Presented to you through Paradigm Publishing Services

John Benjamins Publishing Company

Visit our Partner Page See all our books
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Chapter 11. Disputes over national holidays

Bosnia and Herzegovina 2000–2010

Abstract

This chapter analyzes the discourse of leading politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the occasion of national holidays from 2000 to 2010. Fifteen years after the Dayton Agreement, Bosnia and Herzegovina has no common law on national holidays at the state level. This lack is due to varying concepts of history and how the state should be organized, and reveals deep-rooted conflicts in a society consisting of Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats. Each of the two administrative parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, referred to as entities, has its own holidays that are contested by the other entity. Within the Bosniak-Croat entity, there is a conflict between the two groups that constitute it. The discourse used to mark holidays is usually aimed at legitimizing one’s own holidays and delegitimizing others’ holidays. The analysis shows how the (de)legitimization strategies relate to time, space, and modality.

Abstract

This chapter analyzes the discourse of leading politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the occasion of national holidays from 2000 to 2010. Fifteen years after the Dayton Agreement, Bosnia and Herzegovina has no common law on national holidays at the state level. This lack is due to varying concepts of history and how the state should be organized, and reveals deep-rooted conflicts in a society consisting of Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats. Each of the two administrative parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, referred to as entities, has its own holidays that are contested by the other entity. Within the Bosniak-Croat entity, there is a conflict between the two groups that constitute it. The discourse used to mark holidays is usually aimed at legitimizing one’s own holidays and delegitimizing others’ holidays. The analysis shows how the (de)legitimization strategies relate to time, space, and modality.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Contributors vii
  4. Acknowledgements xiii
  5. Preface 1
  6. Discursive construction of national holidays in West and South Slavic countries after the fall of communism 5
  7. Analyses
  8. Chapter 1. Collective memory and media genres 35
  9. Chapter 2. The quest for a proper Bulgarian national holiday 57
  10. Chapter 3. The multiple symbolism of 3 May in Poland after the fall of communism 81
  11. Chapter 4. “Dan skuplji vijeka,” ‘A day more precious than a century’ 101
  12. Chapter 5. Croatia in search of a national day 125
  13. Chapter 6. Contested pasts, contested red-letter days 149
  14. Chapter 7. Commemorating the Warsaw Uprising of 1 August 1944 171
  15. Chapter 8. Ilinden 191
  16. Chapter 9. Slovak national identity as articulated in the homilies of a religious holiday 213
  17. Chapter 10. The Czech and Czechoslovak 28 October 231
  18. Chapter 11. Disputes over national holidays 251
  19. Chapter 12. What Europe means for Poland 271
  20. References 297
  21. Appendix A. List of current laws on national holidays in West and South Slavic countries 311
  22. Index 313
Transforming National Holidays
This chapter is in the book Transforming National Holidays
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.47.16mon

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Contributors vii
  4. Acknowledgements xiii
  5. Preface 1
  6. Discursive construction of national holidays in West and South Slavic countries after the fall of communism 5
  7. Analyses
  8. Chapter 1. Collective memory and media genres 35
  9. Chapter 2. The quest for a proper Bulgarian national holiday 57
  10. Chapter 3. The multiple symbolism of 3 May in Poland after the fall of communism 81
  11. Chapter 4. “Dan skuplji vijeka,” ‘A day more precious than a century’ 101
  12. Chapter 5. Croatia in search of a national day 125
  13. Chapter 6. Contested pasts, contested red-letter days 149
  14. Chapter 7. Commemorating the Warsaw Uprising of 1 August 1944 171
  15. Chapter 8. Ilinden 191
  16. Chapter 9. Slovak national identity as articulated in the homilies of a religious holiday 213
  17. Chapter 10. The Czech and Czechoslovak 28 October 231
  18. Chapter 11. Disputes over national holidays 251
  19. Chapter 12. What Europe means for Poland 271
  20. References 297
  21. Appendix A. List of current laws on national holidays in West and South Slavic countries 311
  22. Index 313
Downloaded on 14.4.2026 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/dapsac.47.16mon/html
Scroll to top button