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This collection of essays helps uncover various aspects of everyday life during the time of socialism in Yugoslavia, such as leisure, popular culture, consumption, sociability and power.This volume attempts to uncover various aspects of everyday life during the time of socialism in Yugoslavia from 1945 until 1980 (Tito's death), based on accounts of memories of leisure, popular culture, consumption, and sociability, or power, in everyday settings. Research about socialism/communism typically tends to draw attention to official aspects of power and dissent and to state politics rather than to negotiations of state power within the sphere of ordinary life. These histories stress the study of social structures and the political and institutional histories of socialism and tend to presuppose a powerful state and a party with its official ideology on one side, and repressed, manipulated or collaborating citizens on the other side. "This is a highly original project, which will cover a much neglected area, helping those who either did not make it to Yugoslavia in Tito's time or were born too late to understand what life then and there was all about."-Sabrina P. Ramet, Professor of Political Science at The Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway"This collection represents an original and highly useful work that helps fill a gap in the existing literature on socialist Yugoslavia and East-Central Europe in the Cold War. It also makes an important contribution to cultural history of the region in the second half of the twentieth century."- Dejan Djokic, Lecturer in Serbian and Croatian Studies, The University of Nottingham"This book focuses on a cultural and social history of socialist Yugoslavia from the perspective of 'ordinary' people and by reconstructing their memories. The contributors, many of them belonging to a new generation of scholars from the former Yugoslavia, employ new approaches in order to make sense of the complicated past of this country."- Ulf Brunnbauer, Department of History, Freie Universität Berlin ... Read more

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Arguing that cultural and religious values underpin political behaviour, Sabrina Ramet traces the steady deterioration of Yugoslavia's social and political fabric over the past decade. She explores the unfolding political debates from 1980 to 1986, the gathering crisis triggered by the ascent of Slobodan Milosevic to power in Serbia, and the dramatic collapse of the existing political order beginning in 1989. At this point, she contends, no aspect of Yugoslav life, from the media to gender relations to rock music, has escaped the strife-ridden nationality debate or the country's steady political decay. ... Read more

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This book analyzes the changing portrayal of Yugoslavia?s World War II experience in music, film, and literature. It argues that the disappearance of unifying themes from the cultural sphere opened the doors to the popularization of controversial and divisive subjects. Shifting perceptions of how Yugoslavs fought and survived the Second World War contributed to the destruction of Yugoslavia. The first chapter focuses on World War II in Yugoslavia. The second chapter discusses the early development of Yugoslav culture and its dependence on the Second World War. The third chapter follows the development of Yugoslav culture through the 1960s and 1970s when political liberalization promoted greater freedom in the arts. Aside from inspiring artists to address new themes and approach old themes from a fresh perspective, it also permitted the stirrings of political dissent. The fourth chapter addresses the disappearance of the Yugoslav idea from the cultural realm during the 1980s. ... Read more

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Chapters: Yugo-Nostalgia, Yugoslav Lexicographical Institute, Professor Balthazar, Otpisani, Kosovafilm, Yugosphere. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 26. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Yugo-nostalgia (Serbo-Croatian, Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, Montenegrin, Slovene and Macedonian: Jugonostalgija; Cyrillic: J) is a little-studied psychological and cultural phenomenon occurring among citizens of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. While its anthropological and sociological aspects have not been clearly recognized, the term, and the corresponding epithet "Yugo-nostalgic", is commonly used by the people in the region in two distinct ways: as a positive personal descriptive, and as a derogatory label. Present cultural and economic manifestations of Yugo-nostalgia include music groups with Yugoslav or Titoist retro iconography, art works, films, theater performances, and many organized, themed tours of the main cities of the former Yugoslav republics. In its positive sense, Yugo-nostalgia refers to a nostalgic emotional attachment to idealised positive aspects of the SFRY. Its positive aspects are described as one or more of: economic security, socialist ideology, multiculturalism, internationalism and non-alignment, history, customs and traditions, and more rewarding way of life. These are opposed to the perceived faults of the successor countries, which are still burdened by the consequences of the Yugoslav wars and are in various stages of economic and political transition. The faults are variously identified as parochialism, jingoism, corruption in politics and business, the disappearance of the social safety net, economic hardship, income inequities, higher crime rates, as well as a general disarray in administrative and other state institutions. In the negative ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=2401357 ... Read more

