Escaping the Balkans

Abstract

The article deals with the Balkans image in post-Yugoslavian prose. The inhabitants of the peninsula try to respond to the opinions and perceptions that are related to them, created by the Western European Balkanistic discourse. Negative ideas have become the cause of complexes, a sense of injustice and resentment. That is why the inhabitants of the Balkans are looking for a way to escape from the Balkan identity. Scientists, writers and publicists strongly oppose the invidious, one-sided image of the Balkans. They are trying to prove that it is not quite in consonance with reality, and that the process of shaping the image of the Balkans was influenced not only by the Balkan nations, but also by the West.