![Yugoslavian flag in Mostar](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Yugoslavian_flag_in_Mostar.jpg)
Yugo-nostalgia (
Slovene,
Macedonian, and sh-Latn-Cyrl, jugonostalgija, југоносталгија) is a political and cultural phenomenon found among the populations of the former
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
, in the present-day
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
,
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
,
Montenegro
)
, image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Podgorica
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, official_languages = M ...
,
North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...
,
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
,
Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
, and
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
. It refers to an emotional longing for a time past when the splintered states were a part of one country, grief over the war that tore it apart, and a desire to again unite. Self-described "Yugo-nostalgics" may assert their grief that brotherly love, unity, and coexistence failed, while division and nationalism won, or they may assert that their quality of life was better.
While its anthropological and sociological aspects have not been extensively studied, it can also be used negatively and ethnocentrically to denigrate someone usually of the same ethnic background who expresses sympathy or statement of support for any aspect of Yugoslavia against the prevailing nationalist zeitgeist.
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. The notion of Yugo-nostalgia should not be confused with
Yugoslavism
Yugoslavism, Yugoslavdom, or Yugoslav nationalism is an ideology supporting the notion that the South Slavs, namely the Bosniaks, Croats, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Serbs and Slovenes, but also Bulgarians, belong to a single Yugoslav nati ...
which is the ideology behind the unity of
South Slavic nations. The concepts have some overlap but Yugo-nostalgia celebrates the pre-1991 period whereas Yugoslavism and Yugoslav reunification (as a branch of
pan-Slavism
Pan-Slavism, a movement which crystallized in the mid-19th century, is the political ideology concerned with the advancement of integrity and unity for the Slavic people. Its main impact occurred in the Balkans, where non-Slavic empires had rule ...
) are an ongoing mindset just as likely to appeal to persons born after the
breakup of Yugoslavia that feel their national interests may be best served by unification.
According to a Gallup poll from 2017, 81% of Serbs think that the breakup of Yugoslavia harmed their country, while 77% of Bosnians and Herzegovinians, 65% of Montenegrins and 61% of Macedonians agree. Only 4% of Serbs think that the break-up of Yugoslavia was beneficial for their country, while just 6% of Bosniaks and 15% of Montenegrins feel positive about the split. In Croatia, 55% of respondents saw the break-up as beneficial and just 23% as harmful. In Slovenia, 41% see the break-up as beneficial while 45% think it was harmful. The highest number of respondents who welcomed the break-up of Yugoslavia were in Kosovo which declared independence in 2008, where 75% said the split was beneficial and only 10% regretted it.
Positive sense
![Junos1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Junos1.JPG)
In its positive sense, Yugo-nostalgia refers to a
nostalgic
Nostalgia is a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. The word ''nostalgia'' is a learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of (''nóstos''), meaning "homecoming", a Homeric wo ...
emotional attachment to both subjective and objectively desirable aspects of the
SFRY
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II in Yugoslavia, World War II, and ...
. These are described as one or more of: economic security, sense of solidarity,
socialist ideology,
multiculturalism
The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for " ethnic pluralism", with the two terms often used interchang ...
,
internationalism
Internationalism may refer to:
* Cosmopolitanism, the view that all human ethnic groups belong to a single community based on a shared morality as opposed to communitarianism, patriotism and nationalism
* International Style, a major architectur ...
and
non-alignment, history, customs and traditions, and more rewarding way of life. As Halligan argues, such nostalgia effectively "reclaims" pre-1989 cultural artefacts, even propaganda films. These positive facets, however, are opposed to the perceived faults of the successor countries, many of which are still burdened by the consequences of the
Yugoslav wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and insurgencies that took place in the SFR Yugoslavia from 1991 to 2001. The conflicts both led up to and resulted from ...
and are in various stages of economic and political
transition. The faults are variously identified as
parochialism
Parochialism is the state of mind, whereby one focuses on small sections of an issue rather than considering its wider context. More generally, it consists of being narrow in scope. In that respect, it is a synonym of " provincialism". It may, p ...
,
jingoism,
corruption in politics and business, the disappearance of the
social safety net
The social safety net (SSN) consists of non-contributory assistance existing to improve lives of vulnerable families and individuals experiencing poverty and destitution. Examples of SSNs are previously-contributory social pensions, in-kind and fo ...
, economic hardship,
income inequities, higher
crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...
rates, as well as a general disarray in administrative and other state institutions.
Negative sense
In the negative sense, the epithet has been used by the supporters of the new post-dissolution regimes to portray their critics as
anachronistic
An anachronism (from the Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time periods. The most common type ...
