Transforming National Holidays: Identity Discourse in the West and South Slavic Countries, 1985–2010 (review)

Abstract

SEER, 91, 4, OCTOBER 2013 942 that the Kremlin and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are consciously using the Russian Orthodox Church as a channel for diplomatic communication, as is widely assumed by Curanović and other scholars. Despite these weaknesses it is worth mentioning that this monograph affords some interesting insights. It highlights, for example, that the Russian Orthodox Church plays a greater role in Moscow’s relations with Central Asia than Russia’s Muslim community, as the latter is more fragmented than the Orthodox camp. The author also points out that due to migration from Central Asia the Russian language has been strengthened in Russia’s Muslim community as it is the lingua franca amongst the migrants and their hosts. These points as well as some clever argumentation make this book an enjoyable read. University of Erfurt and London Katja Richters Šarić, Liljana, Gammelgaard, Karen and Hauge, Kjetil Rå (eds). Transforming National Holidays: Identity Discourse in the West and South Slavic Countries, 1985–2010. Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture, 47. John Benjamins, Amsterdam and Philadelphia, PA, 2012. xiii + 314 pp. Illustrations. Tables. Notes. Bibliography. Appendix. Index. €99.00: $149.00. The common point of interest uniting the contributions to this volume is the transformation of collective identity within the context of broader societal transformation that took place in Central and Southeast Europe between 1989 and 2010. The work is focused on discursive constructions of collective identity in speeches delivered at and print media covering national holidays. The analyses invariably confirm that identity discourse used on the occasion of nationalholidayswassubjecttofrequentanddrasticchangesandcontroversies, indicating the salience of national identity as a category of practice for elites during societal transformations. Although the academic relevance of the articles is beyond dispute, the volume as a whole lacks an overarching framework. The authors apply a broad array of methodological approaches within discourse analysis. At times this complicates the analysis and the argument of the separate articles and the volume as a whole. The same applies to the introduction by Liljana Šarić and Karen Gammelgaard, which reads like a series of thoughts and lacks a concise definitionofmethodologyandconcern.Additionally,mostofthecontributions remain restricted to a descriptive account of the instability of interpretations of national holidays by press and politicians, and no overarching findings or further research questions are attached to the different case-studies. Nevertheless, a number of shared findings are evident. A first group of essays focuses on the profoundly changing interpretations of national holidays in the REVIEWS 943 region since the fall of Communism. Marko Soldić clarifies how in Macedonia, Ilinden has gained new relevance and meaning to make sense of the country’s internal and international situation. Soldić also points out that the two major political parties appropriated Ilinden in support of their political agendas, establishing parallel interpretations and commemorations. Alexander Bielicki studies homilies delivered at the Slovak national pilgrimage on Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows Day to show that the languages of religion and nationhood were closely intertwined in the late Communist period and mid 2000s. However, the content of the intertwining changed drastically, contingent on the socio-political position of the Catholic Church in Slovakia. Gammelgaard studies presidential addresses delivered on 28 October by Czechoslovakia’s last Communist president and the three presidents of the Czech Republic after 1993. She too concludes that the discursive construction of Czech national identity changed considerably depending on the political context. Asecond,morein-depthandstimulatingthemeintheessaysrevolvesaround competing discursive constructions of national holidays. Kjetil Rå Hauge describes the controversial re-introduction of the national holiday of 3 March in Bulgaria after the fall of Communism, presenting the major arguments pro and contra and suggestions for other national holidays. In Croatia, Šarić explains, there are controversies and public confusion over two new competing statehood days that are closely associated with political opponents. In the most rewarding contribution to the volume, Vjeran Pavlaković relates the change of the official Antifascist Struggle Day in Croatia to societal divisions between the state authorities who have embraced Croatia’s multi-ethnic Partisan legacy, the Serbian minority, which seeks the affirmation of its role in Croatia’s history and present, and far-right organizations that refute Croatia’s Partisan legacy. Lastly, Svein Mønnesland...