Unifying the Other: The Case of the March Violence in Kosovo and the Mosque Burning in Belgrade
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The paper analyses the socio-political context and public discourse related to the ethnic
and religiously motivated violence which initially occurred in Kosovo in March 2004
and subsequently spread to Serbia. The introductory section sheds light on the history
of the Bajrakli mosque, which is one of the oldest religious and cultural monuments preserved
in Belgrade up to the present time. The paper further reveals historical and demographic
data on the Muslim population in Serbia and Belgrade. Finally, it focusses on
the events and discourses in Kosovo and Serbia which eventually led to setting the only
Belgrade mosque ablaze. By applying methods of critical discourse analysis and media
analysis, the Serbian public discourse related to the March riots and the mosque arson is
analysed. In this paper, I argue that the strategy of unifying the Other appeared to be a
very effective means of mobilizing people en masse in both Kosovo and Serbia.
Keywords:
Belgrade / Ottoman heritage / Bajrakli mosque / March violence 2014 in Kosovo / media discourse / hate speech / ethnic and religious violence / Serb-Albanian conflict / critical discourse analysis / Muslims in SerbiaSource:
Ethnologia Balkanica, 2015, 15, 281-305Publisher:
- Munich : Institut für Volkskunde/European Ethnology at Munich University
- Sofia : Museum of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
- Munich : International Association for Southeast European Anthropology (InASEA)
Projects:
- Language, folklore, migrations in the Balkans (RS-178010)
Note:
- Thematic issue "Cultures of Crisis in Southeast Europe Part 1 Crises Related to Migration, Transformation, Politics, Religion, and Labour", ed. Klaus Roth, Asker Kartarı