Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism in Intellectual Discourse: Peščanik and Nova srpska politička misao

Abstract

Rather than being just abstract notions scholars write about, patriotism and cosmopolitanism are used by social actors in ongoing social life. Whether employed to name “us” and exalt the values of one’s own group, or to name “them” and stigmatize what the opponents stand for, the two terms have long served as potent discursive weapons in the struggle for various kinds of power in Serbia. While they retain some significance to this day, the peak of their intensive and consequential employment in public discourse occurred between 2005 and 2010. In this paper we aim to reconstruct the symbolic battles over the foundations of Serbian political community, based on critical discourse analysis of the discursive material produced by intellectuals and made public via Peščanik and Nova srpska politička misao media outlets. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 179049: Politics of Social Memory and National Identity: Regional and European Context]