As Edin Hajdarpasic shows, formative contestations over Bosnia and the surrounding region began well the assassination that triggered World War I, emerging with the rise of new nineteenth-century forces—Serbian and Croatian nationalisms, and Ottoman, Habsburg, Muslim, and Yugoslav political movements—that claimed this province as their own. Whose Bosnia? reveals the political pressures and moral arguments that made Bosnia a prime target of escalating nationalist activity.
Hajdarpasic provides new insight into central themes of modern politics, illuminating core subjects like the people, state-building, and national suffering. Whose Bosnia? proposes a new figure in the history of nationalism: the (br)other, a character signifying the potential of being brother and Other, containing the fantasy of complete assimilation and insurmountable difference. By bringing this figure into focus, Whose Bosnia? shows nationalism to be a dynamic and open-ended force, one that eludes a clear sense of historical closure.
Introduction: Whose Bosnia?1. The Land of the People2. The Land of Suffering3. Nationalization and Its Discontents4. Year X, or 1914?5. Another ProblemEpilogue: Another BosniaNotesIndex
