Paradigms and narratives in the historiography on the disintegration of Yugoslavia

Abstract

ABSTRACT The article gives an overview on the historiography of the disintegration of Yugoslavia, focusing primarily on Western academic literature. It briefly presents the debates about the wars of the 1990s, summarizing the orientalist/balkanist interpretations, the explanation of the “failed Westernization,” and concepts of Greater-Serbian aggression and Great Power rivalry. The study concludes that all interpretations – except for the extremist branch of the Orientalist paradigm (which focused on the so-called primordial ethnic hatred) and the excesses of national narratives – have, to a varying degree, rational substance. They all make a contribution to the multidisciplinary and multicausal understanding of the disintegration of Yugoslavia in certain aspects. The study further establishes that enough knowledge has been accumulated by now to enable historians to gain – while not a “full and accurate,” but a reliable – picture of what happened. However, greater availability of primary sources as well as a broader comparative approach is still needed.