Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...
Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...
Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...
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One powerful similarity shared by interviewees was the use of a “rhetoric<br />
of silence” in their narration of violent past events. “I cannot describe what<br />
has happened”, “I have no words…” or “I don’t know what to say” were<br />
common expressions used in the interviews. On this topic, Arben B.<br />
referred to an Albanian proverb that he believed could not be translated<br />
into Italian or English:<br />
The first thing [the refugees] say is that it is impossible to describe what<br />
they have been subjected to… they had suffered a lot… there is a proverb<br />
that I don’t think can be translated into Italian… it means it is not possible<br />
to lament the suffering we have felt.<br />
The content of this expression, however, makes sense in Italian (and perhaps<br />
even in English). The need to call upon silence to describe violence<br />
might be thought common to many cultures. Indeed, this commonality<br />
might be the sign of an approach to trauma and its evocation, which<br />
crosses boundaries of language and tradition.<br />
The politics of history<br />
In the prologue to this section, I have already outlined some of the strategies<br />
used in the countries of former Yugoslavia in order to construct a<br />
narration of the past that is congruent with nationalistic agendas. In the following<br />
pages, I will therefore try to analyse how different subjects recount<br />
different histories of Kosovo and its populations, after which I will focus<br />
on the Romany, and, more specifically, on their relationship with history.<br />
Histories<br />
<strong>Psychosocial</strong> <strong>Notebook</strong>, Volume 2, October 2001<br />
Kosovo bears the weight of being the cradle of Serbian medieval culture<br />
and the cornerstone of every Serb’s national identity. It is therefore not surprising<br />
that Slobodan Milosevic’s nationalist party made full use of the<br />
celebration of St. Vitus Day on 28 June 1989, in order to commemorate the<br />
Battle of Kosovo of 1389. According to Milan Milosevic:<br />
The 1989 event took place at Gazimestan, the site of the historic battle.<br />
The commemoration had all the trappings of a coronation, staged as a<br />
Hollywood extravaganza. Milosevic descended by helicopter from the<br />
heavens into the cheering crowd; the masses were the extras. The camera<br />
focused on his arrival. In some vague way, the commentator placed<br />
Milosevic at the centre of the Serbian ancestral myth of Prince Lazar, the<br />
hero and martyr of the Kosovo battle. Exactly 600 years before, the<br />
voice-over told the viewers, on this very soil, Prince Lazar had chosen<br />
the kingdom of heaven over his earthly kingdom, the glory of death over<br />
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