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2014-07-01

Trebinje on the border between East and West. Heritage and memory of Trebinje bosnian-herzegovinian town

Palabras clave:


identity, heritage, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Trebinje (es)

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Autores/as

  • Isidora Karan Universidad de Granada

In geopolitical bipolar division of the world, Bosnia and Herzegovina has been on the border between East and West for centuries. Its territory and its culture have been created between global and local influences of power and experience, through juxtaposition of Eastern and Western models.

Today’s Bosnia and Herzegovina is, on the one hand, searching for its position and setting the limits in relation to the global and regional networks, while, on the other hand, is searching for the internal limits of national and cultural identities of three constituent peoples. All this led to the complex issue of heritage and collective memory. This article investigates the meaning of heritage of the Bosnian- Herzegovinian town today, taking into consideration the way its territory is created as well as the mentioned ongoing processes. It analyses the role of heritage and memory attached to it, in the process of identity transformation in the case of town of Trebinje.

-DOSS_ART_53_On the border_Final

Trebinje on the border between East and West

Heritage and memory of Trebinje bosnian-herzegovinian town

Trebinje en la frontera entre el este y el oeste

La memoria y el patrimonio de la ciudad de Bosnia y Herzgovina

 

Trebinje na fronteira entre o oriente eo ocidente

Memória e patrimonio de uma cidade da Bosnia e Herzegovina

Isidora Karan

PhD student, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Granada, Spain.

isidora_karan@yahoo.com

Resumen

En la división bipolar de la geopolítica del mundo, Bosnia y Herzegovina se ha encontrado a lo largo de los siglos en la frontera entre el Este y el Oeste. Su territorio y su cultura son el resultado de la relación entre las influencias globales y locales del poder y de la experiencia, confrontando y superponiendo las pautas orientales y occidentales.

Hoy en día Bosnia y Herzegovina, por un lado, busca su posición y sus fronteras con respecto a los flujos y a las redes globales, mientras que, por otro, busca las fronteras internas de las identidades culturales y nacionales de los tres pueblos que componen el país. Todo ello ha conducido al complejo asunto del patrimonio y de la memoria colectiva. El artículo investiga cómo hoy día se considera el patrimonio de la ciudad bosnia, teniendo en cuenta la forma de creación de su territorio y los mencionados procesos actuales. Se examina el papel del patrimonio y la memoria en la construcción de la identidad en estudio de caso de la ciudad de Trebinje.

Palabras claves: identidad, patrimonio, Bosnia y Herzegovina, ciudad de Trebinje.

Abstract

In geopolitical bipolar division of the world, Bosnia and Herzegovina has been on the border between East and West for centuries. Its territory and its culture have been created between global and local influences of power and experience, through juxtaposition of Eastern and Western models.

Today’s Bosnia and Herzegovina is, on the one hand, searching for its position and setting the limits in relation to the global and regional networks, while, on the other hand, is searching for the internal limits of national and cultural identities of three constituent peoples. All this led to the complex issue of heritage and collective memory. This article investigates the meaning of heritage of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian town today, taking into consideration the way its territory is created as well as the mentioned ongoing processes. It analyses the role of heritage and memory attached to it, in the process of identity transformation in the case of town of Trebinje.

Key words: identity, heritage, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Trebinje.

Resumo

Na divisão bipolar geopolítica do mundo, Bósnia e Herzegovina por séculos estão localizadas na fronteira entre o Oriente e o Ocidente. Seu território e sua cultura foram formados a partir do resultado das relações entre as influências globais e locais do poder e da experiência, confrontando e sobrepondo as orientações orientais e ocidentais.

 

Por um lado, Bósnia e Herzegovina atualmente buscam sua posição e definem seus limites acerca das redes globais; enquanto que por outro, também buscam internamente suas identidades culturais e nacionais dos três povos que compõem o país. Todos estes assuntos complexos, levantam questionamentos referentes ao patrimônio e a memória coletiva. Este artigo, investiga como atualmente se entende o patrimônio na cidade da Bósnia. Tendo em conta a formação de seu território e de seus processos atuais já mencionados. Analisa-se o papel do patrimônio e da memória, na construção da identidade da cidade de Trebinje.