, unrealistic,
unpatriotic, and potential
traitor
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
s. In particular, during and after the Yugoslav wars, the adjective has been used by state officials and media of some successor countries to deflect criticism and discredit certain avenues of political debate. In fact, it is likely that the term ''Yugo-nostalgic'' was originally coined precisely for this purpose, appearing as a politically motivated pejorative label in government-controlled media, for example in
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
, very soon after the breakup of the SFRY.
According to
Dubravka Ugrešić the term ''Yugo-nostalgic'' is used to discredit a person as a
public enemy
"Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe ...
and a "traitor".
Yugoslavism after Yugoslavia
![Tito impersonator in Skopje 2018](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Tito_impersonator_in_Skopje_2018.jpg)
After the initial
breakup of Yugoslavia,
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
and
Montenegro
)
, image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Podgorica
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, official_languages = M ...
continued a South Slavic union as the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...
from April 1992 to February 2003, then renamed the country with the federal republics' individual names –
Serbia and Montenegro. The number of self-declared "Yugoslavs" (in the ethnic sense) in the region reached an all-time low after the breakup of Yugoslavia. The former country's main language,
Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia an ...
, is no longer the official language of any of the former state's constituent republics. There are few works published about the language, and it no longer has a standardizing body. The
.yu
.yu was the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) that was assigned to SFR Yugoslavia in 1989 and was mainly used by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and its successor states after 1994. After Serbia and Montenegro acquired separate ...
Internet domain name, which was popular among Yugo-nostalgic websites, was phased out in 2010.
Yugo-nostalgia is seeing a comeback in the former Yugoslav states. In
Vojvodina
Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...
(northern province of Serbia), one man has set up Yugoland, a place dedicated to Tito and Yugoslavia. Citizens from former Yugoslavia have traveled great distances to celebrate the life of Tito and the country of Yugoslavia.
In Croatia, the "Alliance of Yugoslavs" (''Savez Jugoslavena'') was established in 2010 in Zagreb, an association aiming to unite the Yugoslavs of Croatia, regardless of religion, gender,
political
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...
or other views.
[U Zagrebu osnovan Savez Jugoslavena]
(in Croatian). Jutarnji list. ''Portal Jutarnji.hr; 23 March 2010'' Its main goal is the official recognition of the
Yugoslav nation in every
Yugoslav successor state:
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
,
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
,
Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
,
North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...
,
Montenegro
)
, image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Podgorica
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, official_languages = M ...
,
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
and
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
.
[U Zagrebu osnovan Savez Jugoslavena: Imamo pravo na očuvanje baštine Jugoslavije]
(in Croatian). Index.hr. ''L.J.; 23 March 2010''
Another organization advocating Yugoslavism is the "Our Yugoslavia" association (''Udruženje "Naša Jugoslavija"'') founded on 30 July 2009,
[Osnovano udruženje "Naša Jugoslavija" u Puli]
(in Serbian). Radio Television of Vojvodina
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tra ...
. ''Tanjug; 30 July 2009'' seated in
Pula,
[Udruženje "Naša Jugoslavija" osniva Klubove Jugoslavena]
(in Croatian). Dubrovački vjesnik. ''Silvana Fable; 25 July 2010'' which is an officially registered organization in Croatia.
[Yugoslavs in the twenty-first century: ‘erased’ people]
openDemocracy.net. ''Anes Makul and Heather McRobie; 17 February 2011'' The association has most members in the towns of
Rijeka,
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...
and Pula.
["Naša Jugoslavija" širi se Hrvatskom]
(in Serbian). Vesti online
Vesti may refer to:
Media
* Vesti (German newspaper), a Serbian-language newspaper in Germany
* ''Vesti'' (Israeli newspaper), a Russian-language newspaper in Israel
* Vesti (TV channel), the former name of the news channel Russia-24
* Vesti ...
. ''Novi list; 27 July 2010'' Its main aim is the stabilisation of relations among the Yugoslav successor states. It is also active in Bosnia and Herzegovina, however, its official registration as an association was denied by the Bosnian state authorities.
[
The probably best-known Yugoslavist organization in Montenegro is the "Consulate-general of the SFRY" with its headquarters in the coastal town of ]Tivat
Tivat (, ) is a coastal town in southwest Montenegro, located in the Bay of Kotor. , its population was 9,367. Tivat is the centre of Tivat Municipality, which is the smallest municipality by area in Montenegro.
Name
In Serbian and Montenegrin l ...
. Prior to the population census of 2011, Marko Perković, the president of this organization called on the Yugoslavs of Montenegro to freely declare their Yugoslav identity on the upcoming census.[Perković pozvao Crnogorce da se izjasne i kao Jugosloveni]
(in Serbian). Srbijanet. ''03-03-2011''
Yugoslav reunification
Yugoslav reunification refers to an idea of reunification of some or all of the former republics. Despite a grassroots appeal across the former territory, its proponents are resigned to the notion that such a state is not likely to come into fruition since the successor regimes have firmly cemented their commitment to an independent existence, having established their institutions and chosen their respective directions.
