REACTUALIZATION OF THE SUPPRESSED PAST AS A STARTING POINT OF CRITICISM OF YUGOSLAV SOCIALISM: AN OVERVIEW OF THE COOPERATION BETWEEN THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH AND ARTISTIC AND INTELLECTUAL CIRCLES IN THE 1980S

Abstract

In this paper the activities of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the 1980s regarding revival of certain past events that were either neglected or marginalized during Yugoslav socialism were considered including its cooperation and creating of ties with artists and intellectuals. The starting point of our research was the assumption that the affirmation of the phenomena, figures and processes from the WWI and WWII was only partly the result of overcoming of the socialist culture of forgetting, but was mostly derived from the articulation of criticism and resistance to the social and political system created after 1945 and its different dimensions. For that purpose, we analyzed the various undertakings of Church in this period aiming at presenting to the believers and broader public the heroism and sacrifices of Serbian army and citizens during the WWI as well as horrific sufferings of Serbs in the concentration camps of the Independent State of Croatia. The objective was to bring to the fore how marginalized position of the Church and critically oriented artists and intellectuals and their alienation from the dominant public sphere (mass media sphere) shaped the process of mediating of critical thinking via rediscovering the past to the broader audience. Apart from that, the social positioning of the Church and certain artistic and intellectual circles was also considered as a factor that influenced the process of mediation particularly in the circumstances of the growing decay of Yugoslav socialism.