 

Palavras-chave: identidade, Bósnia e Herzegovina, Trebinje

Recibido: 06 de Agosto de 2014

Aprobado: 12 de Noviembre de 2014

 

 

 

 

Isidora Karan

PhD student at the Department of Urbanism and Spatial Planning, University of Granada. She graduated from the Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering at the University of Banja Luka (2008) as the best student of her generation. Worked as a town and spatial planner (2009-2011). She has participated in international workshops and competitions. As a member of the team, she has won the awards in several competitions.

Introduction

This article deals with the imaginary boundaries of cultural influences in the country of the imaginary Balkans (Todorova, 1999), their reflections in understanding and the use of urban space today. “The Mediterranean borders are not only geographical; they are not carved in space or time. Neither historical, nor owned by the state, nor national: the circle marked by the chalk is constantly being indicated and erased, expanded or reduced” (Matvejević, 2006: 15).

The territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina1 has always been located between East and West, creating the zone of linkage, but also of a conflict. It formed the border zone of the oriental Ottoman Empire, European Austro-Hungarian Empire, and was located on the borderline of communism of the Eastern Block and capitalism of the Western Block. Nowadays, it is positioned on the borderline with the European Union and it is oriented to such a further development (see Figure 1). Its peripheral status, the conflicts and symbiosis of different influences have marked the physical and national structure of the Bosnian and Herzegovinian towns of today.

According to Todorova (1999), the phenomenon of Balkanization, formed after the Balkans Wars (1912-1913) to denote territorial division and widely used nowadays in different fields, could not be reduced on fragmentation. Todorova (1999) defines Balkanization as a cultural mix and richness resulting in hybrid identity. This hybrid identity and different cultural influences can be noticed, not only on the scale of region, but also on the small scale of urban space of Bosnia and Herzegovinian towns.

The War (1992-1995),2 following the half-century socialist structure based on the idea of equality and “brotherhood and unity”, caused divisions in local communities and society. This resulted in, mainly, forced migrations of people, loss of territorial and strengthening of imagined communities (Anderson, 1991). Religion and heritage, stemming from the border position and different dominances of the center of economic and political power, have turned into the tool in the function of strengthening of national identities (Mahmutćehajić and Seligman, 2005). The “desirable” and “undesirable” national symbols have appeared in Bosnia and Herzegovinian towns, where this quest for the national cohesion has led to the so-called “war of memories” (Moll, 2013). The previous facts have been reflected to the symbolic meaning of urban space, to its physical structure, patterns of its use and everyday life and experience that occur in it. For instance, a lot of buildings or monuments were demolished, while some open public spaces that were lively before stayed abandoned.

Figure 1 . The Geopolitical Position of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Source: elaborated by the author.43112-199801-1-SP.jpg

 

On the other hand, along with the transition of identity and memory, both economic and social transitions are taking place in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The movement toward Western neoliberal capitalism, which after two decades since the end of the war is still going on, also influenced the urban space in various ways. The competition between the places (Harvey, 1996) and the need for their branding have led into local symbols, often coloured by the nationalism, being transformed in relation to the demands of global market, cultural and tourism industry3 in Europe (as it happened with national heritage in post-socialist cities, for example, in Krakov). In this way, the elements of national identity are becoming the elements on which supranational identity within European Union should be created. This implies that complex issue of defining heritage and its role becomes even more complicated.

From the previously mentioned two seemingly diametric processes (reinforcing national identity and the integration into global flows), the following research questions to deal with in this paper have developed: (1) what is considered to be heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina today, (2) what is its role in the transformation of identity and collective memory of the city, and (3) how the relation between the two processes mentioned influenced the way heritage could be understood or defined.

With regard to the processes noticed in the Bosnia and Herzegovina towns, including Trebinje, these questions are further developed through the phenomena of place branding and negative cultural landscape. Very present in the cities nowadays, these phenomena have significant repercussions on transformation of both national and place identity. These two types of identity meet and confront in urban space, influencing its symbolic meaning, memory, forms of use, and of course, the way in which the heritage is interpreted.

