Srđan Mladenov Jovanović
Biographic Data
| ID | 4164858 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Srđan Mladenov Jovanović |
| GIVEN NAMES | Srđan Mladenov |
| FAMILY NAME | Jovanović |
| SIGNATURE | JOVANOVIĆ S M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Nankai University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2612-4733 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 17 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 20 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Nation by Negation
This article introduces a novel theoretical framework distinguishing apophatic and cataphatic forms of national identity. Drawing inspiration from theological traditions and post-structuralist theory, we define apophatic national identity (ANI) as a mode of self-definition grounded in negation; articulating what a nation is not , often by rejecting association with a constitutive Other. In contrast, cataphatic national identity (CNI) is construct…
Party system nationalization and local electoral competition
This article examines the 2025 Croatian local elections through the lens of party system nationalization and its implications for local electoral competition. Building on scholarship on local democracy, party system nationalization, and post-communist political development, the article explores whether the increasing territorial penetration of national parties has reduced the diversity of local political arenas in Croatia. Methodologically, the s…
Stability without adaptation
This article examines Serbia’s political development under Aleksandar Vučić through the lens of Niklas Luhmann’s theory of autopoietic social systems. It argues that the resilience of Serbia’s hybrid regime is best understood not solely through existing concepts such as competitive authoritarianism or stabilitocracy, but through the regime’s capacity to reproduce itself by transforming external challenges into reaffirmations of its own legitimacy…
Reforming the children, absolving the state
This article offers a Critical Discourse Analysis of Serbian PM Đuro Macut’s 2025 exposé, delivered amid nationwide student-led protests following the Novi Sad train station tragedy. The speech reframes institutional failure as a moral and educational crisis, strategically redirecting blame away from the state and towards Serbia’s youth. Through parental metaphors, sacralized references to the nation, and technocratic language, Macut simultaneous…
Toward an omission studies framework in historical research
Digital Memory Wars
Wikipedia, as a decentralized and widely accessed digital encyclopedia, plays a crucial role in shaping historical memory. This study examines how twelve linguistic editions of Wikipedia present Croatia’s Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day, commemorating Operation Storm in 1995. Through comparative discourse analysis, historiographical evaluation, and digital memory studies, the article investigates how different national digital communities f…
Historical consciousness and collective memory in M. Edith Durham’s twenty years of Balkan Tangle
M. Edith Durham’s Twenty Years of Balkan Tangle (Citation1920) represents both a deeply personal travelogue and a significant document of historical consciousness, reflecting the intricate interplay between memory, identity, and historiography in the Balkans. This study examines Durham’s work through the lens of travel writing scholarship, acknowledging the genre’s inherent tensions between objectivity and subjectivity while exploring how her nar…
The banality of blame
This paper critically examines the rhetorical strategies employed by the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25) in its public statements and petitions concerning the Israel-Palestine conflict. While the movement claims allegiance to international law and universal human rights, its language consistently applies severe legal and moral accusations such as “genocide,” “apartheid,” and “settler-colonialism” exclusively to Israel, without engaging…
Banal statism
Memory and Religious Identity in Ivan IV’s Letters
This article examines the use of religious memory and identity in the diplomatic correspondence of Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible), particularly his letters to the Polish-Lithuanian nobility. Through a detailed analysis of these letters, the article demonstrates how Ivan IV invoked Orthodox Christian imagery, sacred history, and references to past Christian rulers to legitimize his reign and justify his political actions, such as military campaigns a…
Spectators of a phantom democracy
Constructing Crisis, Coloring Vojvodina
Diplomacy, Sovereignty, and Realism
This article explores the application of Realist theory in International Relations to Serbia’s foreign policy, with a focus on President Aleksandar Vučić’s 2023 speech at the United Nations General Assembly. The speech, which emphasizes state sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national interest, is analyzed through a Realist lens, highlighting Serbia’s diplomatic balancing act between the European Union, Russia, and China. The study examines…
Discursive Historical Continuities
This article explores the 1912 print media in Serbia in their relation to the Balkan Wars, comparing the nationalist topoi with the contemporary age and contemporary national groups. It analyzes the content of several articles printed in papers such as Illustrated War Chronicle (Ilustrovana ratna kronika) and the Serbian newspaper (Srpske novine), juxtaposing their discourse with contemporary Serbian nationalism. The primary sources from 1912 hav…
Russia’s Architecture of Hegemony
Russia has enlisted the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and instrumentalised it as part of what can be described as a dynamic ‘soft-power offensive’. Its aim is to consolidate hierarchical power as a means to insulate an emerging Kremlin-centric political order and, subsequently, reassert its hegemonic influence over its periphery. This article argues that a strategy of using the Orthodox Church as a means of soft power is being deployed to bolster…
The portal ‘Nationalist’ as the nutshell of recent Serbian nationalism
