This book focuses on issues concerning identity in terms of Balkan and non-Balkan cultures, and examines questions of modernity and the ever-present dread of primitivism which is highlighted in certain types of narratives. David A. Norris examines the emergence and development of the term 'Balkan' itself, textual representations of the region, and negative imagery from the perspective of Balkan authors and in Western literature.

In recent years, western discourse about the Balkans, or “balkanism,” has risen in prominence. Characteristically, this strand of research sidelines the academic input in the production of western representations and Balkan self-understanding. Looking at the Balkans from the vantage point of “balkanism” has therefore contributed to its further marginalization as an object of research and the evisceration of its agency. This book reverses the perspective and looks at the Balkans primarily inside-out, from within the Balkans towards its “self” and the outside world, where the west is important but not the sole referent. The book unravels attempts at regional identity-building and construction of regional discourses across various generations and academic subcultures, with the aim of reconstructing the conceptualizations of the Balkans that have emerged from academically embedded discursive practices and political usages. It thus seeks to reinstate the subjectivity of “the Balkans” and the responsibility of the Balkan intellectual elites for the concept and the images it conveys. The book then looks beyond the Balkans, inviting us to rethink the relationship between national and transnational (self-)representation and the communication between local and exogenous – Western, Central and Eastern European – concepts and definitions more generally. It thus contributes to the ongoing debates related to the creation of space and historical regions, which feed into rethinking the premises of the “new area studies.” Beyond Balkanism: The Scholarly Politics of Region Making will interest researchers and students of transnationalism, politics, historical geography, border and area studies.

Eastern Europe has produced rich and varied film cultures--Czech, Hungarian, and Serbian among them-whose histories have been intimately tied to the transition from Soviet domination to the complexities of post-Communist life. This latest volume in the AFI Film Readers series presents a long-overdue reassessment of East European cinemas from theoretical, psychoanalytic, and gender perspectives, moving the subject beyond the traditional area studies approach to the region's films. This ambitious collection, situating Eastern Europe's many cinemas within global paradigms of film study, will be an essential work for all students of cinema and for anyone interested in the relation of film to culture and society.

What is the meaning of the Balkans in the early 21st century? Former Yugoslav countries seek a self-flattering alliance with ‘the West’ via EU membership, while the Union’s citizens increasingly declare to be ‘Eurosceptic’. At the same time, economic turmoil in countries like Greece confronts massive incoming waves of refugees, for whom Europe’s south-eastern borders are the nearest shelter. In this time of crisis, the Balkans return on the agenda as a parable of Europe’s haunting questions about its future. EU, Europe Unfinished brings together established and emerging media and cultural scholars to explore colliding visions of space and identity within a declining continent. Whereas Europe imagines the Balkans to be the source of its nearest trouble, the region envisions Europe as a refuge from ongoing post-socialist transition. The book adopts a variety of critical perspectives – from media and policy analysis to anthropology, art history and autobiography – to investigate where Europe is headed with the Balkans in its skein, 25 years after the fall of the Iron Curtain.

Modern travel memoir spans history in trailing the ghost of ArchdukeFerdinand's assassin and WWI's primary catalyst, Gavrilo Princip.

Perched above the confluence of two great rivers, the Sava and Danube, Belgrade has been home to many civilizations: Celts, Romans, Byzantines, Bulgars, Magyars, Ottomans and Serbs. A Turkish fortress, the focus for a Serbian principality, an intellectual and artistic center, the city grew until it became capital of Yugoslavia. Now it is one of the largest cities in south-eastern Europe and capital of the Republic of Serbia. Despite many challenges, Belgrade has resisted assimilation and created a unique cultural identity out of its many contrasting sides, sometimes with surprising consequences.

Perched above the confluence of two great rivers, the Sava and Danube, Belgrade has been home to many civilizations: Celts, Romans, Byzantines, Bulgars, Magyars, Ottomans and Serbs. A Turkish fortress, the focus for a Serbian principality, an intellectual and artistic center, the city grew until it became capital of Yugoslavia. Now it is one of the largest cities in south-eastern Europe and capital of the Republic of Serbia. Despite many challenges, Belgrade has resisted assimilation and created a unique cultural identity out of its many contrasting sides, sometimes with surprising consequences.

Since 1989, Europe's eastern rim has been in constant flux. Political and economic transformations have triggered redefinitions of cultural identity. Combining theory-oriented and empirical approaches, this book analyzes modes of identity construction in public discourse, particularly focusing on national and cross-national rhetorical strategies related to European Union enlargement and EU policy towards southeast Europe.

Rosalind Galt offers innovative readings of some of the most popular and influential European films of the 1990s, including Emir Kusturica's 'Underground', Lars Von Trier's 'Zentropa', and Giuseppe Tornatore's 'Cinema Paradiso'.