If national prevails upon the place identity, the political manipulation of the place and heritage can occur, which often provokes the negligence of urban quality and experience of space of everyday life. So, with the aim of better understanding of heritage and its role in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the town of Trebinje, the theoretical bases considered relevant for this paper are provided and explained through the concepts of: identity, negative cultural landscape and place branding.

Identity

The notion of identity has been widely used and studied in various disciplines and practice of everyday life. Identity in its essence means the uniqueness or distinctiveness of a phenomenon in relation to a specific context. Sociologically speaking, all identities are constructed through the separation of powers and experience and the difference between the local and the global (Castells, 2002).Their construction is a continuous process (Neill, 2004), and they are never completed (Hall, 2000). In the socio-spatial context, place identity can be perceived as the set of meanings that people associate with the particular place and its personal identities (Dovey, 2010; Watson and Bentley, 2007). Since identity is always based on the memory and vice versa (Gillis, 1994), those meanings are created through everyday experience and collective memory related to the physical structure. In this regard, place identity deals with complex relationship between “tangible” and “intangible” aspects of the places (relationships between physical settings, urban activities and meanings) enabling the development of existential human need of orientation in place as well as the identification with the same (Norberg-Schulz, 1976).

But place identity is not only important for personal identities, it is also important for the construction of social identities; a stronger identity of place suggests a stronger sense of belonging to a place, therefore, a stronger homogeneity of one social group and its uniqueness compared to other groups. Place identity, personal identity and the social identity meet each in the concept of homeland (Tuan, 2001). However, when the concept of homeland is not clear, that is, when a person or a community loses “tangible” and “intangible” aspects of the places incorporated into their personal or collective identity, then the place identity may become subject to the radical transformations.

With the loss of territorial community, the relation with the imagined community (Anderson, 1991) or nation becomes stronger. Although there are opinions that community cannot exist outside place, just as place cannot exist without community, it is certain that not all communities are territorial. The modern age has shown that communities should not necessary be related to a specific place. So, in addition to territorial, there are imagined communities, whose members do not have to be physically related to place or to have everyday face-to-face interaction with other members (Anderson, 1991).

Since the identity of imagined communities is based on the memory of shared past, just like territorial communities, they need their places of collective memory and symbols in the urban space. This means that heritage is exposed to a conflict which may appear between national and place identity. In this case, heritage is often used as “the official memory book of significant events or the metaphors of national life” (Boyer, 2001: 343). This is especially noticed in the countries formed as independent during the fragmentation of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia (Rykwert, 2004). But by converting heritage into “the metaphor of national life”, its role in inhabitants’ everyday lives changes and it also leads to the reduction of the experience that such heritage can elicit within the people, space user. (Boyer, 2001)

 

1.2 Negative cultural landscape

Architectural heritage has always been used as a specific means of communication with the community, regardless of what messages have been created or conveyed. It is still a powerful tool for the construction of identities and transmission of ideas about the national cohesion, despite the opinions that the physical structure is losing its role in the context of the digital telecommunications revolution and virtual spaces (Mitchell, 1977). The process of establishing the national cohesion through architectural heritage and the sites of collective memory is taking place in two opposing directions. The first direction is glorification and highlighting of the places with historical background necessary for national cohesion, and the other direction represents denial or transformation of the places endangering that national cohesion (McDowell, 2008). The places that are evaluated as “undesirable” and as a kind of threat to national cohesion, in a particular system and in relation to the official memory, are becoming a part of the negative cultural landscape that is necessary to be transformed (Watson and Bentley, 2007). Most commonly the others’ heritage (as are religious sites, monumental buildings and monuments of power), is considered to be a negative cultural landscape. This heritage is subject to transformation conducted through the change of meaning and/or change of physical structure.