See also
* Balkanization
Balkanization is the fragmentation of a larger region or state into smaller regions or states, which may be hostile or uncooperative with one another. It is usually caused by differences of ethnicity, culture, and religion and some other factor ...
* Communist nostalgia
Communist nostalgia, also called communism nostalgia or socialist nostalgia, is the nostalgia in various post-communist states of Central and Eastern Europe and Russia for the prior communist states. Bartmanski, DominikSuccessful icons of failed ti ...
, similar in different places
* Czechoslovakism
Czechoslovakism ( cs, Čechoslovakismus, sk, Čechoslovakizmus) is a concept which underlines reciprocity of the Czechs and the Slovaks. It is best known as an ideology which holds that there is one Czechoslovak nation, though it might also app ...
* Euro-Slavism
* Illyrism
The Illyrian movement ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Ilirski pokret, Илирски покрет; sl, Ilirsko gibanje) was a Yugoslavism, pan-South-Slavic cultural and political campaign with roots in the early modern period, and revived by a group of young Cr ...
* Neo-Slavism
* Ostalgie
In German culture, ''Ostalgie'' () is nostalgia for aspects of life in Communist East Germany. It is a portmanteau of the German words '' Ost'' (east) and '' Nostalgie'' (nostalgia). Its anglicised equivalent, ostalgia (rhyming with "nostalgia ...
, nostalgia for the former East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
* Pan-Slavism
Pan-Slavism, a movement which crystallized in the mid-19th century, is the political ideology concerned with the advancement of integrity and unity for the Slavic people. Its main impact occurred in the Balkans, where non-Slavic empires had rule ...
* Serbian–Montenegrin unionism
Serbian–Montenegrin unionism () is a political movement which arose after the break up of former Yugoslavia. It advocates Montenegro being in a political union with Serbia. The relationship between Serbs and ethnic Montenegrins is generally i ...
* Soviet nostalgia
The social phenomenon of nostalgia for the era of the Soviet Union (russian: links=no, Ностальгия по СССР, Nostal'giya po SSSR), can include its politics, its society, its culture, its superpower status, or simply its aest ...
, nostalgia in the former Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
* Tito's ''Blue Train''
* Titoism
Titoism is a political philosophy most closely associated with Josip Broz Tito during the Cold War. It is characterized by a broad Yugoslav identity, workers' self-management, a political separation from the Soviet Union, and leadership in th ...
* Yugoslavs
Yugoslavs or Yugoslavians ( Bosnian and Croatian: ''Jugoslaveni'', Serbian and Macedonian ''Jugosloveni''/Југословени; sl, Jugoslovani) is an identity that was originally designed to refer to a united South Slavic people. It has b ...
** Yugoslav Americans
Yugoslav Americans are Americans of full or partial Yugoslav ancestry. In the 2021 Community Surveys, there were 210,395 people who indicated ''Yugoslav'' or ''Yugoslav American'' as their ethnic origin; a steep and steady decrease from previous ...
** Yugoslav Canadians
** Yugoslavs in Serbia
Yugoslavs in Serbia ( sr, Југословени у Србији, Jugosloveni u Srbiji) refers to a community in Serbia that view themselves as ''Yugoslavs'' with no other ethnic self-identification. Additionally, there are also Serbs, Croats, M ...
** Yugoslavism
Yugoslavism, Yugoslavdom, or Yugoslav nationalism is an ideology supporting the notion that the South Slavs, namely the Bosniaks, Croats, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Serbs and Slovenes, but also Bulgarians, belong to a single Yugoslav nati ...
References
Bibliography
* Halligan, Benjamin: "Idylls of Socialism: The Sarajevo Documentary School and the Problem of the Bosnian Sub-proletariat". In ''Studies in Eastern European Cinema'' (Autumn 2010). (http://usir.salford.ac.uk/11571/3/visualrecollectivisationpostcopyedit.pdf)
*
* Trovesi, Andrea: ''L'enciclopedia della Jugonostalgija''. In Banchelli, Eva: ''Taste the East: Linguaggi e forme dell'Ostalgie'', Sestante Edizioni, Bergamo 2006, , p. .
*
* Volcic, Zala, "Yugo-Nostalgia: Cultural Memory and Media in the Former Yugoslavia," ''Critical Studies in Media Communication'', Volume 24, Number 1, March 2007: 257-274
*Kristen R. Ghodsee
Kristen Rogheh Ghodsee (born April 26, 1970) is an American ethnographer and Professor of Russian and East European Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She is primarily known for her ethnographic work on post-Communist Bulgaria as well as ...
,
Red Nostalgia? Communism, Women's Emancipation, and Economic Transformation in Bulgaria
"
*
External links
*
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Yugo-Nostalgia
Communist nostalgia
Nostalgia
Pan-Slavism