Denial and Repression of Antisemitism
Post-Communist Remembrance of the Serbian Bishop Nikolaj
Velimirović
Jovan Byford is Lecturer
in Social Psychology at the Faculty of Social Sciences,
Open University, UK. His previous publications include
the book Conspiracy Theory: Serbia vs. the New World
Order published in Serbian in 2006, and a number
of articles in English on conspiracy theories, antisemitism
and Holocaust remembrance in Serbia.
Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović (1881–1956)
is arguably one the most controversial figures in contemporary
Serbian national culture. Having been vilified by the
former Yugoslav Communist authorities as a fascist and
an antisemite, this Orthodox Christian thinker has over
the past two decades come to be regarded in Serbian
society as the most important religious person since
medieval times and an embodiment of the authentic Serbian
national spirit. Velimirović was formally canonised
by the Serbian Orthodox Church in 2003.
In this book, Jovan Byford charts the posthumous transformation
of Velimirović from ‘traitor’ to ‘saint’
and examines the dynamics of repression and denial that
were used to divert public attention from the controversies
surrounding the bishop’s life, the most important
of which is his antisemitism. Byford offers the first
detailed examination of the way in which an Eastern
Orthodox Church manages controversy surrounding the
presence of antisemitism within its ranks and he considers
the implications of the continuing reverence of Nikolaj
Velimirović for the persistence of antisemitism
in Serbian Orthodox culture and in Serbian society as
a whole.
This book is based on a detailed examination of the
changing representation of Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović
in the Serbian media and in commemorative discourse
devoted to him. The book also makes extensive use of
exclusive interviews with a number of Serbian public
figures who have been actively involved in the bishop’s
rehabilitation over the past two decades.
Contents
Acknowledgments Chapter One:
Introduction Chapter Two: The Disputed Biography
Of Nikolaj Velimirović and His Changing Public
Image 1945-2003 Chapter Three: Collective Remembering
and Collective Forgetting: Memory of Nikolaj Velimirović
and the Repression of Controversy Chapter Four:
From Repression to Denial: Responses of the Serbian
Orthodox Church to Accusations of Antisemitism Chapter
Five: ‘He Was Merely Quoting The Bible!’:
The Denial of Velimirović’s Antisemitism
Chapter Six: Antisemitism as Prophecy: Social
Construction of Velimirović’s Sanctity
Chapter Seven: Conclusion References Index
"It is hard to believe that there are almost no
scholarly works on such an important and controversial
figure. Therefore, the appearance of Jovan Byford's
book is a welcome and timely contribution. A native
of Serbia trained as a psychologist, Byford conducted
interviews and drew on the secondary literature of his
profession to create this unique study of the psychological
operations behind the making of Velimirović's cult.
Byford meticulously demonstrates the textual, rhetorical,
and argumentative tactics employed by the promoters
of Velimirović's cult to repress, deny, or justify
Velimirović's antisemitism." - American
Historical Review
"This book provides an authoritative vivisection
of the goals, behavior, and strategies of the Serbian
Orthodox Church, and sheds light on the chuavinism behind
the myths of martyrdom. Byford's claims and conclusions
are well supported by strong evidence, most of which
comes from Church sources and Velimirović's own
works. No serious student of Serbia should miss this
impressive book." - The Journal of Politics
and Religion
2008
280 pages + 8 with photos
ISBN 978-963-9776-15-9 cloth $35.00 / €25.95 /
£23.99
ISBN 978-963-9776-31-9 paperback $21.95 / €17.95
/ £16.99
|