The transformation of meaning of those cultural landscapes which threaten national cohesion is mainly performed through the change of the function. In this case, it does not negate the existence of “undesirable” elements of the past, but the same elements are adapted in line with the current politics and ideology. This can also be understood as a kind of the urban revitalization (e.g. the case of converting military facilities from the socialist period in educational or cultural facilities in many cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina). Transformation of the structure, which also includes the transformation of meaning, most frequently is a radical intervention by which the places considered as a negative cultural landscape are being denied both in the symbolic and in physical ways. However, the demolition of the physical structures cannot simply erase the memory attached to it, nor the role that this structure had in everyday life of the people (e.g. the Old Bridge in Mostar and the City Hall in Sarajevo were destroyed during the War, but they remained vivid in people’s memory, which certainly contributed to their reconstruction).

1.3. Place branding

The place branding phenomenon is a consequence of the competition between places and the need to attract investments, and it is primarily associated with capitalist production (Harvey, 1996). In European cities nowadays, place branding has a significant impact on transformation of urban space and identity. It can be defined as a creation of whole set of physical and socio attributes and beliefs which are associated to the place considered as a product (Kavaratzis and Ashworth, 2005). The places are being “packed and sold like goods”, adjusting their multiple cultural and sociological significance to the creation of attractiveness in relation to the extremely competitive market (Ward, 2004). For the purpose of selling and consumption, usually associated with tourism and cultural industry, the manipulation with historical or visual presentations of the places sometimes appears. Cultural and architectural heritage is being used as a material for the creation of an image for presenting the towns in the market of cultural and tourism industry (e.g. the case of branding of Old Town ”Bascarsija” in Sarajevo, that is, branding it as the authentic place that every tourist “must see”). This can lead to the favouring of private over public sector and tourists over local population (Grodach, 2013), (e.g.the local population has almost completely moved from the Old Town of Dubrovnik).

The identity of place is being discomposed with its individual elements transformed in a way that suits the needs of a competitive market. Then, they are repeated like an enduring “mantra” until the town’s identity becomes a “mousetrap” for the same (Koolhaas, 2006). This creates a paradox of memory and place identity, which are, on the one hand, used to attract as many tourists as possible, while on the other hand, they are used to promote national identities. The research conducted in the countries of the former Soviet Union, fragmented only one year before the former Yugoslavia, has stated the use of heritage in constructing national identities shortly after independence, and the use of the same in order to develop tourism only a few years later. Through place branding, the national symbols and heritage in general, become tourist attractions. However, besides negative, in some cases it can also have certain positive consequences and can offer a new vision of the urban structure which is considered to be negative cultural landscape.

Methodology

Creation of identity, both national and place identity, followed by the transformations of negative cultural landscape and the phenomenon of place branding, is a process taking place to a greater or lesser extent in many towns in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This article analyses the above-mentioned process through the case study of the town of Trebinje.

Trebinje is selected as a town (1) located on the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina with Croatia and Montenegro, only 30 kilometres away from Dubrovnik and the Adriatic Sea (see Figure 2), and (2) as a Mediterranean-oriental town with a unique physical structure where the different cultural influences related to different periods of urban evolution are quite preserved and visible.

After Dayton Peace Agreement (1995), Trebinje became part of the territory within the Republic of Srpska entity. This means that, nowadays, it is populated mainly by Serbs (Orthodox) of which, according to the unofficial 1996 census, as many as 28% had refugee status (Institute of Urban Planning of RS, 2002). At the same time, that implied the emigration of Bosniaks (Muslims) and Croats (Catholics). The urban area of Trebinje covers 103km2, and it is inhabited with 75% of total of 31433 inhabitants lived in metropolitan area that occupies 854m2 (Institute of Urban Planning of RS, 2002).

Figure 2. The position of Trebinje in regard to neighbouring countries and entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Source: elaborated by the author.

*Sarajevo, the capital city of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina; Banja Luka, the capital city of the Republic of Srpska; Dubrovnik and Herceg Novi, the coastal towns which influenced historical development of Trebinje.

