UNIVERSITY OF NOVA GORICA GRADUATE SCHOOL ...

4) In Zemun [part of Belgrade]. How is freedom of speech sanctioned here?? HDZ
[Croatian Democratic Union, party] cannot prevent you from talking about whatever. Tito
could do that. And he could also kill for that.
taurunumurban
@taurunumurban you seem like a decent enough person for not insulting etc. me at once.
The system is not two-party, just seems so, as there are only two parties that can put
together a government, and as far as life on loan is concerned, here you‘re wrong, Croatia
inherited some 10 billion euro debt (not sure, something like that) and now we owe 42
billion, in just 20 years, nothing in Cro was done, everything is being sold and everything
is in debt
hristo7777 271
Triggered by Balašević‘s now already nostalgic song, 272 this exchange seems telling enough in
illustrating different understandings of both the past and the present. Roughly speaking,
taurunumurban takes the position of looking at the past through an idealised present (with
flourishing democracy, free economy, idealised EU), or at least a present against the backdrop of
an unbearable past. hristo7777 on the other hand quite differently observes the present through the
perspective of an idealised past (and significantly through a should-be-present). This appears to be
the archetypal distinction in conceptualising Yugoslav past in popular renditions, debates and
interpretations. Importantly, it exposes many of the perturbing issues today in post-Yugoslav
countries, from malfunctioning multiparty systems to inefficient economies, as the ―[i]ndividuals
who negotiated these local and national changes were simultaneously caught up in late 20th
century consumer capitalism, which sold itself as the most successful model of social
organisation.‖ 273
In many cases making reference to the Yugoslav socialist past in any sort of positive manner is
labelled ‗mere‘ nostalgia. But such reasoning is often amiss with the broader context within which
‗nostalgic‘ statements are being made. The most basic distinction can be drawn between emigrants
and citizens of the new republics, both of whom were suddenly left without a homeland, without a
history, a broader referential (social, cultural and political) framework. On one level, yes, this may
cause nostalgia in its most rudimentary form and also in the more elaborate distinctions, as
proposed by Svetlana Boym, 274 who differentiates between restorative and reflective nostalgia.
However, where ‗mere‘ nostalgia approaches fail is that they do not acknowledge a most ordinary
desire for a coherent past, for a comprehensive referential framework, in short, ‗nostalgic
271 See mejerchold, ―Tri put sam video Tita,‖ comments, http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=E2N-WUeHwRo,
accessed 2 September 2011.
272 Cf. Catherine Baker, ―‗Death to Fascism isn‘t in the Catechism,‘ 168.
273 Ibid., 164.
274 Boym, The Future of Nostalgia.
133