"…a major contribution to our understanding of southeastern Europe and, more broadly, to the debates over the politics of aesthetics today." So says Russell A. Berman (Walter A. Haas Professor in the Humanities at Stanford University) about Gordana Crnković’s new book Post-Yugoslav Literature and Film.
The 1990s violence in the Former Yugoslavia, the worst in Europe since World War II, triggered the conversion of multi-ethnic, multi-religious, and cosmopolitan areas of idiosyncratic and independent socialism into regions of xenophobic nationalism, wars, and, afterwards, Western-style democracy and capitalism. As Crnković shows, post-Yugoslav literature and film, unified by their artistic response to these cataclysmic changes, have much to offer the wider world. Indeed, her monograph argues for select post-Yugoslav literary and cinematic works as groundbreaking exploratory achievements of global relevance.
"With the publication of Post-Yugoslav Literature and Film, Gordana Crnković has confirmed her standing as one of the leading specialists in post-Yugoslav culture. Anyone interested in the literature and film of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, or Serbia will find much of interest in this volume. This is a work of mature scholarship, rich in insights, and deserves a place in every university library." — Sabrina Ramet, Professor of Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
"Gordana Crnković’s Post-Yugoslav Literature and Film is a groundbreaking book which single-handedly creates a new research agenda. Her analyses of Macedonian, Serbian, Croatian and Slovene literature and films will be much admired by readers and influence the way we think about post-Yugoslav cultural space in decades to come." — Zoran Milutinovic, Senior Lecturer in South Slav Literature and Culture, School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies, University College London, UK
"This superb book provides a complex and engaging introduction to the culture of post-Yugoslavia, offering a philosophical reflection on the literature and film of the contemporary Balkans and the scars left behind by socialism, war and genocide. Through nuanced readings of key works, Crnković also makes a strong case for the emancipatory character of works of art, their enduring ability to articulate a civilizational rebuke to the human capacity for violence. The volume is a major contribution to our understanding of southeastern Europe and, more broadly, to the debates over the politics of aesthetics today." — Russell A. Berman, Walter A. Haas Professor in the Humanities and Professor of Comparative Literature and German Studies, Stanford University, USA
Post-Yugoslav Literature and Film is available now in North America and will publish in the rest of the world in April.
This book is very informative and influential for new writers.