43112-199804-1-SP.jpg 

 

The border position of Trebinje during different periods since its foundation, proximity to the coast and trade routes leading from Dubrovnik, have influenced the development of Trebinje as a Mediterranean and important town the region and in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Nowadays, in the urban space, particularly prominent are three types of physical structures belonging to the following periods: the period of Ottoman rule (1466-1878); the period of Austro-Hungarian rule with the period between the two World Wars (1878-1941); and the period of socialist Yugoslavia (1945-1992). All three periods are characterized by different types of cultural influences, social and spatial production, and different patterns of use and meaning of urban space. During the ‘90s of the last century, due to the dissolution of Yugoslavia followed by the war, there were changes in sociological, economic and urban structure of the town. The period of general transition started at that time is still ongoing influenced the urban space of Trebinje and the way heritage is perceived.

 

Analysis of the role of heritage4 in transformation of identity and memory of Trebinje is conducted on the part of the Austro-Hungarian military heritage and on the part of the religious Ottoman heritage. These two periods are viewed as the occupying regimes, primarily among the population of Serb nationality, and negative connotations regarding them were significantly increased with the process of national renaissance that started in the 1990s. Analysed heritage of the Austro-Hungarian period include military fortifications, being some sort of symbols of occupation associated to the Catholic regime.5 Analysed heritage of the Ottoman period are the mosques which are considered as symbols of the religion of Islam and of Bosniaks,6 as well as a threat to the national cohesion of Serb people.

Figure 3. The relationship of heritage, urban centre and town silhouette. Source: elaborated by the author.

43112-199808-1-SP.jpg 

The analysis is based on the following: previously presented theoretical postulates, an analysis of historical development and current planning policy document (as an official policy of heritage and memory management), the results of a part of the survey, and the follow-up of electronic magazines and forums as a reflection of public opinion (imaginative texts). The survey7 is part of the wider research on the places of identity and urban dynamic in Trebinje, within which a symbolic meaning of urban space is also being analysed. The survey included 200 respondents, inhabitants of Trebinje, of different age groups and both genders.

Results

3.1 Heritage from the Ottoman period: The Emperor’s Mosque and Osman Pasha Mosque

The Old Town of Trebinje was built in 1688 during the Ottoman period, on the site where, as it has been assumed, the Illyrian and Roman settlements were once situated (Figurić, 1930). As the establishment of the Ottoman town on the conquered territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina always implied the construction of a religious complex (Pašić, 1991), the Emperor’s Mosque (Careva Dzamija) was built first (1719), and a few years later (1726), the Osman Pasha Mosque (Osman-pašina dzamija) was also built within the walls of the Old Town. The Osman Pasha Mosque, which is considered to be one of the most beautiful in Herzegovina, is positioned near the main entrance and it represents a visual focus and a reference point in the organization and recognition of the Old Town structure. The Emperor’s Mosque is located in a less prominent location, has modest dimensions and more reduced architectural expression (see Figure 3). The mosques mentioned, as the only ones in the narrow urban area of Trebinje town, were the places of spiritual and social life of the Muslim population (now called Bosniaks).

*1. Crkvina hill with Herzegovinian Gracanica; 2. The hill in Hrupjela with the Church of St. Archangel; 3. The Old Town with the Osman Pasha Mosque and the Emperor’s Mosque. The dashed line signifies the urban center.

The war and the changes in the structure of population,8 not only in national terms, had an impact in characterization of the mosques as negative cultural landscape at the beginning of the 1990s war. This partly inspired their demolition,9 which certainly was not reflection of will of all inhabitants of Trebinje. But the removal of the physical structure doesn’t automatically remove the memory related to it. Even after the demolition, some native people of Trebinje have still kept the mosques on the mental map of the Old Town. However, the newcomers began to create the image of the Old Town without the mosques.

