Abstract
The article deals with how the 1990s civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina was represented in the media that currently remain influential among Bosniaks and Bosnian Serbs. Critical discourse analysis is used both as a theoretical approach to discourse and as a methodological tool for its study. In the analysis, the civil war discourse in Bosniak and Bosnian Serb media is represented by two daily newspapers on each side. The analysis reveals mutually incompatible representations of the causes and nature of the war, the prevailing absence of dialogue, and the unwillingness of each side to consider the other side’s war victims. Looking at more specific topics, a number of discourses are identified on both sides, among which some present the potential for dialogue with alternative representations. The discourses are interpreted through Bosniak and Bosnian Serb nationalist ideologies. The findings might support further research on the relation between the media and nationalism and on the ongoing Bosnian political dispute concerning the desired nature of the state.
Highlights
With roughly 100,000 victims, the 1992-1995 civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) was, in the broader context of the dramatic breakup of Yugoslavia, the bloodiest conflict in Europe since 1945 (Zebić 2013; Zwierzchowski, Tabeau 2010)
The media influential inside each nation continue to reflect this internal harmony and carry on the narrative that the 1990s civil war was a struggle between good (Us) and evil (Them)
The Bosnian Serb media fail to hide the fact that the war was initiated by Serb military action and that the Serbs committed graver crimes against the Bosniaks than the other way round
Summary
With roughly 100,000 victims, the 1992-1995 civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) was, in the broader context of the dramatic breakup of Yugoslavia, the bloodiest conflict in Europe since 1945 (Zebić 2013; Zwierzchowski, Tabeau 2010). Concerning the current content of the media in BiH, a number of studies by Bosnian analysts observe deep divisions between the Bosniak, Serb and Croat media (Džihana 2012, Tešanović 2012, Udovičić 2010, Turčilo 2010) without, the ambition to systematically research media content. This analysis seeks to identify specific structures inside the Bosniak and Bosnian Serb war-related discourses and their relation to nationalist ideologies. I hope to contribute to a deeper understanding of the differences both between and within the two largest Bosnian nations regarding their attitude towards the recent past and to their future coexistence
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