Since the end of the bloodshed of the nineties, Serbia has all but ceased to exist in the spotlight of the international community, as well as within scholarly production. Yet virulent nationalism and Orthodoxy-based national identities have never left, and are now found in online spaces as well. This article concentrates on the contemporary portal The Nationalist, founded and led by a nefarious nationalist, Miroljub Petrović, who has recently go…
The “Šreter” Prizes
Linguistic purism in Croatia has long figured as one of the main elements of Croatian linguistic nationalism. Though it has been tackled in scholarly production, its newest embodiment, the so-called Šreter prizes, has not. The Šreter prizes are an award contest, established by the editorial board of the highly nationalist linguistic journal, Jezik (Serbo-Croatian “language”), in which competitors vie for prizes awarded for the “best new Croatian …
Fractured discursivity
Since the end of the wars of the Yugoslav secession, and a decade after the declaration of Kosovo’s independence, the Western Balkans – Serbia included – have somewhat fallen off the radar within the realm of scholarly interest. Yet the political and social situation has changed in Serbia since 2012 and the rise to power of the former Yugoslav warmonger, Aleksandar Vučić, who currently serves as the country’s president. This article analyzes disc…
Assertive discourse and folk linguistics
Ever since the wars of the Yugoslav secession in the nineties, linguistic nationalism has proven to have been among the more relevant instances in the discursive construction of national identity and new languages, dubbed by Ranko Bugarski as ‘administrative successors’ of Serbo-Croatian. Even though contemporary linguistics still classifies Serbo-Croatian as one language with regional varieties (commonly dubbed ‘polycentric standardized language…
I Refuse to Sink
With the arrival of the refugees from the Middle East, especially since 2015, Europe has become a xenophobic hotbed. Discourses, practices, and policies promoting and supporting xenophobia have become reality. In this article, we seek to present stories of those who have arrived to Europea via the Balkan Route, in a qualitative research fashion, concentrating on several narratives collected by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UN…
Assertive discourse and folk linguistics
Ever since the wars of the Yugoslav secession in the nineties, linguistic nationalism has proven to have been among the more relevant instances in the discursive construction of national identity and new languages, dubbed by Ranko Bugarski as ‘administrative successors’ of Serbo-Croatian. Even though contemporary linguistics still classifies Serbo-Croatian as one language with regional varieties (commonly dubbed ‘polycentric standardized language…
I Refuse to Sink
With the arrival of the refugees from the Middle East, especially since 2015, Europe has become a xenophobic hotbed. Discourses, practices, and policies promoting and supporting xenophobia have become reality. In this article, we seek to present stories of those who have arrived to Europea via the Balkan Route, in a qualitative research fashion, concentrating on several narratives collected by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UN…
The portal ‘Nationalist’ as the nutshell of recent Serbian nationalism
Since the end of the bloodshed of the nineties, Serbia has all but ceased to exist in the spotlight of the international community, as well as within scholarly production. Yet virulent nationalism and Orthodoxy-based national identities have never left, and are now found in online spaces as well. This article concentrates on the contemporary portal The Nationalist, founded and led by a nefarious nationalist, Miroljub Petrović, who has recently go…
Russia’s Architecture of Hegemony
Russia has enlisted the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and instrumentalised it as part of what can be described as a dynamic ‘soft-power offensive’. Its aim is to consolidate hierarchical power as a means to insulate an emerging Kremlin-centric political order and, subsequently, reassert its hegemonic influence over its periphery. This article argues that a strategy of using the Orthodox Church as a means of soft power is being deployed to bolster…
Fractured discursivity
Since the end of the wars of the Yugoslav secession, and a decade after the declaration of Kosovo’s independence, the Western Balkans – Serbia included – have somewhat fallen off the radar within the realm of scholarly interest. Yet the political and social situation has changed in Serbia since 2012 and the rise to power of the former Yugoslav warmonger, Aleksandar Vučić, who currently serves as the country’s president. This article analyzes disc…
Assertive discourse and folk linguistics
Ever since the wars of the Yugoslav secession in the nineties, linguistic nationalism has proven to have been among the more relevant instances in the discursive construction of national identity and new languages, dubbed by Ranko Bugarski as ‘administrative successors’ of Serbo-Croatian. Even though contemporary linguistics still classifies Serbo-Croatian as one language with regional varieties (commonly dubbed ‘polycentric standardized language…
I Refuse to Sink
With the arrival of the refugees from the Middle East, especially since 2015, Europe has become a xenophobic hotbed. Discourses, practices, and policies promoting and supporting xenophobia have become reality. In this article, we seek to present stories of those who have arrived to Europea via the Balkan Route, in a qualitative research fashion, concentrating on several narratives collected by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UN…
Fractured discursivity
Since the end of the wars of the Yugoslav secession, and a decade after the declaration of Kosovo’s independence, the Western Balkans – Serbia included – have somewhat fallen off the radar within the realm of scholarly interest. Yet the political and social situation has changed in Serbia since 2012 and the rise to power of the former Yugoslav warmonger, Aleksandar Vučić, who currently serves as the country’s president. This article analyzes disc…
The portal ‘Nationalist’ as the nutshell of recent Serbian nationalism
Since the end of the bloodshed of the nineties, Serbia has all but ceased to exist in the spotlight of the international community, as well as within scholarly production. Yet virulent nationalism and Orthodoxy-based national identities have never left, and are now found in online spaces as well. This article concentrates on the contemporary portal The Nationalist, founded and led by a nefarious nationalist, Miroljub Petrović, who has recently go…