As it is the case with many religious buildings destroyed during the war, the mosques are being reconstructed. The Osman Pasha Mosque was reconstructed in 2005 and the Emperor’s Mosque is in the final phase of reconstruction in 2014. The period of mosque reconstruction took place simultaneously with the period of tourism development. Keeping in mind that the tourism in Bosnia and Herzegovina is based on the “mystique of the Orient” which is appealing to the tourists from Western Europe, the Old Town together with the mosque makes an important element of tourist offer of the town. In the survey, 36% respondents stated the Old Town as the place with highest potential for the future development of the town, having on mind primarily its tourist development. However, the importance of mosques as an integral part of the Old Town hasn’t been reduced only to tourist attraction. The survey results confirmed that 41% of respondents preferred to spend their free time in the Old Town. It indicates that the mosques are not recognized only as religious symbols, but also as a part of the physical surroundings in which the everyday urban life is taking place.

Figure 4. Military fortifications from the Austro-Hungarian period (marked with white squares); the position of Petrina, the former fortification on Crkvina, and of Fortica. Source: elaborated by the author.

43112-199809-1-SP.jpg 

 

3.2 Heritage from the Austro-Hungarian period: Crkvina, Fortica and Petrina

Given the border position of Trebinje towards Montenegro, the Austro-Hungarians built a great number of military facilities, complexes and fortifications after the occupation. “During its occupation, the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy turned Trebinje into a fortified camp” (Figurić, 1930: 51). Over time, military complexes built in the narrow urban area were given some new facilities or they kept their primary function until the abolition of compulsory military service in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Military fortifications built outside the town, mainly towards the border with Montenegro, lost their function a few decades after their construction (see Figure 4). With their mainly isolated position with regard to the settlements and town flows, they were left to the ravages of time. Since there is no official categorization, the exact number of fortifications remains unknown, but depending on the various authors, it ranges between 7 and 11 (previous indicates a failure to recognize fortifications as the heritage and the town’s potential).

The former fortification on the hill of Crkvina and the Fortica tower on the hill in Hrupjela became part of relatively compact urban structure over time. Their position on the hills seen from almost all parts of the town, in the context of the creation of new town symbols and the symbols of national cohesion, influenced the appearance of the following interventions. The fortification on the hill of Crkvina was removed in order to be built the religious complex and the Orthodox Church of Herzegovinian Gracanica (2000) on the same site, while the tower Fortica in Hrupjela was used as a base for the construction of the Orthodox Church of St. Archangel (2010). Two churches, primarily Herzegovinian Gracanica,10 have become the new symbols of the town. Nevertheless, the aforementioned interventions are not only product of the events that took place during the last two decades. According to the assumptions made on archaeological data, there was a medieval Orthodox Church in Crkvina (crkva means a church) before the construction of fortification (Janković and Janković, 2009), while according to the oral sources, there was a medieval Gradina11 in Hrupjela. In that sense, the transformations made could also be understood as a return of the original identity to the town.

In this case the fortifications were not removed because they were characterized as a mere elements of negative cultural landscape (although it is not excluded), but because of taking strategic positions in the creation of the silhouette and the image of the town (see Figure 3 and Figure 4). The churches constructed on the place of former fortifications, primarily Herzegovinian Gracanica, are presented as one of the most significant town attractions and a brand that should be used to develop tourism (CDA, 2009). At the same time, they have started to be recognized as places of everyday life. In the survey, 15% respondents stated Herzegovinian Gracanica as the main symbol of the town, as well as the potential for its future development, while 6% marked it as their preferred place for spending free time.

Fortification Petrina belongs to the group of fortifications positioned in the hills outside the narrow urban area, left to the ravages of time after losing their primary function and being out of the town flows (see Figure 4). An incident that took place in June 2012 in the attempt to demolish Petrina fortification, has initiated the issue of the role of the Austro-Hungarian fortifications in the identity of Trebinje. For the purposes of the construction of Andric town (Andricgrad) in the town Visegrad, a theme park dedicated to the writer Ivo Andric and the project of the famous film director Emir Kusturica, it was planned to use a stone blocks from the Petrina fortification. Before the stone blocks were takenand the fortification additionally deconstructed, the people of Trebinje had gathered and protested, and that way they prevented a possible demolition.

