‘Ethnic memories’ from above? The Kosovo myth among the South Slavs and minimalist ethnosymbolism

Abstract

AbstractThe Kosovo myth is often seen as a critical supporting case for ethnosymbolist theory. Many theorists of nationalism and area scholars see this myth as either the direct continuation or creative reinterpretation of a long‐standing epic and liturgical tradition among the Slavic Orthodox population in the Balkans. Using primary and secondary sources, this article traces how pre‐modern cultural and communicative memories of Kosovo were transformed into a modern nationalist myth of the Serbs and, then, the Yugoslavs. It argues that cultural rupture and change rather than continuity or recurrence characterise the history of these scattered and ambivalent pre‐modern legacies. The evidence shows that the medieval monastic texts and epics referring to the Kosovo battle cannot be considered as the ‘widespread ethnic memories’ necessary in ethnosymbolist theory. However, ethnosymbolist theory is multifaceted. The article's findings about the Kosovo myth suggest that scholars can adopt only a weak minimalist version of ethnosymbolism, which views this approach as a research programme or a focus of study rather than an explanatory theory. This version does not contradict modernist constructivism but aligns with the neo‐Weberian tradition of longue durée research within it.