The Geopolitics of Memory

A Journey to Bosnia



Table of contents
The Geopolitics of Memory
A Journey to Bosnia
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About the book

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In this daring experiment in ethnographic place-writing, cultural geographer James Riding aims to get at the heart of post-conflict Bosnia showing the past alongside the present it created via a series of journeys, and through the retelling of memories. The juxtaposition between the siege of Sarajevo and supersonic metal, the refugee journey and the aid-worker travelling in the other direction, the desperation and fury to change the present yet being stuck with many of the ethno-nationalist politicians and politics of the past—it is a journey to Bosnia as it is understood today in popular discourse, a war-torn place defined by ethnic conflict, yet also a journey to deconstruct and reveal more than ancient ethnic hatreds portrayed on television screens across the globe from 1992 to 1995. Heavy with the weight of history on the one hand, and an inspirational place with radical emancipatory politics on the other, it is only through innovative storytelling that one can attempt to give a sense of what Bosnia itself is like in words for those who have never been, and—most importantly—for those who are from there.
The author

About the author

James Riding holds a NUAcT Fellowship in Cultural Geography and Peace and Conflict Studies in the Department of Geography at Newcastle University, UK. He is the editor of the collection of essays, Reanimating Regions: Culture, Politics, and Performance (2017), and the author of Land Writings: Excursions in the Footprints of Edward Thomas (2017).

Reviews

Reviews

"This book brings a refreshing approach to the region (the former Yugoslavia), the country (Bosnia-Herzegovina) and the city (Sarajevo) that have been suffering, as it were, from an over-abundance of studies, reports, and analyses. Riding’s original understanding of the work of Georges Perec offers an eye-opening methodology for scholars, journalists, artists, and writers alike. The book’s innovative and experimental qualities are anchored in rigorous research, ethical commitment, and personal engagement. Strongly recommended for locals, experts, and those who are yet to fall in love with the landscape and its people."—Igor Štiks, author of Nations and Citizens in Yugoslavia and the Post-Yugoslav States

“Detailed summaries of moments in Riding’s journey are vehicles to open discussion of the relationship between past and present. This challenging book combines insights about the "Plenum movement" of 2014, memory, and commemoration of wars. Riding observes a "stark difference between the ways in which these violent periods have been commemorated and remembered" (p. 140), providing photographs of memorials, monuments, and sites visited to illustrate the complexity of maintaining memory in today's Bosnia.”― B. Lieberman, Fitchburg State University - CHOICE connect, Vol. 57 No. 11

"Steeped in the work of Georges Perec and making an experimental reckoning with human geography’s conventions for representing landscape and trauma, James Riding chose Bosnia & Hercegovina (BiH) for a circuitous revisiting of the British archaeologist Arthur Evans’s 1875 journeys and three days of deep observation two years later in a single Sarajevo square."— Catherine Baker, Europe-Asia Studies, Volume 73, 2021 - Issue 5

„In ‚The Geopolitics of Memory. A Journey to Bosnia‘ Riding is attempting something quite difficult: to write a book about the geopolitics of the recent history of Bosnia and Herzegovina that neither re-treads the steps of previously published works nor romanticises the divisive politics of the present. The eclecticism of the text helps achieve these aims, and the style is unlike any book I have read on BiH.“—Alex Jeffrey, University of Cambridge, UK, Dialogues in Human Geography, Volume 11, issue 1

„James Riding’s The Geopolitics of Memory: A Journey to Bosnia offers an innovative approach to ethnographic place-writing, exploring the human geography of a post-Dayton Bosnia and Herzegovina through the synthesis of experimental methodology and meticulously detailed research.“—Ewa Anna Kumelowski, Comparative Southeast European Studies, Volume 68 Issue 4
Additional Information

Additional Information

Delivery time 2-3 Tage / 2-3 days
Author James Riding
Editor Jelena Dzankic, Soeren Keil
Number of pages 216
Language English
Publication date Sep 30, 2019
Weight (kg) 0.2500
ISBN-13 9783838213118