Dubravka Stojanović
Hats Off and Minute of Silence. Response to text by Dragiša Vasić: “History and Ethnic Identity in Sarajevo Fog: Examples of Politicizing and Mythologizing the Bosniak Historical Narrative”
Abstract: The article is a polemic with the text by Dragiša Vasić entitled “History and Ethnic Identity in Sarajevo Fog: Examples of Politicizing and Mythologizing the Bosniak Historical Narrative,” published in the previous issue of Tokovi istorije. It analyzes the methodology used by Vasić, the sources on which he based his thesis, his argumentation, and his references. Special attention is given to the final part of Vasić’s text, which was assessed as a political pamphlet unworthy of a scientific journal.
Key words: Culture of Memory, National Identity, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Historiography, Constructivist Theory
Summary
This article is a polemic with the text written by Dragiša Vasić entitled “History and Ethnic Identity in Sarajevo Fog: Examples of Politicizing and Mythologizing the Bosniak Historical Narrative,” published in the previous issue of Tokovi istorije. The article emphasizes a theoretical contradiction, since Vasić analyzed the Bosniak identity from the viewpoint of the constructivist theory, but on the other hand, he applies a completely different theoretic approach when referring to ethnic groups he calls “consolidated.” That is why Stojanović maintains that the application of the theory in Vasić’s text depends on the ethnic group that is the focus of his research. This article also points out that his text is more an overview of historiography in Bosnia-Herzegovina then his original research. Vasić uses texts written by Bosnian historians and contradicts his own conclusions. He shows that critical historiography controverts para-historiography and that the ethnic division within Bosnian historiography is not ethnic at all. The only division that we can see from the text itself is the division between professional and nonprofessional historians. Stojanović argues that Vasic’s methodology is selective and that examples of the Bosniak misuse of history are presented as unique since there are no comparative examples or literature that could show similar examples. The last part of Stojanović’s article focuses on the part of Vasić’s text dealing with History Fest Sarajevo 2019. Stojanović claims that this part of his text is a political pamphlet severely attacking Prof. Husnija Kamberović and a number of historians from Belgrade. In this polemical text Stojanović says that the part of Vasić’s text praising the letter of Banja Luka historians, which resulted in History Fest being banned in that city, is a discredit not only to Vasić himself, but to Tokovi istorije as well.