Making a home in Mostar

Heritage and the Temporalities of Belonging

Datos Bibliográficos

ID5700554
AutoresGustav Wollentz (0000-0001-9680-9127, Graduate School Human Development in Landscapes, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany, autor de correspondencia)
Año2017
Volumen23
Número10
Páginas928-945
Fecha de publicación2017-11-26
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaInternational Journal of Heritage Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1352-7258 • E-ISSN: 1470-3610
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13527258.2017.1347891
OpenAlexW2736206283
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas22
Referencias citadas38

This paper addresses the feeling of being at home in time and in place through fieldwork carried out in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2015–2016. Such feelings are needed after a war resulting in geographical displacement as occurred during the breakup of Yugoslavia. This paper argues for the need to see beyond only spatial factors for the ‘making of home’, and therefore considers temporal factors through the role of the heritage in forming narratives, which combine temporal and spatial relations. Alternative narratives to those of ethnic separation are taken into consideration, and it is argued that a sole focus on division may further enforce it rather than lead to its reduction. A sense of disassociation to the current city of Mostar and its narratives has led to the construction of narratives of home within a different time-period (pre-war Mostar). In turn, this may cause nostalgia, passivity, and an ‘othering’ of the newcomers to Mostar. However, there are also cases of employing such a narrative actively in order to envision an alternative future beyond ethnic separation. So far, the institutions working with the heritage of Mostar have not addressed these issues, thus possible ways forward are suggested

Geography · Political science · Sociology · Temporalities · Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation · History · Law · Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts · Middle East Politics and Society