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Gypsies, Wars and Other Instances of the Wild: Civilization and its Discontents in a Serbian Town - Couverture souple

Van De Port, Mattijs

 
9789053563151: Gypsies, Wars and Other Instances of the Wild: Civilization and its Discontents in a Serbian Town
Couverture souple
ISBN 10 : 9053563156 ISBN 13 : 9789053563151
Editeur : Amsterdam University Press, 1998

Synopsis

What does civilization mean to the inhabitants of a Serbian town after yet another bloody war on the Balkan Peninsula? How was it possible that people who had been friends and neighbors for so long ended up killing each other? And how do they deal with this barbarity in the post-war period? The figure of the gypsy, who often appears in Serbian popular culture, has always been invested with the mysterious power to unveil the mendacious undertones in the program of civilization. Wherever he appears - in jokes, songs, tales, literature, or movies - the civilized order is unmasked. This motif can be seen most dramatically in bars and taverns, where gypsy musicians lead their Serbian customers in veritable celebrations of unreason. "This is real," Serbs say about these gatherings where the canons of propriety and civilized behavior are overthrown with obvious relish. "This is life." The author, who spent several months in Serbia investigating these wild meetings, relates the 'unreason' of the behaviour in these bars to the atrocities committed during the war which broke out during his stay. Highlighting how the program of civilization brings with it the need to construct an image of humankind more compatible with the lessons of history, Gypsies, Wars and Other Instances of the Wild may be read as a case-study of how war-infested societies cope with wartime traumas.

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À propos de l'auteur

Mattijs van de Port is an anthropologist and works at the University of Amsterdam and the VU University Amsterdam.

Les informations fournies dans la section « A propos du livre » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

Éditeur
Amsterdam University Press
Date d'édition
1998
Langue
anglais
ISBN 10 
9053563156
ISBN 13 
9789053563151
Reliure
Broché
Nombre de pages
278
Coordonnées du fabricant
non disponible
Personne responsable
non disponible