ABSTRACT

The histories of Yugoslavia, the Yugoslav idea, and Yugoslav identity are histories of failure. The state did not survive, the idea of any future Yugoslavia is dead, and Yugoslav identity as an organizing principle of people's lives is eradicated, its mention at times and in certain places, even a dangerous one. And yet there is fascination with Yugoslavia, with the dead state. Yugoslavia exists in the virtual space, on the Internet, it exists in museums, it exists in nostalgic festivals and memorials, it exists in people's memories. It existed, in some form, for most of the 20th century and it cast a long shadow over what came after. But was the failure of Yugoslavia inevitable?