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A Personality Cult Transformed: The Evolution of T ito's Image in Serbian and C roatian Textbooks, 1974–2010
Author(s) -
Pavasović Trošt Tamara
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
studies in ethnicity and nationalism
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.204
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 1754-9469
pISSN - 1473-8481
DOI - 10.1111/sena.12084
Subject(s) - cult , serbian , personality , communism , politics , mass media , sociology , situational ethics , media studies , psychology , social psychology , political science , law , philosophy , linguistics
Mass media have traditionally played a significant role in creating and maintaining romanticized images of political leaders. J osip B roz T ito was particularly successful in maintaining his public image and using it as an anchor for a ‘united’ Y ugoslavia, despite many controversies and inconsistencies. After the collapse of communism and almost thirty years after his death, his personality cult still persists in countries of the former Y ugoslavia, albeit to a varying extent and utilizing different kinds of discourse. This article examines the influence of the media on the creation and maintenance of T ito's personality cult, via the medium of history textbooks in Serbia and C roatia. It utilizes content analysis of textbook discourse across three time periods: during T ito's rule, during the conflicts of the 1990s, and in contemporary textbooks up through 2010, resulting in a systematic comparative study of the evolution of T ito's personality cult across time and space.