САМОВИКТИМИЗУЈУЋИ НАРАТИВ КАО ПРЕПРЕКА МЕЂУРЕЛИГИЈСКОМ ДИЈАЛОГУ У БОСНИ И ХЕРЦЕГОВИНИ
SELF-VICTIMIZING NARRATIVE AS AN OBSTACLE TO INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Summary/Abstract: Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a post-conflict society, where the constitution guarantees the equality of the three constituent peoples and the three most widespread religions - Islam, Orthodox Christianity and Roman Catholicism, is faced with difficulties in achieving productive and meaningful inter-religious dialogue. Since Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country whose people have three different interpretations of historical events and three opposed conceptions for the future of the common state, its society is characterized by a high degree of polarization. The unacceptably high degree of ethnic distance, present several decades after the end of the conflict, can be partly explained by the phenomenon of self-victimization, abundantly used by all nations, their political leaders and often religious actors. The harmfulness of the self-victimizing discourse is reflected in the impossibility to set aside prejudices and stereotypes towards the religious and ethnic Others and to approach mutual ethnic and religious relations and differences in a rational way that would enable greater functionality and well-being of the society. The expressed tendency towards self-victimizing narrative is to a great extent an obstacle to the inter-religious dialogue, which is essential. The aim of the author is to answer the main research question: “Can the deeply rooted social phenomenon of self-victimization be successfully overcome by strengthening tolerance through inter-religious dialogue?” The research will be based on the main premises of social identity theory. It will implement discourse and content analysis which refers to the statements of political actors on the occasion of the Republika Srpska Day and Bosnia and Herzegovina Independence Day celebrations, as well as to the statements of religious actors that include conceptions of the religious Other.

• Details
• Contents