FRAMING THE 13TH OF JULY UPRISING: CHANGING PERCEPTIONS IN THE HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
FRAMING THE 13TH OF JULY UPRISING: CHANGING PERCEPTIONS IN THE HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Summary/Abstract: The paper explores the narratives of the 13th of July Uprising in Montenegro in several historical phases and instances in the last 80 years. Research broadly identifies three distinct and fundamentally competing narratives which dominated the public sphere and (re)shaped popular attitudes towards this cornerstone event in the Montenegrin History. Distinct narratives are intrinsically linked to the following historical periods (1) 1945 – 1991, Yugoslav era and state-sponsored Marxist historiography; (2) 1991-2006, dissolution of Yugoslavia and democratic transition; (3) 2006-current, independent Montenegro. The paper postulates that the changing political context and ‘top-down’ value approach determined theradically different interpretations and contextualization of the Uprising in 1941, framing the event(s) accordingly. Differently than in other similar historiographical disputes evolving (changing) narratives brought significant differences in material interpretations of the causes, political agenda, and mainstream flow of events. Together with the nation-building effort in the last decades the Uprising received a gradually different shading which stands in the heart of the paper’s research.

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