Nad mapą Bałkanów
On the Map of the Balkans

Summary/Abstract: The author reflects on the geographical and imaginary status of the Balkans as a point of division between the centre and the periphery, East and West, North and South – an abstract place where all the great historical narratives collapse. The author notes that in the travel descriptions of the “geographical Balkans” there is a tendency to repeat the story of the well-established idea of the Balkans and the former Yugoslavia. The people of the Balkans, however, often do not feel they belong to this place, claiming that the Balkans lie somewhere else. The conclusion of the author is that the Balkans exist only in the eyes of outsiders. The term functions only in “Non-Balkan” space. The image that the Balkans “produce” of themselves is only a reflection of the idea of the Balkans established in discourses on the West. They are not real, they are an imaginary idea, a postmodern experimental reality with great semantic potential.

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