The “Šreter” Prizes
Linguistic purism in Croatia has long figured as one of the main elements of Croatian linguistic nationalism. Though it has been tackled in scholarly production, its newest embodiment, the so-called Šreter prizes, has not. The Šreter prizes are an award contest, established by the editorial board of the highly nationalist linguistic journal, Jezik (Serbo-Croatian “language”), in which competitors vie for prizes awarded for the “best new Croatian …
Discursive Historical Continuities
This article explores the 1912 print media in Serbia in their relation to the Balkan Wars, comparing the nationalist topoi with the contemporary age and contemporary national groups. It analyzes the content of several articles printed in papers such as Illustrated War Chronicle (Ilustrovana ratna kronika) and the Serbian newspaper (Srpske novine), juxtaposing their discourse with contemporary Serbian nationalism. The primary sources from 1912 hav…
Russia’s Architecture of Hegemony
Russia has enlisted the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and instrumentalised it as part of what can be described as a dynamic ‘soft-power offensive’. Its aim is to consolidate hierarchical power as a means to insulate an emerging Kremlin-centric political order and, subsequently, reassert its hegemonic influence over its periphery. This article argues that a strategy of using the Orthodox Church as a means of soft power is being deployed to bolster…
Memory and Religious Identity in Ivan IV’s Letters
This article examines the use of religious memory and identity in the diplomatic correspondence of Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible), particularly his letters to the Polish-Lithuanian nobility. Through a detailed analysis of these letters, the article demonstrates how Ivan IV invoked Orthodox Christian imagery, sacred history, and references to past Christian rulers to legitimize his reign and justify his political actions, such as military campaigns a…
Spectators of a phantom democracy
Constructing Crisis, Coloring Vojvodina
Diplomacy, Sovereignty, and Realism
This article explores the application of Realist theory in International Relations to Serbia’s foreign policy, with a focus on President Aleksandar Vučić’s 2023 speech at the United Nations General Assembly. The speech, which emphasizes state sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national interest, is analyzed through a Realist lens, highlighting Serbia’s diplomatic balancing act between the European Union, Russia, and China. The study examines…
Nation by Negation
This article introduces a novel theoretical framework distinguishing apophatic and cataphatic forms of national identity. Drawing inspiration from theological traditions and post-structuralist theory, we define apophatic national identity (ANI) as a mode of self-definition grounded in negation; articulating what a nation is not , often by rejecting association with a constitutive Other. In contrast, cataphatic national identity (CNI) is construct…
Party system nationalization and local electoral competition
This article examines the 2025 Croatian local elections through the lens of party system nationalization and its implications for local electoral competition. Building on scholarship on local democracy, party system nationalization, and post-communist political development, the article explores whether the increasing territorial penetration of national parties has reduced the diversity of local political arenas in Croatia. Methodologically, the s…
Stability without adaptation
This article examines Serbia’s political development under Aleksandar Vučić through the lens of Niklas Luhmann’s theory of autopoietic social systems. It argues that the resilience of Serbia’s hybrid regime is best understood not solely through existing concepts such as competitive authoritarianism or stabilitocracy, but through the regime’s capacity to reproduce itself by transforming external challenges into reaffirmations of its own legitimacy…
Reforming the children, absolving the state
This article offers a Critical Discourse Analysis of Serbian PM Đuro Macut’s 2025 exposé, delivered amid nationwide student-led protests following the Novi Sad train station tragedy. The speech reframes institutional failure as a moral and educational crisis, strategically redirecting blame away from the state and towards Serbia’s youth. Through parental metaphors, sacralized references to the nation, and technocratic language, Macut simultaneous…
Toward an omission studies framework in historical research
Digital Memory Wars
Wikipedia, as a decentralized and widely accessed digital encyclopedia, plays a crucial role in shaping historical memory. This study examines how twelve linguistic editions of Wikipedia present Croatia’s Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day, commemorating Operation Storm in 1995. Through comparative discourse analysis, historiographical evaluation, and digital memory studies, the article investigates how different national digital communities f…
Historical consciousness and collective memory in M. Edith Durham’s twenty years of Balkan Tangle
M. Edith Durham’s Twenty Years of Balkan Tangle (Citation1920) represents both a deeply personal travelogue and a significant document of historical consciousness, reflecting the intricate interplay between memory, identity, and historiography in the Balkans. This study examines Durham’s work through the lens of travel writing scholarship, acknowledging the genre’s inherent tensions between objectivity and subjectivity while exploring how her nar…
The banality of blame
This paper critically examines the rhetorical strategies employed by the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25) in its public statements and petitions concerning the Israel-Palestine conflict. While the movement claims allegiance to international law and universal human rights, its language consistently applies severe legal and moral accusations such as “genocide,” “apartheid,” and “settler-colonialism” exclusively to Israel, without engaging…
Banal statism
Politics (9 works) · Balkans: History, Politics, Society (8 works) · Political science (8 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Law (6 works) · Law (6 works) · Narrative (5 works) · Nationalism (5 works) · Philosophy (5 works) · Philosophy (5 works)