UNIVERSITY OF NOVA GORICA GRADUATE SCHOOL ...

ut how can you explain to the people that this was not JNA but serbian army carrying
this name, and how to explain to the people that Milosevic Tudman and Izetbegovic,
tricked and robbed this nation?? 372
At first this exchange appears very superficial, particularly in the first several posts. Tonsi Cristian
approaches the matter in a very straightforward manner stating there is no future for a new
Yugoslavia. In addition he uses a very affective language in describing the situation in Croatia
today. Again, the persistent topics of historical revisionism, of denigration of the partisan
movement and glorification of collaboration with Nazism come to the fore. Interestingly, and
apparently a result of the affective response of the commentator, the post towards the end shifts
away from the initial doubtful stance expressing a more proactive hue: Tonsi Cristian declares the
dedication to defend the new Yugoslavia, should it ever come about. The reference to Europe is
telling: Yugoslavia in this (and many others) (memorial) statement is in fact seen as a historical
and symbolical resource which caters to the contemporary need for normalcy. Moreover, the
prospect of the future (in European Union) is in this case portrayed (or rather alluded to) very
bleak, in line with the predominant sentiment present across the post-Yugoslavia cyberplaces of
memory that the past could give an answer to the present, provided the present is not corrupted by
Europe or neo-liberalism for that matter.
Becic Esmir‘s response proves affective in another way: if Tonsi was being ironic in concealing
his affection for the country (as is also revealed in his other posts), Esmir‘s response reveals he
has taken offense. Consequently he takes recourse to a discrediting practice attributing his
interlocutor the preference for either Nazi collaborationists (ustaše and ĉetnici) or balije
(derogatory term used to denote Bosnian Muslims). Furthermore, exclusivism, already discussed
above in this string, comes to the fore again, as Esmir says: ―and you also have to understand that
SFR Jugoslavija is for people who know themselves and their country! So I‘m asking, what do
you want here..? go and be smart somewhere else;).‖ In the exchange that follows, Tonsi clearly
elaborates his position and also, tellingly, reveals his background: he is a post-Yugoslav Croatian
child who lost his father at the very beginning of the war.
This adds further dimensions to the Yugoslav digital memorials and memory online, and offline as
well. Although the majority of users have at least some experience from the former Yugoslavia—
which are often renarrated through posting videos and comments—Tonsi is a member of a
generation whose memory of Yugoslavia is, experientially, inexistent but as the memory
decidedly related to the war. It is from this perspective that his position and appreciation of the
country, its past and future, becomes particularly interesting: despite the strictly ‗mediated
372 Ibid.
191