Comparing Serbian and Croatian views of history: An analysis of biblical and cyclical teleology in Serbian and Croatian national discourse.

This thesis compares Serbian and Croatian ethnic nationalist movements and ideas from 1985-1996, arguing that irrespective of the many self induced differences between these two nations, the way in which each understands their own group in relation to outsiders and enemies is remarkably similar. This thesis also examines the influence and importance of biblical and Zionist notions of self and other, time in history, good and evil, and conceptualisations concerning the end of history, comparing them to Serbian and Croatian views of self identity, history, other nations and states, and world events. Important here is a qualitative discourse analysis of primary source material from the Yugoslav civil war (1991-1996) originating from Serbia and Croatia. The author of this thesis will posit that Serbian and Croatian nationalist movements have sought to legitimate the often violent acts of statecraft by creating a national conception of the self which borrows literal, metaphorical and mythic elements from very traditional and mainstream sources, namely biblical or Christian and Zionist conceptions of fall and deliverance. This thesis reviews the nature of these original conceptions of group self identity, then compares these to Serbian and Croatian myths of the righteous nation in history. These myths include a series of mythic types: myths of the original and heroic nation, myths of the Fall (persecution myths), myths of renaissance or awakening, and myths of deliverance and redemption. These myth types are organised into a four stage model based on a structure borrowed from biblical cyclical teleology. These borrowed mythic elements form the core of modern Serbian and Croatian national identity, contributing to a type of attribution theorising where the self can do no wrong, and all others can do no good