Collective memory, national identity, and ethnic conflict : Greece, Bulgaria, and the Macedonian question

Roudometof provides an in-depth analysis of inter-ethnic relations in the southern Balkans. He examines the evolution of the Macedonian Question and the production of rival national narratives by Greeks, Bulgarians, and Macedonians. He introduces the concept of a national narrative in order to account for the production and proliferation of different forms of collective memory among the rival nation-states. Roudometof deconstructs the national narratives of the competing sides and shows the limits of these narratives and their biases. He also develops an alternative interpretation of Macedonian national formation. The contentious issue of Macedonian national minorities in the southern Balkans is examined as well as the issue of the Albanian movements toward self-determination and succession in Kosovo and western Macedonia. Roudometof argues that the Macedonian minority groups are not as numerous in the neighboring states as it is conventionally assumed. With regard to the Albanian national question, he provides a review of the post-1945 relations between Albania and Greece, the Albanians of Kosovo and the Serbs, and the Albanians and Macedonians. He argues that the Albanian nationalist movements have grown out of the interaction between Albanians and their neighboring nations and ethnic groups. An important resource for scholars, students, and other researchers involved with the Balkans and ethnic conflict resolution in general. Illustrations......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 Abbreviations......Page 12 1 Collective Memory, National Identity, and the Macedonian Question......Page 14 National Narratives, Memory, and Identity......Page 18 The Sense of Past in the Collective Memory of the Balkan Nation-States......Page 23 Nationhood and Citizenship in the Balkans......Page 29 Outline of the Book......Page 34 2 The Symbolic Struggle for Macedonia......Page 42 Greece Against the Macedonian Republic......Page 43 The Macedonian Question in Bulgarian Politics......Page 52 A Battle for the Intelligentsia......Page 59 Conclusions......Page 63 3 Toward an Archaeology of the Macedonian Question......Page 70 The Macedonian Narrative and Its Implications......Page 71 Bulgarian and Greek Arguments Against Macedonian Identity......Page 78 Defending the Greek Narrative......Page 82 Collective Memory and the Logic of National Narratives......Page 88 4 Macedonian National Identity: An Interpretation......Page 96 The Origins of the Macedonian Question......Page 97 Competing Claims in Ottoman Macedonia......Page 102 Partition and Cultural Homogenization of Macedonia......Page 108 The Birth of the New Macedonian Question......Page 117 Conclusions......Page 120 5 The Question of Macedonian Minorities in the Southern Balkans......Page 132 Of Ethnic Groups and National Minorities: Dilemmas of Contemporary Scholarship......Page 133 Counting the Minorities in the Balkans......Page 139 The Question of Macedonian Minorities in Greece......Page 145 The Question of Macedonian Minorities in Bulgaria......Page 150 Conclusions......Page 158 6 The Albanian Question in the Southern Balkans......Page 166 Greek-Albanian Relations and the Minority Question......Page 168 The Albanian Question in the Former Yugoslavia......Page 177 Albanians and Macedonians in the 1990s......Page 185 Concluding Remarks......Page 191 7 Conclusion: The Macedonian Question Never Dies......Page 202 The Politics of Collective Memory......Page 203 The Social Construction of the Macedonian Question......Page 208 The Cultural Contradictions of Nation-State Building......Page 212 The Future Now......Page 216 Postscript: Macedonia 2000+......Page 224 Bibliography......Page 238 Index......Page 266 Roudometof analyzes rival national claims over Macedonia. He examines the symbolic struggle among Greeks, Bulgarians, and Macedonians, as well as the struggle of Albanians for self-determination in Kosovo and western Macedonia, and he deconstructs the national narratives of competing sides and provides an alternative interpretation of Macedonian nation formation. This is an analysis of inter-ethnic relations in the Southern Balkans. It examines the evolution of the "Macedonian question" and the production of rival national narratives by Greeks, Bulgarians and Macedonians. It deconstructs the national narratives to show their limitations and biases On 24 March 1999 U.S. President Bill Clinton Addressed the U.S. public to inform them that the United States and NATO has just begun their military campaign to remove the Serb forces from Kosovo. Victor Roudometof. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [225]-251) And Index.