20th century bosnian history
A01=Michael A. Sells
Author_Michael A. Sells
bosnia conflict
bosnia herzegovina
bosnia war
bosniak genocide
bosnian genocide
bosnian society
bosnian tragedy
Category=JPFN
Category=NHD
Category=NHTZ1
Category=NHW
Category=NHWR7
Category=QRM
Category=QRVG
christ killers
christian holy war
christianity
christoslavic
civil war
comparative studies in religion and society
croatian ethnic hatreds
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
ethnic cleansing campaign
genocide
islam
multi religious society
nationalism
religious mythology
religious nationalism
religious stereotypes
religious war
serb nationals
serbian ethnic hatreds
western policy makers
Product details
- ISBN 9780520216624
- Weight: 318g
- Dimensions: 140 x 210mm
- Publication Date: 10 Dec 1998
- Publisher: University of California Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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The recent atrocities in Bosnia-Herzegovina have stunned people throughout the world. With Holocaust memories still painfully vivid, a question haunts us: how is this savagery possible? Michael A. Sells answers by demonstrating that the Bosnian conflict is not simply a civil war or a feud of age-old adversaries. It is, he says, a systematic campaign of genocide and a Christian holy war spurred by religious mythologies. This passionate yet reasoned book examines how religious stereotyping--in popular and official discourse - has fueled Serbian and Croatian ethnic hatreds. Sells, who is himself Serbian American, traces the cultural logic of genocide to the manipulation by Serb nationalists of the symbolism of Christ's death, in which Muslims are 'Christ-killers' and Judases who must be mercilessly destroyed. He shows how 'Christoslavic' religious nationalism became a central part of Croat and Serbian politics, pointing out that intellectuals and clergy were key instruments in assimilating extreme religious and political ideas. Sells also elucidates the ways that Western policy makers have rewarded the perpetrators of the genocide and punished the victims.
He concludes with a discussion of how the multireligious nature of Bosnian society has been a bridge between Christendom and Islam, symbolized by the now-destroyed bridge at Mostar. Drawing on historical documents, unpublished United Nations reports, articles from Serbian and Bosnian media, personal contacts in the region, and Internet postings, Sells reveals the central role played by religious mythology in the Bosnian tragedy. In addition, he makes clear how much is at stake for the entire world in the struggle to preserve Bosnia's existence as a multireligious society.
Michael A. Sells is Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Religion at Haverford College. He is the author of several books on religion, including Mystical Languages of Unsaying (1994).
