De/re-construction of subjectivity in contemporary Croatian cinema: becoming European

摘要

Today we are becoming more aware that the meanings linked to the Balkans are undoubtedly changing. In democratic and civilized Western Europe, 'multiculturalism' is becoming a myth (and a politically incorrect term). On the other hand, in the region of Southeastern Europe (which is the new politically correct term for the notorious Balkans), the acceptance of Otherness, reconfiguration of national, gender, or racial identity, and the subversion of limiting ideological and, most frequently, patriarchal norms are all becoming necessities of the current post-war period and the state of transition. While in Western Europe (that is, the European Union), the concepts of becoming European have come under threat, it is precisely in the region of the Balkans that these concepts can be tested. I am suggesting that, in this space of conflicting events, emotions, and temporalities, European identity is being negotiated, as well as possibilities of coexistence. The Balkans have suffered the consequences of disintegration and, unlike Western Europe, are directed toward re-integration and the re-thinking of nationalism and xenophobia. Recent Croatian films point to a new phase in the recent Croatian history marked by a complex combination of experiences - post-communism, post-war traumas, and a striving for a complete transformation into a new (capitalist) system.