OVERVIEW
Memorial Monuments
as Hangovers of the
Socialist Yugoslav Past
Aleksandar Jakir
University of Split, Croatia,
Department of History
I
n all modern societies, monuments play an important role in the process of construction
of the historical or collective memory. During the times of socialist Yugoslavia, the state
and the society were no exception. For more than four decades after the end of WWII,
throughout the lifespan of socialist Yugoslavia, an exceptionally large number of “socialist
monuments” were built, and numerous sculptors and other artists participated in this
endeavour. Public monuments are probably the most visible examples of a country’s culture
of memory, and are therefore also often at the centre of controversies during periods of
political transition.
In Croatia alone, over 6000 partisan monuments and memory sites were erected
between 1945 and 1990. As early as 1961 inventories already included more than 14,400
monuments and memorials throughout Yugoslavia. The Socialist Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia, in the south-eastern part of Europe, was a federation of six republics –
Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia (including Kosovo and Vojvodina),
Montenegro and Macedonia. 1 Thanks to the internet, the pictures of these monuments
are easily accessible. 2 However, as Owen Hatherley recently stated, photos of Yugoslav
monuments known as spomeniks (the south Slavic word for monument) are often shared
online, exoticised and wrenched from context; he stressed the importance of trying to
See Aleksandar Jakir: „Spomenici su prošlost i budućnost“. Politički i administrativni mehanizami financiranja spomenika za vrijeme socijalističke Jugoslavije,
in: Časopis za suvremenu povijest 2019. br. 1, 151-182. https://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=321808; and Aleksandar Jakir: Memories
in Conflict. Remembering the Partisans, the Second World War and Bleiburg in Croatia, in: Tanja Zimmermann (ed.): Balkan Memories: Media Constructions of
National and Transnational History (transcript) Bielefeld 2012, 187-205.
2
https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=socialist+monuments+yugoslavia&qpvt=Socialist+Monuments+Yugoslavia&FORM=IGRE
3
https://www.calvertjournal.com/articles/show/7269/spomenik-yugoslav-monument-owen-hatherley?utm_medium=website&utm_source=archdaily.com
1
80
Observing Memories
ISSUE 3