In the wake of the Balkan myth : questions of identity and modernity /

Norris (Univ. of Nottingham, UK) first examines the representation of the Balkans in European travel literature of the 18th and 19th centuries and the response to those representations in literary works of Serbian writers and Ivo Andric (who is claimed by various nationalities). Though Vesna Goldsworthy treated European conceptions of the Balkans (in English literature) more extensively in Inventing Ruritania (CH, Oct'98), and Maria Todorova thoroughly chronicled European "Balkanism" in Imagining the Balkans (CH, Jan'98), the effect of these representations on conceptions of self among the peoples of the Balkans deserves considerable attention. Norris makes a welcome contribution to this investigation. The author also examines the quest for identity in the Balkans and the relationship between the growth of urban centers and modernity, claiming that Serbia opted for a Western European model in response to negative Balkan stereotypes and Ottoman domination. However, the author denies the urban/modern, cosmopolitan traits of the Ottoman Belgrade or Sarajevo and never mentions well-known contributions to this inquiry by Serbian architect Bogdan Bogdanovic and Bosnian writer Dzevad Karahasan (Sarajevo: Exodus of a City, 1994). Useful as a supplementary resource for upper-division undergraduates and above in discussion of these issues from the Serbian perspective. C. Simmons; Boston College