How we (used to) remember the Partisans. Culture of memory and art form during and after Yugoslavia

Abstract

This paper contends that, under certain socio-political circumstances and in given historical periods, some art forms become particularly powerful means of expressing collective ideas about a shared past. Might artistic forms themselves tell us something about the social function of collective memory, as well as about the society that “addresses” its past through them? In an attempt to answer this question, the paper will look at the distinctive artistic expressions for remembering the Yugoslav anti-fascist Partisan movement and World War II at three moments in time, during which the memory of World War II was respectively (1) institutionalized as a narrative of the Partisan struggle and victory (through monumental memorials), (2) then called into question and remolded into “dissident” literary narratives, to eventually become (3) a form of activist socio-cultural critique of both nationalist memorialization in post-Yugoslav states and contemporary capitalist realities (through choir singing).