Ivan Dodovski  (The University of Nottingham, UK)
From Radical Other to Imperfect Self: The Balkans in Post-communist Postcolonial Context

Ever since the fall of Constantinople and the imposition of Ottoman rule in 1453, but notably since the 18^th century onward, the West has constructed an exotic Balkan imagology. Though varied, the images have had mainly an evil overtone. The Balkans has been projected as the radical Other of Europe, and Balkan cultures have been considered a threatening intrusion of oriental barbarism on the continent. This early concept of 'anti-civilisation' nested within the very geographic boundaries of 'civilised Europe' is inherent in the contemporary Western discourse. After the Second World War, the image of the Balkans as an alter-ego of Europe, its dark side, has been additionally stigmatised ideologically, due to the inauguration of communist regimes. Even after the fall of the Berlin wall and the prospect of integration in the European Union, the people living in the region are still ascribed with an imposed ambiguity of being an indisputable part of Europe, yet holding a nominal agency. The Balkan countries, much like those from the Third World, are required to employ the liberal concept of development, dictated through institutions such as the Stability Pact, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. This implies not only economic, but also political, social and cultural transformation. Entering this process, the Balkans in fact acknowledges the position of being an Imperfect Self, the colonised yet to be perfected (or 'globalised') according to the Western paradigm.

This paper aims to draw on the concepts of postcolonial criticism (in particular those of otherness, identity, and agency) and illustrate their extended applicability in understanding the present Balkan context. In addition, it attempts to demonstrate that postcolonial criticism can play an important role in confronting the petrified essentialist Western vision of the Balkans with a nuanced, hybrid one, and depicted catachrestically on the very European soil, too. Contrary to the assertion that "postcolonialism might well be better named 'tricontinentalism'" (Young), the paper will argue for 'transcontinentalism': a 'travelling theory' beyond the Anglophone/Francophone divide; and, surely, a theory that should still not consent to avoid or underestimate the inner (neo)colonial paths of Europe, which are to be yet deconstructed.