Balkanism and postcolonialism, or On the Beauty of the Airplane View

O lepoti pogleda z letala

Abstract

The article addresses the recent tendency to place the Balkans (and, by extension, Eastern Europe) within the postcolonial paradigm. Analyzing the category Balkan in its different manifestations the article establishes the parallels between balkanism and orientalism as discursive formations and, at the same time, stresses their methodological distinctions. It then offers an analysis of postcolonial studies, where the postcolonial is understood, on the one hand, as a historical situation marked by the dismantling of traditional institutions of colonial power and, on the other hand, as a search for alternatives to the discourses of the colonial era. The author’s objections to the application of postcolonialism are based on the author’s belief that neither the Ottoman Empire, nor the Soviet Union in its relationship with Eastern Europe can be treated as colonial empires .In the central part of the article the author introduces the notion of historical legacy and argue that it is the most adequate heuristic device for approaching and describing historical regions. It articulates the dynamism and fluidity of historical change, this category has numerous advantages over other more structural ones, such as borders, space, and territoriality. It appears therefore to be the most appropriate category for analyzing long-term regional developments by avoiding the reification of latter-day regions.