Nationalism and collective memory: a qualitative analysis of Yugo-nostalgia and trauma in Bosnia-Herzegovina

This doctoral thesis aims at highlighting the possibility of nostalgia for an over-arching supranational identity even in ethnically traumatized societies. In other words, it seeks to understand the reasons of supranationalist sentiments among members of distinct ethnic groups that have first-hand traumatic memories of ethnic polarization. To that aim, I ask: Is it possible for certain ethnic groups to not demonstrate nationalistic sentiments? If so, why does the collective memory of certain ethnic groups not display nationalistic sentiments? In the light of this research question, I come up with three theoretical assumptions: (A1) Experience of supraethnic/national identity might undermine nationalistic feelings. (A2) Some ethnic groups might value their socio-economic statuses more than their ethno-national identity. (A3) “Ethnically” motivated wars or polarizations might not destroy supranationalist memories of pre-war periods. To test these assumptions empirically, I focus on the case of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the members of its constitutionally recognized ethnic groups since the Dayton Peace Agreement of 1995 (Bosniaks, Bosnian Serbs, and Bosnian Croats). Via a historical point of view, I trace their Yugo-nostalgic sentiments and the emergence of Yugo-nostalgia in the form of supranationalism and also anti-nationalism. Therefore, the analysis depends on the literature of nationalism, ethnicity, collective memory, and the political history of socialist Yugoslavia, where ethnic identifications did not carry as much importance as they do in current day post- Yugoslav countries. Methodologically the thesis builds on (online) in-depth interviews with witness generations who lived through both the socialist period of Yugoslavia and the dissolution wars, which i started in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1992 and ended with the Dayton Peace Agreement in 1995. I talked with 55 participants, whose ages range between 33-62. Out of these 55 participants, only 37 were willing to let me share their experiences in detail in my thesis (Bosniak: 14, Bosnian Serb: 11, and Bosnian Croat: 12). Participants are generally white- and blue-collar workers or retired public employees, who are urban inhabitants. I reached them via social media, NGOs, webpages of the local universities—especially of University of Sarajevo, University of Banja Luka, and University of Mostar and their networks—and local news portals. Through my participants’ narrations on socialist Yugoslavia, I show that some members of Bosnia- Herzegovinian society demonstrate supranationalism and also anti-nationalism despite the ethnic polarization that has characterized their society for almost thirty years. In light of my findings, I claim that my participants from witness generations yearn for the period of socialist Yugoslavia consciously and unconsciously, and their nostalgic sentiments clash with nationalistic sentiments despite the ethnically traumatized recent history and their current ethnic affiliations. As such, the thesis brings a fresh perspective to the existing literature, which mostly highlights the ethnic fragmentations in Bosnia-Herzegovina in relation with the dissolution wars.