This Course is Cross-Listed with History 100B, Section 1

 Slavic 158 is a Cultural Topics requirement for majors in the Russian, East European, or Eurasian cultures track in the Slavic department.

This course will consider the phenomenon of Yugoslavia (1918 – 1991) from both the cultural point of view and from that of history and politics. Throughout Eastern Europe, but especially in the former Yugoslavia, culture and politics have been so interconnected that it is impossible to understand the one without some understanding of the other. Literature and other artistic expression take as their primary topics historical and current politically charged events, and major political actions are often precipitated by, or at least closely tied up with, literary events or figures. Within Yugoslavia, the issue of language has also been highly politicized, and much of the ethnic/national conflict between Serbs, Croats, Bosnian Muslims (and even Montenegrins) is connected with the question of whether they all speak the same language or not.

In addition to readings from literary and historical sources, the course will include films by and about Yugoslavs.

Texts for purchase:
Benson, Leslie. Yugoslavia, a Concise History (revised and updated edition). Palgrave, 2004. ISBN: 1403915660
Wachtel, Andrew. Making a Nation, Breaking a Nation: Literature and Cultural Politics in Yugoslavia. Stanford University Press, 1998. ISBN: 0804731830
Andric, Ivo. The Bridge on the Drina. University of Chicago Press, 1977. ISBN: 0226020452
Pekic, Borislav. The Houses of Belgrade. Northwestern University Press, 1994. ISBN: 0810111411
Sudetic, Chuck. Blood and Vengeance, One Family’s Story of the War in Bosnia. Penguin, 1999. ISBN: 0140286810
Jergovic, Miljenko. Sarajevo Marlboro. Archipelago, 2004. 0972869220

Prerequisites: None. All course readings in English.