Identity and nationalism in the Balkans: anthems and the making of nation states in Southeast Europe

"Anthems are symbolic means through which nations present themselves to the world. Accordingly, creating seven new nation states out of the bones of Yugoslavia required new anthems. Why did these new states opt for century-old national songs or, failing this, for the anthems without words? What are the images and symbols that each of these states chose as their 'national signatures' and how were these chosen? This book explores a variety of images of nationhood (or the absence of them) in the lyrics of the official anthems and of competing national songs and traces their historical trajectory from the time of their conception to their legal entrenchment. This is the first full-length study into the symbolic representations of nationhood in the recently created nation states of the Balkans.""--Bloomsbury publishing Anthems are symbolic means through which nations present themselves to the world. Accordingly, creating seven new nation states out of the bones of Yugoslavia required new anthems. Why did these new states opt for century-old national songs or, failing this, for the anthems without words? What are the images and symbols that each of these states chose as their ‘national signatures’ and how were these chosen? This book explores a variety of images of nationhood (or the absence of them) in the lyrics of the official anthems and of competing national songs and traces their historical trajectory from the time of their conception to their legal entrenchment. This is the first full-length study into the symbolic representations of nationhood in the recently created nation states of the Balkans. Nationalism,Terrorism, armed struggle,Political Structures: Democracy,International Relations,Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution,Political control and freedom,Southeast Europe The states created after the dissolution of Yugoslavia in 1992 all appointed official national anthems - the purpose of which was to forge new national identities out of the bloody and difficult history of the region. Building on Benedict Anderson's work on 'imagined communities', Anthems and the Making of Nation States is the first full-length study into the role of national anthems in engendering feelings of nationalism. A textual analysis of these national songs aims to provide new insights into the history of the nations created after the fall of Yugoslavia, and show how these songs reveal the hopes and fears of the new countries - their future and their past