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In June of 1987, Freedom House convened a conference in which fourteen emigres and dissidents from Yugoslavia discussed the current crisis in the country-its causes and possible solutions. Readers of this monograph will be able to judge for themselves the degree to which the participants succeeded in illuminating the complicated economic, political and ethnic situation in a country that seems to be on the brink of collapse. However, the significance of the conference lies in the fact that for the first time in decades representatives of the different national, political and religious strains that characterize Yugoslavia met and "talked to each other." That is no small accomplishment. ... Read more

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This is a privileged glimpse of the former Yugoslavia from within, one that gets behind journalistic accounts to present the intimate hatreds, prejudices, aspirations, and fears of its citizens. American journalist Brian Hall spent the spring and summer of 1991 traveling through Yugoslavia, even as the nation was crumbling in his footsteps. Having arrived a week after the catalytic May 2 massacre at Borovo Selo, he watched a political solutions were abandoned with dizzying speed, and as Yugoslavia s various ethnicities, which had managed to reach a point of tolerant coexistence, tipped into the violence of civil war. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Well-Written, Relevant to All Wars
This book is as relevant today as it was when written in 1991. Its author was an on-the-ground observer as Yugoslavia was deconstructing as a nation and as the Balkans were once again building to war.

Brian Hall tells generally how old ethnic/religious antagonisms can smolder - and specifically how some of the small daily differences between groups make the kindling that eventually gets the fire going. This combination of the general and the mundane are what caused the most recent Balkan conflict, and are probably what ignite most wars. Halls writes, "I felt, as the groups polarized day-by-day, that I was watching a chemical reaction, a precipitation of hatreds resulting from interactions on a molecular level, too tiny to be visible or analyzable, but inevitable and irreversible."

One general pre-condition that favored the war in what was then Yugoslavia was the way in which rights and government representation were granted on the basis of nationality rather than on a principle of the inalienable, equal rights of all human beings (as developed in our own Declaration of Independence and Constitution). Those Balkan ethnic groups without a "high historical culture" to point to, often got the short end of the stick. Ethnic heritage - whether Serb, Croat, or Muslim - became a group's defining quality and branded the groups separately. There was no overarching word to encompass and include all groups - as the word "German" embraced and eventually melded both German Catholics and Protestants into a sort of unity after the 30-years-War.

On the more specific level, Hall points out how old massacres were constantly being re-hashed in people's daily conversations. But specific cultural habits also made moats between groups. The sequestered life demanded of Muslim women often led to misunderstandings between cultures. But very minute cultural differences would also cause comment and become the basis for one group's disdain of another group. For example, in Croatia it was considered very bad-manners to take a doggie bag home from a restaurant. In Slovenia, that saving was acceptable.

All the groups suffered under the Communist regime - with toxic lead build-ups in the vegetables grown on public lands - with shortages - with frustrations of all kinds. But each group translated those sufferings into their own language and suffered them singularly.

This book could really have used an index. And Hall could have explained some of his terms better, such as who exactly constituted the "Partisans" he frequently mentions as having played such an important role in the region historically.

Overall though, this is an excellent, well-written book - more relevant than ever.

Start with this book to understand the Yugoslavian conflict
This is my choice for the best introduction to the conflicts in what was Yugoslavian. When I was hosting an exchange student from the Balkans, I read 15 books in an effort to gain understanding. I was frustrated with blatantly one-sided books, and also books which had all the names, dates and horrors but did not help me understand. Hall's book was the best. While I will never truly understand the roots of the hatred, this thoughtful and amazingly non-partisan book opened windows for an uninvolved American into the psyches of that troubled region. I wish I had read it first.

