This book is a comprehensive exposition of the interaction of a national (the Serbian people) and a religiou (the Orthodox Christian faith) content, in the formation of a distinctive national identity and a mode of being. Its interdisciplinary approach, drawing on sociology, social anthropology, theology, political theory, Balkan historiography, and Serbian folklore, is deployed to provide a powerful and original analysis of how Serbian Orthodoxy has resulted in the sacralisation of the Serbian nation by framing the parameters of its existence. Addresses the following questions: what 'makes' a Serb? Are meaningful assumptions possible by introducing Serbian Orthodoxy as the primal point of reference? Why does religion appear to have an especially strong appeal?
- Cover
- Title page
- Copyright page
- CONTENTS
- PREFACE
- Chapter One NATION, RELIGION AND FUNDAMENTALISM
- Synopsis
- The Basic Argument
- “And the Earth Was without Form and Void”
- What is Religion?
- “If God Does Not Exist, He Would Have to Be Invented”
- Communio in Sacris
- Defining the “National” within the “Serbian”
- The “Fundamentalist” Discourse
- Accounting for “Fundamentalism” in Serbia
- Conclusion
- Chapter Two ORTHODOXY AND SERBIAN NATIONAL IDENTITY
- Synopsis
- Introduction
- The “Doctrinal” Content of Orthodoxy
- The Creation of Man in the “Image and Likeness of God”
- The Triune God–Father, Son and the Holy Spirit
- The “Functional”—Cultus—Content of Orthodoxy
- The Role of the Orthodox Liturgy
- The “Normative” Expressions of Orthodoxy
- Baptism and Chrismation
- The Eucharist
- The Holy Matrimony of Marriage
- Orthodox Iconography
- Serbian Orthodoxy
- The Foundations of the Serbian Orthodoxy
- Orthodoxy as the Sacralisation of the Serbian Identity
- Krsna Slava
- The Religious (Non) Affinity of the Serbs
- Conclusion
- Chapter Three HOMO SERBICUS
- Synopsis
- The Moral and Ethical Construction of the Serbian Cosmology
- Homo Serbicus (Historical and Territorial Hypostases)
- The “Love Ethic”
- Honour
- The Concept of Heroism
- The Concept of Freedom
- The Concepts of Justice and Vengeance
- Unity in Diversity
- The Zadruga
- Kumstvo
- Homo Serbicus (Balkan Mentality)
- Homo Serbicus (Mere Stereotypes?)
- Conclusion
- Chapter Four THE PURSUIT OF “SECULAR” SALVATION
- Synopsis
- Vox Populi or Vox Dei?
- Serbian Orthodoxy and Yugoslav Communism
- Josip Broz Tito
- The Serbian Monarchy
- The Chetnik Movement
- Slobodan Milosevic
- Orthodoxy and the Culture of Power in Serbia
- Serbian Orthodoxy and Democracy
- Conclusion
- Chapter Five THE PURSUIT OF “SACRIFICIAL” SALVATION
- Synopsis
- National Myth(s) and Mythogenesis
- The Kosovo Battle (1389)
- The Legend of Kosovo
- Kosovo: The Continuous Dialogue between the Present and the Past
- The Kosovo “Sacrifice”
- Conclusion
- Chapter Six “TO LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS YOURSELF”
- Synopsis
- Homo Homini Lupus
- (Instrumental) Violence and Orthodoxy
- The Serbian Warrior
- The “Distortion” of Brotherhood and Unity
- God of Life and Death
- Homo et Femina Nervis Laborans (Psychosis)?
- Conclusion
- Chapter Seven THE BALKAN ORTHODOX COMMONWEALTH
- Synopsis
- Orthodoxy as the Sacralisation of Serbianhood
- The Greek Orthodoxy
- The Bulgarian Orthodoxy
- The Romanian Orthodoxy
- Conclusion
- CONCLUSION
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
- INDEX
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