Remembering the good: Constructing the nation through joyful memories in school textbooks in the former Yugoslavia

Abstract

Studies examining the reification of nationhood narratives in history textbooks have typically focused on memories rooted in trauma (stories of loss of territory, victimhood, and perpetual enmity with neighbours), although glorification of the nation, ideas of who belongs to the nation, and what constitutes the nation, are also found in joyful memories. In this article, I examine how memories of joy are accounted for in a classical nation-building subject such as history. Which discursive strategies do textbooks use in instilling particular images of the nation in pupils’ heads, and how do they differ from those used in non-joyful events? Relying on content analysis of history textbooks currently used in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia, I examine how ‘joyful’ memories are represented in memories of ‘banal’ and everyday joy (memories of sports events, music, literature, and popular culture), and in memories of ‘hot’ or explicit nationalism (memories of victories in battles, reclaiming territory, etc). I conclude with reflections on the usefulness of studying memories of joy when examining issues of nation-building, national identity, and nationalism.