authorities Banac Banja Luka Battle of Kosovo became began Belgrade bishop Bosanska Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnian Church Bosnian Muslims Bosnian Serbs Bosnjaka Bougarel Catholicism century Chetniks Christian clergy clergymen Communist conflict Croatian national Croats cultural Dalmatia declared Dzaja ethnic Europe figures final finally first five Franciscan Franjo Friedman Genocide in Bosnia Herzegovina Historija Holy hrvatskom prostoru Hungarian Hungary Ibid identified Iews Imamovié influence Islam leaders ligious medieval Medjugorje military millet Mojzes monasteries monks Montenegro Mostar Muslim Slavs mythology myths national identity nationalist neighboring Nemirni Balkan nineteenth official organization Ottoman Empire party patriarch percent persecution pitanje political Pope Popov population priests Ramet regime religion religious and national religious communities Roman Catholic Church Saint Sarajevo Sava Serbian national Serbian Orthodox Church significant Slavic social Socialist South Slav specific Srpska strana rata Stepinac territory thodox tion Tito traditions Trostruki Ustasha Vatican Voje Vrcan Yugoslav Yugoslavia Zagreb