1.  Essay | 09/01/2008

Portrait of a moment in the life of a nation

A decade and a half after the declaration of Slovenian independence and three years after EU accession, Slovenian political and cultural life is stagnating, writes Peter Rak. A confrontational political style together with liberal posturing is producing an isolationist discourse reminiscent of the Cold War. A moderate sense of national spirit and collective self-love is the only way forward, writes Rak. » more

The last exponents of Yugo-nostalgia

Journalist Peter Rak went to a concert given by the famous "Yugoslavian" songwriter and actor Rade Serbedzija in Macedonia. Rak writes that Serbedzija is a product "of the confusion of the Balkan war and the collapse of the common cultural and spiritual region to which he belonged with all his heart and soul. For the star of Yugoslavian film and theatre, the collapse of Yugoslavia came like a great deluge that led many of his colleagues to resign themselves to a life of loneliness. Serbedzija is one of the few who has risen again." Rak writes that eventually "along with Serbedzija and his generation, the last 'Yugo-nostalgia' will die. This is a longing for a return of the good old days, related not only to the personality cult surrounding  Marshall Tito but also to the mental climate of those times. Then there will be a vacuum until one day a new, impartial generation overcomes the old resentments and antagonism."

» to the homepage (external link, Delo)
More from the press review on the subject » Stage, » History, » Eastern Europe