Media and Memory: Remembering the Kosovo War

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

The panel seeks to explore the intersection of media and memory in the context of the Kosovo War. The Kosovo War (1998–99) was the last armed conflict during the dissolution of Yugoslavia. Although it marks a watershed in the individual biographies of Kosovars as well as in the collective memory of Kosovo and Serbia, the Kosovo War is an overlooked topic in memory studies, despite a few studies (Luci, Krasniqi 2006; Di Lellio 2014, Satjukov 2020). Particularly in the wake of the outbreak of the Russian war against Ukraine, memories of the Kosovo War and geopolitical comparisons have become part of Kosovar and international discourse. This makes the topic of the panel particularly more volatile.
Researchers from different disciplines aim to analyze how various forms of media shape the remembrance and representation of the Kosovo War. Doing so opens up a space for a more nuanced, multi-perspective understanding of the aftermath of the Kosovo War, challenging the exclusivity of state-driven commemorative practices and discourses, and fostering the dialogue between the narratives of different national and international actors.

Sub Unit

• Anthropology, Cultural Studies

Chair

• Jeta Abazi Gashi, George Washington U

Papers

• From War to Memory: Revisiting Public Discourse on NATO’s Kosovo Intervention - Andi Haxhiu, U of Edinburgh (UK)

• Construction of War Memory through Kosovar Cinema (2009-2024) - Jeta Abazi Gashi, George Washington U

• Memory Between the Lines: Literary Narratives of the Kosovo War - Zsófia Turóczy, U of Graz (Austria)

• Sport and Conflictive Memory in Kosovo: The Path from Isolation to Global Integration (1991-2016) - Juan Manuel Montoro, U of Lausanne (Switzerland)

Discussant

• Babak Bahador, George Washington U