“A Black Hole on the European Continent ” - Kommunikationsforum

Abstract
Over the last 20 years, Serbia has been a source of continuous concern in the
international society. Its central role in recent conflicts in Europe; the war following the
breakup of Yugoslavia 1990-95 and the conflict with Kosovo, 1998-99, has produced animosity
between Serbia and the international society, thus leaving Serbia isolated, depicted as a pariah-
state.
In recent years, however, Serbia’s rapprochement to its regional neighbours as well as
international institutions has been welcomed by the international society, especially by the EU,
which sees stabilization of the Western Balkans as a strategic priority.
In March 2012 Serbia was granted EU candidate status reciprocally for its achievements with
regards to democratization and stabilization. The current development has been perceived as an
indication that Serbia is substantially moving towards cooperation with the international
society, effectively leaving behind its warmongering, nationalist aspirations.
This dissertation seeks to challenge this perception by illuminating conflicting attitudes towards
Serbia’s rapprochement to EU and the international society. With an analytical strategy,
drawing on discourse theory and psychoanalytical political theory, the dissertation embarks on
a voyage, implicating a narrow focus on the election campaign in May 2012, to critically
examine different perceptions of Serbia’s role in the EU and the wider world, as they are
expressed in the media, by political parties, academics and in cultural events.
The analysis of the election campaign exhibits sound disagreements with regards to EU-
integration and international cooperation. With a strategic discourse theoretical bracketing of
the political landscape in three distinct discourses, a Pro-EU, a Nationalist and a Critical
discourse, it is revealed how these discourses, understood as political projects, relies on mutual
antagonistic relations vis-à-vis each other, implicating a remarkable and hostile playing field
for political conflicts.
Furthermore it is discussed, drawing resolutely on psychoanalytical discourse configurations,
how these political projects appeal to the Serbian citizens, by activating different fantasmatic
constructions of an ideal Serbia; depicting ways to get there and obstructions.
The dissertation concludes that different political projects with potential for conflicts
persist in Serbia despite its perceived internal forces for a European future. It thereby reaches
its intended goal: contributing to a more adequate analysis of contemporary Serbian political
society.
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