Exhibiting Yugoslavia

• Main Author: Milica Popović
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Ljubljana 2015-05-01
• Series: Družboslovne Razprave
• Subjects: Museum of Yugoslav History; post-Yugoslav narratives; exhibition discourses; collective memory; representation of the past
• Online Access: http://druzboslovne-razprave.org/clanek/pdf/2016/81/1/

By using memory theory, critical discourse and multimodal analysis, the article examines the narratives of the exhibition “Yugoslavia: From the Beginning to the End” held at the Museum of Yugoslav History in Belgrade in order to identify and analyze the Museum’s discourse in the post-Yugoslav transitional context of the Republic of Serbia. The article tries to demystify the hidden text on Yugoslavia in the exhibition’s catalog and on the Museum’s website. Within the complex context of public narratives on Yugoslav history, and of the position of the Museum as a public institution, the exhibition shows strong convergence with revisionist hegemonic narratives, whilst simultaneously creating a dialogue with counter-memory and nostalgic narratives and thus opening its space up for further conversationson the Yugoslav collective memory.