Tenacious Past and Controversial Reputation of Tito: Persistent Collective Memories in Times of Change
(2009) 11th European Sociological Association Conference — Location: Turin, Italy (28.August.2013)
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- Abstract
- Social upheavals are often followed by reinterpretations of the past by new political elites. However, in opposition to "invention of tradition" framework which focuses on political elites' instrumental reinterpretations, many collective memory scholars also emphasize factors constraining malleability of the past and the role of non-elite memory entrepreneurs. Within the latter theoretical framework, the present study examines how cultural interpretations remain persistent despite changed social conditions and different stakeholders in positions of power. This study uses textual analysis of Croatian newspapers and textbooks in post-Yugoslav period (1991-2007), complemented with interviews with two young Croatian generations, to examine persistent positive historical reputation of the late Yugoslav president Tito. As positive evaluations of Tito endured amidst generally negative reevaluations of the Croatian communist past, this case allows identifying conditions for malleability or persistence of collective memory during times of social and cultural change. These conditions also contributed to a successful institutionalization of Tito in Croatian public discourse, which other Yugoslavia-related commemorations failed to achieve. Both the persistence of Tito’s reputation and his successful post-Yugoslav institutionalization can be traced to interaction of three factors: the well-timed activities of Tito’s non-elite reputational entrepreneurs, dramatic and plural character of Tito’s interpretations and cultural salience of Yugoslav institutionalizations of Tito. The findings of this study illuminate the process of cultural change/persistence during times of social and institutional transformations.
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Vuckovic Juros, T. (2009). Tenacious Past and Controversial Reputation of Tito: Persistent Collective Memories in Times of Change. 11th European Sociological Association Conference, Turin, Italy. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/128009