Drawing primarily on selected filmic texts from former-Yugoslavia, the book examines key social and political events that triggered the Yugoslav wars in the 1990s. Yugoslav politics and society are set within the broader artistic and cinematic strategies that helped stabilise post-Yugoslav territories strategies that were part of the national desire of looking forward to a time of 'perpetual peace' and its subsequent cosmopolitan norms. It argues that filmic texts demonstrate the degree to which nationalism was at the heart of the violent disintegration of Yugoslavia. Yet, the concern of the argument is not simply to offer a filmic critique but to develop an alternative to nationalism; namely, a theoretical framework through which cosmopolitan humanism is at the forefront of addressing former Yugoslavia's political wounds.

The links between cinema and war machines have long been established. This book explores the range, form, and valences of trauma narratives that permeate the most notable narrative films about the breakup of Yugoslavia.

Drawing primarily on selected filmic texts from former-Yugoslavia, the book examines key social and political events that triggered the Yugoslav wars in the 1990s. Yugoslav politics and society are set within the broader artistic and cinematic strategies that helped stabilise post-Yugoslav territories strategies that were part of the national desire of looking forward to a time of 'perpetual peace' and its subsequent cosmopolitan norms. It argues that filmic texts demonstrate the degree to which nationalism was at the heart of the violent disintegration of Yugoslavia. Yet, the concern of the argument is not simply to offer a filmic critique but to develop an alternative to nationalism; namely, a theoretical framework through which cosmopolitan humanism is at the forefront of addressing former Yugoslavia's political wounds.

Disintegration in Frames explores the relationship between aesthetics and ideology in the Yugoslav and post-Yugoslav cinema, with emphasis on issues of nationalism, internationalism, and interethnic relations.

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. Unified by their artistic response to these cataclysmic changes, post-Yugoslav literary works and films have much to offer the wider world. Crnkovic reveals select post-Yugoslav literary and cinema works as groundbreaking exploratory achievements of global relevance. She presents post-Yugoslav literature and film as art that makes us aware of previously unconsidered things that bring us wars, and those that constitute part of the tapestry of peace. She foregrounds the radical potential of art to change and enrich the global landscapes of concepts, sensitivities, and politics. As such her book is important not only for those interested in this region, but also for all those wanting to discover and engage with world literature and cinema, and willing to encounter the potential of great new art to illuminate and challenge the world we live in.

The links between cinema and war machines have long been established. At the same time, cinema represents an often overlooked, yet crucial channel of tackling the difficult themes of post-traumatic memory. This book explores the range, form, and valences of trauma narratives that permeate the most notable narrative films about the breakup of Yugoslavia. It examines how film plays a part in coming to terms with the traumatic effects that wars have on communities, by ways of forming an archive of publically circulated, mass-mediated cultural memories

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. Unified by their artistic response to these cataclysmic changes, post-Yugoslav literary works and films have much to offer the wider world. Crnkovic reveals select post-Yugoslav literary and cinema works as groundbreaking exploratory achievements of global relevance. She presents post-Yugoslav literature and film as art that makes us aware of previously unconsidered things that bring us wars, and those that constitute part of the tapestry of peace. She foregrounds the radical potential of art to change and enrich the global landscapes of concepts, sensitivities, and politics. As such her book is important not only for those interested in this region, but also for all those wanting to discover and engage with world literature and cinema, and willing to encounter the potential of great new art to illuminate and challenge the world we live in

The links between cinema and war machines have long been established. This book explores the range, form, and valences of trauma narratives that permeate the most notable narrative films about the breakup of Yugoslavia.

From its inception following World War II, Yugoslav war cinema played a major role in representing and challenging the discourse of the nation. Films depicting the Partisan war experience during the "national war of liberation", the foundational narrative of socialist Yugoslavia, played a significant role in constructing and deconstructing Yugoslavia's revolutionary past. After the death of Tito in 1980, critical focus in cinema shifted away from the events of WW II to post-war Yugoslavia and the brutal anti-Stalinist purges following Yugoslavia's break with the Cominform. With the disintegration of Yugoslavia, "Yugoslav" cinema faced an uncertain future. Post-socialism marked the re-emergence of the war film genre that critically examined the conflicts that tore a nation apart. As communities throughout the former Yugoslavia attempt to come to terms with the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the wars that followed, cinema may be an effective tool for deconstructing the myths of ethnic nationalism. Discourse analysis will reveal the intervention of film in the political and cultural spheres of the nation and its significant role in reshaping the foundational narrative.