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5 - Memoirs and autobiographies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2009

Sabrina P. Ramet
Sabrina P. Ramet
Affiliation:
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim
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Summary

No scholar, as far as I am aware, has ever supported, in any way, the fanciful ‘ancient hatreds’ thesis in any form. But the scholarly literature concerning recent Yugoslav history has not been without its serious lapses – among them, inexplicable tendencies towards occasional Germanophobia, Hobbist tendencies towards the elevation of state sovereignty above the moral law (flaring during discussions of possible Western duty to intervene in Bosnia during 1992–5 and in Kosovo in 1998–9), and moral relativism. These tendencies have, inevitably, affected the way in which facts have been presented.

Thus, the recent flood of memoirs from principals in the Yugoslav drama is especially welcome, insofar as it affords the opportunity to see how the participants themselves would like their roles and actions to be remembered, and provides fresh accounts from inside concerning what may have happened. In the process, readers may test their own theories and interpretations concerning the breakup and war against first-hand recollections.

Among the first memoirs published were those by former president of the SFRY (Socialist Federated Republic of Yugoslavia) Presidency (May–October 1991) Stipe Mesić, former SFRY defence minister (May 1988–January 1992) Veljko Kadijević, former president of the SFRY Presidency (May 1990–May 1991) Borisav Jović, former EU mediator David Lord Owen (discussed in chapter 4), and former US ambassador to Yugoslavia Warren Zimmermann (also discussed in chapter 4).

Type
Chapter
Information
Thinking about Yugoslavia
Scholarly Debates about the Yugoslav Breakup and the Wars in Bosnia and Kosovo
 , pp. 108 - 137
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2005

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References

Boutros-Ghali, Boutros, Unvanquished: A US–UN Saga (New York: Random House, 1999), p. 352.Google Scholar
Dizdarević, Raif, Od smrti Tita do smrti Jugoslavije: Svjedočenja (Sarajevo: Svjedok, 1999), p. 459.Google Scholar
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  • Memoirs and autobiographies
  • Sabrina P. Ramet, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim
  • Book: Thinking about Yugoslavia
  • Online publication: 22 September 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511492136.007
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  • Memoirs and autobiographies
  • Sabrina P. Ramet, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim
  • Book: Thinking about Yugoslavia
  • Online publication: 22 September 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511492136.007
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Memoirs and autobiographies
  • Sabrina P. Ramet, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim
  • Book: Thinking about Yugoslavia
  • Online publication: 22 September 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511492136.007
Available formats
×