Good intro to the Former Yugoslavia
This book is a very good introduction to most of the regions/republics which comprised Yugoslavia. The author is not a great writer or a fantastic historian, but he has created an extremely readable book which introduces the reader to many of the conflicts inherent in Yugoslavia and which caused its demise. The things I read in this book are supported by other works I have read (written after Hall's book) by scholars and Jugoslavian authors such as Slavenka Drakulic. I feel that this book better explains (to the casual reader) Jugoslavia's problems than does 'Balkan Ghosts' or other popular books I've read on the subject. I really enjoyed this book and think it is worth the purchase price for anyone interested in the current Balkan situation. Just about anyone can enjoy this book.

Middle Ground
I read Brian Hall's account of the Balkan conflict while in Zagreb on a language immersion program. I was incredibly impressed by his ability to give a balanced view on this incredibly difficult land. I felt his astuteobservations made it easier for me to remain neutral in my views andperceptions of the land, people and complicated situation.I wassurrounded by ultra-nationalists, and honestly did not meet a single personin Croatia that could look at their role objectively. Brian Hall's insightshelped me to step back and view the situation with a completely differentoutlook.

Balanced observations on an unbalanced land
Brian Hall knows there is no reasonable way to explain what happened in Yugoslavia, so he doesn't even try, at least not in this exciting if somber travelogue. What he does do is travel extensively in that country andengage in conversation with all sorts of people, many of them journalistswho themselves are trying to figure out what is going on politically intheir own country. Apart from a few wry comments and astute observations onsome of the more glaring inanities and venalities he encounters, Hallrefrains from expressing his own opinions, prefering to let his severalinterlocutors express the truth in their own words and ways. The difficultyis that there are several truths here, or versions of it. Croatians areCatholic and they think they hate the Serbs because they are Orthodox. Theyare unable to admit they hate Serbs because they feel dominated byBelgrade. On the other hand, Serbs think they despise Croatians becausethey are Catholics and because Croatians helped the Nazis when they camecalling. They can't admit to a certain envy of Croatia's Westernorientation. An underlying philosophical theme of this book is 'attitude totruth.' South Slavic culture seems to believe that one can be in possessionof the truth absolutely and for all time. The idea of striking outindependently and asking questions that might lead to more and morequestions is simply not part of the Yugoslav mindset. Each group or'republic' has its own view of reality and this is usually so out of syncwith the rest of the country that there is no point in discussion orconversation. The only solution is force, or so each party thinks. If youcan't make sense of your neighbor's point of view, kill him and his familyand friends. This general outlook must have helped Milosevic in his sleazyrise to power. Most Yugoslavs, as Hall points out, believe that Serbian andCroatian are two distinct languages, which is completely at odds with whatlinguistics tells us. And then there is Bosnia and its overwhelminglyMuslim population, unloved by both the Croatians and the Serbs. Inhindsight, one shudders to think... The journey described in this book tookplace in 1991, when things were starting to heat up in the Balkans.Slovenia had just separated. The author shows how ominous things were atthat point, how one didn't need much imagination to foresee what theunhappy future would hold, including the sad Kosovo events. Hall has done amasterful job of describing Yugoslavia on the verge of disintegration. Heincludes excellent descriptions of buildings and landscapes, but his moreimportant work is reporting on the interviews he conducted with real peoplein real situations of frustration, danger, and sometimes despair. Now thatthe NATO bombing of Serbia and Kosovo is just a puzzling memory, we shouldall go and read a lot of books that show how and why all that came about.Of all such books, this is one of the best I know of. ... Read more

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One in a series of phono books (hardcover with 33 1/2 RPM phonographic record) produced by the International Communications Foundation of Beverly Hills, CA. An introduction to Yugoslavia. Illustrated, color. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Solid Workmanship
There is certainly no shortage of books on the former Yugoslavia, some simply awful and some quite good. this is one of the better written, and the authors are respected academics. Interesting thesis, not entirelyoriginal, but sufficiently intersting to be worth the purchase price. ... Read more