Journal of Design History Advance Access originally published online on June 26, 2007
Journal of Design History 2007 20(2):131-144; doi:10.1093/jdh/epm007
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Designing Identities
Reshaping the Balkans in the First Two Centuries: The Case of Serbia
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Sabanci University, Istanbul
E-mail: pantelic{at}sabanciuniv.edu
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Abstract |
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It is not an easy task to imagine one's nation in the Balkans. The elusive and complex interrelation of ethnicities and shared traditions in this region are the result of centuries of mixing and blending in complex social and cultural processes. Nationalism imposed ethnic and religious denominators upon these vague cultural entities, writing ethnic and national histories, appropriating and inventing traditions to impart ethnic exclusivity. Imaginaries of cultural uniqueness have been developed by each of these groups and shaped according to a visual code believed to be innate or to echo ancient traditions. This article focuses on the Serbian situation. It looks at some representative examples of the visual arts, architecture and material culture to examine how national uniqueness has been visualized in the past two centuries and to understand how changing perceptions of ‘national’ or ‘ethnic’ designs have accompanied and accompany identity changes in this volatile region.
Key Words: architecture • decorative arts • national identity • nationalism • Serbia • south-eastern Europe
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