Byzantium's Apt Inheritors: Serbian Historiography, Nation-Building and Imperial Imagination, 1882–1941

Abstract

Between the second half of the nineteenth and the middle of the twentieth century, Serbian national historiography underwent a continuous transition, from a romantic-idealistic to a more rigorous, critical approach and interpretation. It was determined by changes both of historical method and the goals of historical inquiry, particularly regarding controversial issues of medieval Serbian history. In contrast to the glorification of the past championed by the ‘romantics’, proponents of the ‘critical school’ advocated the conscientious study of historical sources and the search for historical truth. Nevertheless, certain subjects of Serbian national historiography question this established view. One of these is the complex relationship between medieval Serbia and Byzantium, frequently interpreted by historians not only as an intrinsic part of the nation’s past and the essence of its cultural identity, but also as a convenient frame for examining and justifying contemporary national policies. In mainstream national historiography of the period between the Kingdom of Serbia (1882–1918) and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (1918–1941, after 1929 the Kingdom of Yugoslavia), Serbia’s medieval past was set in an ambivalent perspective of simultaneous Byzantinization and de-Byzantinization. It was employed in various disciplines, including political and cultural history, archaeology, art and architectural history, but also went beyond scholarly discourse.