Because of the involvement of somewell-known influential persons, this whole incident which also got a political dimension attracteda lot of media attention. Daily newspapers and forums, both in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region, covered this event. By going through the comments written by the members of the forums or the readers of electronic press, primarily the inhabitants of Trebinje, regarding the news on the demolition of Petrina, the following observations related to the issue have been made. Some comments marked the Austro-Hungarian fortifications as the symbols of occupation which cannot be part of identity of Trebinje and therefore should be removed. Still, significantly larger number of comments characterized them as a part of historic, cultural and architectural heritage, which should be revitalized and used for tourist purposes. On the other hand, the survey results showed that 99% of respondents considered the heritage from the Austro-Hungarian period (as well the heritage from Ottoman period) as a part of the cultural identity of Trebinje. This certainly suggests the political manipulation of the aforementioned incident, but also of the heritage in general, where the interventions in space are linked with the national question, although such relationship is not substantial, as in this case.

The issue of Petrina is important because it has initiated the issue of heritage in general. The citizens have started to ask about: what is nowadays considered to be the heritage of Trebinje, and what its possible future role is. It is shown that citizens recognize heritage not only as a symbol (historical or national) but also as the place of tourist development and potential urban activity.

Discussion

The hybridity and ambiguity of urban space of the town of Bosnia and Herzegovina have created the possibility for frequent review of the concept of heritage, its “desirable” and “undesirable” elements. The reviewing of the heritage in Trebinje during the last two decades, and in relation to the previously analysed examples, shows the following features:

The official policy of heritage and memory management is, on the one side, conducted in the direction of strengthening national cohesion, and on the other side, in the direction of developing tourism and competitiveness. These two directions are not mutually exclusive and, in relation to the same ones, the new town symbols are being created or the existing ones are being transformed.

The transformation of heritage (in relation to those two directions mentioned), as well as its significance for urban life and town’s collective memory, depend on the distance from the town center and the importance for the image and the silhouette of the town (see Figure 3 and Figure 4).

Through everyday experience of urban space taken as a whole, and not broken down into fragments, a part of the heritage once characterized as negative cultural landscape due to the war events and rhetoric, becomes again a part of identity and town’s memory.

Place branding is an additional contribution to the integration of negative cultural landscape presented as a tourist attraction, and in that way accepted from the local people as a tool for future economic development.

Citizens are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of heritage, regardless the period of the development of the town, and recognize in it mainly the potential for the tourist development of the town, but also the potential for the improvement of urban space and life.

Conclusion

The establishment of territory in the border zone as a meeting point of different cultural and power influences leads to the richness and diversity of urban space, but also to the possible conflicts in the attempt to define and delayer its identity. Therefore, it is very important to accept a hybrid and dynamic nature of identity of the Bosnian - Herzegovinian town.

It is necessary to accept the heritage and diverse symbolic meanings related to it, which are the result or the consequence of different periods and ideologies, including the “undesirable” ones. But, at the same time, it is necessary to create some new symbols of the current period, which would follow the changes that happened as well as the actual processes in the town. In both cases, the heritage and meanings attached to it should get closer to the space of everyday life, with the aim to enhance the belonging to the place and social relation between the people inhabit it. As a part of culture, the national reference related to the heritage should exits, but the heritage should not be reduced only to the spatial mediator with imaginary communities, and at the first place, should contribute to the urban activities and everyday experience. Also, carefully planned place branding, which should satisfy the needs of both the tourists and the citizens, can have a positive impact on incorporation of negative cultural landscape recognised as a tourist potential of the town. It can bring together the different layers of its urban accumulation, but also, it can contribute to the competitiveness of the place.

Only through the real integration of heritage in relation to the urban activities and the recognizable image of the town, it is possible to turn conflict of imaginary boundaries into an asset; to turn the complexity into diversity, and memory of the town into the base for the creation of different personal and collective memories. Apart from being tools for national cohesion, heritage and memory of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian town are primarily tools for the achievement of urban cohesion and enmeshed experience of urban space.

 

1 The first Bosnian country was founded at the end of the 8th century.

2 The War was ended with the Dayton Peace Agreement (November, 1995) according to which the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina was divided into two entities (the Republic of Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina) and one district (Brčko) and made up of three constituent peoples (Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks).

