Prerequisits

There are no specific prerequisites.

However, prior knowledge of basic theories of history, cultural studies and memory studies is recommended.

Content (syllabus outline)

Remembering socialism as a cultural and discursive practice:

• Why study memory?
• Why study post- socialism?
• Terminological issues, post-socialism, post- communism, transition, transformation;
• Characteristics of anthropological and historiographic approaches to post-communist societies
• Forms and media of remembering socialism: virtual memories, museums, literature, film, etc.

Post-socialist affects:

• Affect theory from a post-socialist perspective;
• Manifestations of nostalgia for socialism;
• Political and social meanings of post-socialist affects.

Remembering socialism in the former Yugoslavia:

• Characteristics of Yugoslav socialism and post-Yugoslav post- socialisms;
• Memory practices, historical revisionism, transitional justice;
• Dialogue between “official” and private memories.

Remembering socialism through the arts and other performative forms:

• Remembering socialism and cinematography;
• Remembering socialism and literature;
• Socialist monuments and their post-socialist lives.

Remembering socialism and shaping collective identities:

• Remembering socialism and the working class.
• Remembering socialism and former soldiers.
• Remembering socialism and partisans.
• Remembering socialism and women.
• Remembering socialism and members of minority communities.

Readings

• Bonfiglioli, Chiara. Women and Industry in the Balkans : The Rise and Fall of the Yugoslav Textile Sector. London: I.B. Tauris, 2019.
• Hofman, Ana, Tanja Petrović (eds.). Affect’s Social Lives: Post-Yugoslav Reflections. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, 2023.
• Kosmos, Iva, Tanja Petrović, Martin Pogačar: Zgodbe iz konzerve: zgodovine predelave in konzerviranja rib na severovzhodnem Jadranu. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC 2020.
• Morris, Jeremy. Everyday Post-Socialism: Working-Class Communities in the Russian Margins. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.
• Nadkarny, Maya. Remains of Socialism: Memory and the Futures of the Past in Postsocialist Hungary. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2020.
• Petrović, Tanja. Utopia of the Uniform: Affective Afterlives of the Yugoslav People’s Army. Durham – London: Duke University Press, 2024.
• Schwenkel, Christina. Building Socialism: The Afterlife of East German Architecture in Urban Vietnam. Durham – London: Duke University Press, 2020.
• Scott, David. Omens of Adversity: Tragedy, Time, Memory, Justice. Durham/London: Duke University Press, 2014.

Objectives and competences

The aim of this course is to develop an understanding of the processes and practices of remembering socialism in post-socialist societies and to explore their impact on contemporary social and cultural discourses. Students will acquire competences for analysing memory as a cultural and discursive practice that enables the justification of social positions, strategies, and moral values in the period of post-communist transformations. Special emphasis will be placed on individual experiences and narratives, and their interplay with collective and “official” interpretations, which will facilitate a critical understanding of post-socialist transformations and their impacts on personal and social life.

Intended learning outcomes

Students will use the knowledge acquired in the course to produce a scientific contribution that can serve as a draft of a dissertation chapter or a research article. In doing so, they will develop the ability to critically analyse and interpret memory practices in the post-socialist context, synthesise the acquired information, and enhance their academic writing skills, contributing to their scientific and professional development.

Learning and teaching methods

Types of learning/teachin:

• Frontal teaching,
• Independent students work,
• e-learning.

Teaching methods:

• Explanation,
• Conversation, discussion, debate,
• Work with texts,
• Case studies.

Assessment

• Long written assignements (80 %),
• Final examination (written/oral) (20 %).

Lecturer’s references

• PETROVIĆ, Tanja. 2024. Utopia of the Uniform: Affective Afterlives of the Yugoslav People’s Army. Durham, London: Duke University Press.
• PETROVIĆ, Tanja. 2023. Alternative cinematic and literary histories of Yugoslavia and the “power to be affected”. In: Hofman, Ana, Tanja Petrović eds. Affect’s social lives: Post-Yugoslav reflections. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, 165-191. DOI: 10.3986/9789610507291_06.
• PETROVIĆ, Tanja. 2022. Erinnerung – warum (gerade) jetzt?. V: LJUMOVIĆ, Janko (ur.). Moć kulture : kultura sjećanja: politike i prakse. Podgorica: Fondacija Konrad Adenauer, 26-39.
• PETROVIĆ, Tanja. 2021. Heritage of liminality: remnants of the military in the Istrian city of Pula in the aftermath of Yugoslav socialism. Colloquia Humanistica. 2021, no. 10: 1-21.
• PETROVIĆ, Tanja. 2021. Seeing the futures past, and futures yet to come: on the (im)possibility of reading the promises of liberation from the visual archive of the non-aligned movement in the aftermath of the Yugoslav socialism. Membrana vol. 6, no. 1: 45-59.