The Nonconformists
Culture, Politics, and Nationalism in a Serbian
Intellectual Circle, 1944–1991
Nick Miller, Boise State University,
Idaho
Serbia’s national movement of the 1980s and 1990s,
the author suggests, was not the product of an ancient,
immutable, and aggressive Serbian national identity;
nor was it an artificial creation of powerful political
actors looking to capitalize on its mobilizing power.
Miller argues that cultural processes are too often
ignored in favor of political ones; that Serbian intellectuals
did work within a historical context, but that they
were not slaves to the past. His subjects are Dobrica
Ćosić (a novelist), Mića Popović
(a painter) and Borislav Mihajlović Mihiz (a literary
critic). These three influential Serbian intellectuals
concluded by the late 1960s that communism had failed
the Serbian people; together, they helped forge a new
Serbian identity that fused older cultural imagery with
modern conditions.
"Theoretically informed, elegantly
written, and rich in necessary nuances, the book offers
a corrective to simplistic, one-dimensional interpretations
of the role of intellectuals in the rise of Serbian
nationalism. It provides a critical analysis of the
meanders of national politics during the Tito regime.
The discussion of the Ranković affair and its role
in catalyzing Ćosić’s sense of Serbs
being victims of national discrimination is among the
best in literature. For Miller, like for such authors
as Isaiah Berlin and Leah Greenfeld, nationalism is
a matter of dignity.” Vladimir Tismaneanu,
University of Maryland
“Nick Miller is the riveting
stylist who happens to be a historian, and the judicious
historian who happens to be a writer. His humane and
passionate account of the ‘Nonconformists’
will cause those who have read everything on the subject
to rethink what they know; and those who have read not
a single book to want to know more. Both sets of readers—and
those in between—will find this book exceptionally
edifying.” John Connelly, University
of California Berkeley
"Miller’s insightful
study tackles the interaction of culture, politics,
and nationalism in Serbia since 1945. Skillfully avoiding
the extremes typical of much existing literature, which
tends to describe nationalism in Serbia either as the
expression of centuries old ethnic hatreds or the creation
of unscrupulous politicians, Miller offers an entirely
new approach grounding it in the specific postwar experiences
of a small but important group of Serbian intellectuals.
With tightly woven prose and dry humor, Miller shows
how the genuine and sincere intellectuals who inspired
unscrupulous politicians like Milošević
evolved from humanists ‘willing to let communism
have its chance’ into committed nationalists.
As we enter their psyches, and learn their individual
backgrounds and experiences, we begin to see why their
message was so effective and the masses so easily manipulated.
Thus Miller’s work connects politics to the realm
of culture in a way that is critical to understanding
the events of the last decades.” Carol
Lilly, University of Nebraska
Reviews:
"Over the last five years, in articles
and reviews, Nick Miller has been pushing historians
and other scholars to ask the question: can Serbian
intellectuals be held accountable for 'the creation
of one of the most intolerant and narcissistic national
movements that I know of?' ... Miller lays out the case
for three influential Serbian literary and cultural
figures: a novelist, Dobrica Ćosić; a painter,
Mića Popović; and a literary critic and playwright,
Borislav Mihajlović Mihiz. ... In Miller’s
capable hands, the four-decade cultural and intellectual
journey they took to nationalism is understandable and
explainable, and their embrace of Slobodan Milošević
was a predictable outcome of 'their perceptions of the
nature and the needs of the Serbian nation' (p. 359).
Miller concludes that not only was their support for
Milošević logical and expected, in fact,
it was their cultural production and intellectual leadership
that prepared the groundwork." - American Historical
Review
"Miller's study, really an interlocking set of
intellectual biographies, opens an important door onto
Serbian society. This is especially important for the
1970s and 1980s, little studied decades in which Serbian
dissatisfation with Yugoslavia grew more concrete and
widespread. Miller's book is rich in analysis of literary
works and paintings; these analyses alone give many
worthwhile insights into Serbian thought and politics,
and most have been absent from previous analyses in
the West. The author, further, provides a godd sense
of the working of various writers' organizations, artists'
societies, and party officials." - Slavic and
East European Journal
"The Nonconformists sets out to examine
the evolution of Serbian nationalism through a prism
as intuitive as it is unlikely—writers and artists,
figures typically associated with radical politics but
less often with the political right.(...) Miller emphasizes
that it is not his intent to create sympathy for the
nationalists but to understand why some Serbs viewed
Milošević and the radical nationalist movement
as a solution to the oppression that they felt in Yugoslavia.
He does so superbly.
The Nonconformists is not a fast-paced book;
it is nearly impossible to skim. Every chapter—indeed,
every page—contributes to Miller’s narrative
about the processes of nationalist transformation. By
examining the gradual shifts in this transformation,
Miller convincingly demonstrates that radical nationalism
was neither intrinsic to the Serbian psyche nor a fait
accompli. Those who believe Miller’s argument
(as I do) will agree that this process is destined to
continue. 'Perhaps,' as Miller concludes hopefully,
the next ideological turn will be toward something 'more
humane.'" - Journal on Interdisciplinary History
"This book is about three Serbian intellectuals
-- Dobrica C'osic' (writer), Mic'a Popovic' (painter)
and Borislav Mihajlovic' Mihiz (literary critic and
theater director) and their work after Second World
War until the beginning of nineties. We could see how
they wrote or painted, as well as the revival of nationalism
in Serbia during that period. In fact, this is a book
about nationalism in Serbia. Miller's intention was
to look closer in its revival, mainly in intellectual
circuits and he completely succeeded in that.
Miller is showing us what was the position of the Serbs
in Yugoslavia, and that turning to nationalism was provoked
by unfulfilled promises made by the Communist Party
and that it was direct response to it. One of that promises
was extermination of nationalism in Yugoslavia, but,
while only a hint of nationalism in Serbia was sanctioned,
that was not the case in Croatia and Slovenia.
This book explains that the revival of nationalism among
intellectuals in Serbia, and among Serbs in general,
was a process, not a sudden appearance. As Miller strongly
argues, Serbs were pushed towards this process."
- Balkan Academic News
Contents
Preface; Chapter 1 Simina 9a in a
New Yugoslavia; Chapter 2 Nonconformist
Initiations; Chapter 3 Ćosić:
Engagement and Disillusionment, 1956–1966; Chapter
4 Drama and Politics: Mihiz in the Sixties;
Chapter 5 The Suicide and Rebirth of
the Painting: Mića Popović, 1959–1974;
Chapter 6 Fragmented Serbia; Chapter
7 Ćosić and Popović Return To
Serbia; Chapter 8 From Principle to
Catharsis; Chapter 9 The Children of
Cain; Chapter 10 The Limits of Revelation;
Chapter 11 The Legend of Simina 9a
in Serbia’s Modern History; Bibliography, Illustration
Credits; Index
2007
396 pages + 16 pages with color illustrations
ISBN
978-963-7326-93-6 cloth $50.00 / €42.95 / £40.00
ISBN
978-963-9776-13-5 paperback $27.95 / €24.95 / £22.99
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