Day of mourning and time of reminiscence

The most impressive event of death in the Yugoslav region in the last 50 years was definitely associated with death and funeral of Josip Broz Tito, in May 1980. The departure of one of the last European pharaohs has marked the beginning of an end of an era, with still hard to measure ideological and political consequences. In a symbolic sense, the departure represented a final breakdown of the proclaimed rational and secular walls of communist ideology, whose foundations contained complex religious symbolic and rhetoric. Tito came to be remembered while he was still alive. He was the only living hero portrayed in monuments, whose name was displayed in street appellations and public institutions. Media concept of his death and funeral represented a confirmation and continuation of this reminiscence; in addition, the deeper meaning of this reminiscence revealed an essential negation of the fact that the mighty ruler is actually dead. Tito's position of a supreme deity, acquired during his lifetime, was even more firmly established by his death. In this way, it could be argued that death has contributed to Broz' deification, thus extending his cult furthermore. The question remains whether the faith in his divine soul would persevere the temptations of history if he had lived for a few years more? It appears that the same question could be posed in regards to the deification of assassinated prime minister, Dr Zoran Djindjic, whose death, funeral and post mortem glory represent almost the only comparable event from the recent Serbian history, to those of the complex death related rhetoric of Broz? The post mortem image of Dr Djindjic was created based on Christian model of martyr and sufferer, but also on the model of exemplar death, that is, heroic and martyr's death in the name of nation, an important element of a special religious system, i.e., religion of nation. In 2006, during the annual commemoration dedicated to Zoran Djindjic, media coverage had turned to another event: Slobodan Milosevic had suddenly died in Scheveningen. Date of dying was not the only thing that has, for a moment, put these two celebrated politicians together. Death in prison, in Hague tribunal, while being in exile, has allowed that (short-lived) post mortem glory of the former president of FRY be built according to the Christian model of martyr and sufferer. On the other hand, Milosevic's ideological position (in between communism and democracy) has determined that the rhetoric associated with his departure is a combination of pagan and Christian motives. Hence, media and public images from the day he died until the funeral, were saturated with pagan symbolism and myths. It is interesting to note that these cited examples reflect the process where changes in basic secular ideologies are accompanied by a change in religious patterns as well. In turn, these religious patterns help to solve cultural contradictions and doubtfulness

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• Death in media

  Open Access•Aleksandra Pavićević•Glasnik Etnografskog instituta•2010

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