3 According to the data from the Lonely Planet, among the top destinations in the past 5 years, there have been always listed the destinations in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, and the web site foxnomad.com voted the town of Sarajevo as the top destination in 2012.

4 In this case, the term heritage is not related only to the officially categorized heritage, but also to the parts of urban space which were or could be significant for the urban life and town identity.

5 Catholic regime is usually related with Croatian fascist movement, called Ustaše, from the WWII.

6 Bosniaks are ethnic group in Bosnia and Herzegovina with majority adherence to Islam, religion that was imposed during the Ottoman occupation of Balkans as the superior.

7 The survey is a part of the still unfinished doctoral dissertation of the author, and only some data from the survey were used in this article.

8 Ethnic composition of Trebinje, census 1991: Serbs 21.349 (68,87%); Bosniaks 5.571 (17,97%); Croats 1.246 (4,01%); Yugoslavs 1.642 (5,29%); others 1.188 (3,86%).

9 The demolition of religious buildings –Orthodox, Islamic and Catholic– during the war happened on the territory of both entities and was done by the members of all three constitutive peoples.

 

10 Herzegovinian Gracanica (Hercegovacka Gracanica) is a replica of Gracanica in Kosovo, which is one of the most significant monuments of medieval Serbia. Jovan Ducic, a famous poet originally from Trebinje, was buried in Crkvina, and the construction of the church was a kind of fulfillment of his last will.

11 Old Slavs settlement

 

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Cómo citar

APA

Karan, I. (2014). Trebinje on the border between East and West. Heritage and memory of Trebinje bosnian-herzegovinian town. Bitácora Urbano Territorial, 24(2). https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/bitacora/article/view/43112

ACM

[1]
Karan, I. 2014. Trebinje on the border between East and West. Heritage and memory of Trebinje bosnian-herzegovinian town. Bitácora Urbano Territorial. 24, 2 (jul. 2014).

ACS

(1)
Karan, I. Trebinje on the border between East and West. Heritage and memory of Trebinje bosnian-herzegovinian town. Bitácora Urbano Territorial 2014, 24.

ABNT

KARAN, I. Trebinje on the border between East and West. Heritage and memory of Trebinje bosnian-herzegovinian town. Bitácora Urbano Territorial, [S. l.], v. 24, n. 2, 2014. Disponível em: https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/bitacora/article/view/43112. Acesso em: 28 mar. 2024.

Chicago

Karan, Isidora. 2014. «Trebinje on the border between East and West. Heritage and memory of Trebinje bosnian-herzegovinian town». Bitácora Urbano Territorial 24 (2). https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/bitacora/article/view/43112.

Harvard

Karan, I. (2014) «Trebinje on the border between East and West. Heritage and memory of Trebinje bosnian-herzegovinian town», Bitácora Urbano Territorial, 24(2). Disponible en: https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/bitacora/article/view/43112 (Accedido: 28 marzo 2024).

IEEE

[1]
I. Karan, «Trebinje on the border between East and West. Heritage and memory of Trebinje bosnian-herzegovinian town», Bitácora Urbano Territorial, vol. 24, n.º 2, jul. 2014.

MLA

Karan, I. «Trebinje on the border between East and West. Heritage and memory of Trebinje bosnian-herzegovinian town». Bitácora Urbano Territorial, vol. 24, n.º 2, julio de 2014, https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/bitacora/article/view/43112.

Turabian

Karan, Isidora. «Trebinje on the border between East and West. Heritage and memory of Trebinje bosnian-herzegovinian town». Bitácora Urbano Territorial 24, no. 2 (julio 1, 2014). Accedido marzo 28, 2024. https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/bitacora/article/view/43112.

Vancouver

1.
Karan I. Trebinje on the border between East and West. Heritage and memory of Trebinje bosnian-herzegovinian town. Bitácora Urbano Territorial [Internet]. 1 de julio de 2014 [citado 28 de marzo de 2024];24(2). Disponible en: https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/bitacora/article/view/43112

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