Children of Atlantis: Voices from the Former Yugoslavia by Z. Lesi&cacute (Engli

The Nile on eBay   Children of Atlantis by Z. Lesi&cacute

This book offers a snapshot of virtually a whole generation of young people on the threshold of their working lives, uprooted from the world in which they had grown in.

FORMATPaperback LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITIONBrand New Publisher Description

The Children of Atlantis is a collection of statements by a hundred young people who have fled various parts of the former Yugoslavia in the face of war and destruction, nationalism, hatred and ethnic cleansing, the pressure to take sides, and the draft. As refugees, they are seeking to continue or complete their education at universities around the world, all the while confronting the task of making something of their lives amid the catastrophe that has overwhelmed them, their families, and their homeland. Gathered here are extracts from essays written by the students describing the circumstances that drove them to leave their homes, and the different ways (both optimistic and bleak) they envision their futures. It offers a snapshot of virtually a whole generation of young people on the threshold of their working lives, uprooted from the world they grew up in. Their voices are varied, expressing pain, anger, uncertainty, hope, and the positive energy of youth. What they have in common is a sense of disbelief and bewilderment at the forces unleashed in what was their country.In a way this is a war-report, though not prepared by foreign war-reporters or covered from the frontlines. Rather, it is a diverse chronicle revealing the unseen psychological aspects of war, written by the victims from the depths of their souls.

Author Biography

About the Author: Zdenko Lesic was Professor of the Theory of Literature at the University of Sarajevo before being forced to leave in 1993. He also co-edited the most prominent Bosnian literary journal, Izraz.

Table of Contents

Contents Preface by Celia Hawkesworth Introduction by Zdenko Lesic Part I Stories of War and Exile Chapter l: Recollections All Our Stories Will Be Alike Should I Stay or Should I Go? Maybe Because I Am the Child of a Mixed Marriage I Lived Happily I thought it was a Bad Joke. I Was Wrong I Shall Do Anything to Be With Ljiljana I Was in Love and Happy There Was Total Confusion Chapter 2: Out of Sarajevo How it Was in the Beginning Why? All My Future Plans Were There My Body, Ice-Cold With Terror Fresh Water and Food Were Luxuries There Was No End to the War I Had Had Enough The Most Wonderful Thing Happened to Me The Decision to Leave Sarajevo Was One of the Hardest Of My Life We Do Not Share the Same Destiny Any More Chapter 3: Experiences And Then the War Happened Hiding and Living in Fear My Parents Begged Me Not to Return The Elderly and Children Could Not Run Fast Enough Our House Was Repeatedly Raided You Could See Hungry People in the Streets We Drove Through a Hail of Bullets Escape From Mostar I Was Badly Wounded I Had Problems Because of My Serbian Father and Muslim Mother They Became Refugees in Their Own Country My Father Was a Political Prisoner Chapter 4: Refugee Blues They Are All My Friends I Was Not Willing to Take Part in This War Fear of the Draft We All Thought It Wouldn''t Be for Long I Was Afraid I Would Never See My Parents Again I Spent the Best Years of My Life There The Day My Childhood Stopped This Bloody War Has Stolen Twenty Years of My Life I Am Still in London From Bosnia to America Who Knows When We''ll See Sarajevo Again? We Left All Our Loved Ones Behind My Heart is Elsewhere I Wanted More Than That It Is Very Difficult to Find a Place for Us I Still Have Many Years Ahead I Am Twenty-One France is Great, But France Isn''t Home My Aim Is to Follow My Path Part II Stories of Disillusionment, Despair and Hope Chapter 5: Reflections War in Yugoslavia-War within Myself We Refused to Take Sides Only Because I Was Not One of Them If We Cannot Be in the Same Country, the Least We Can Do Is Create a Peaceful Neighbourhood We Have to Communicate What Comes After This Bad Dream? It Was Not Easy to Decide They Were Bitterly Disappointed The United States and Me Chapter 6: Feelings Of Deprivation A War Can''t Be Just If So Many Young People Die in It Few Expectations of the First Days of Independence Have Been Fulfilled In the Winds of Corruption and Poverty Feelings of Deprivation and Helplessness The Opposition Was Weak, Almost Invisible I Started to Lose All Hope of a Better Life There Was Nothing I Could Meaningfully Do in My Country Human Life Deserves Much More than to Be Erased by the Whistle of a Bullet How the Media Can Be Misused Now I Have Friends Fighting in Four Different Armies I Couldn''t Take It Any More That''s Why I Left Everything Why Is the World So Unfair to Us? The Chances I Was Looking for Were Not There Either Chapter 7: In Search of Identity The Thread That Binds Me A Story of Lost Identity What Is ''Home''? I Have Always Felt Yugoslav Yugoslavia Is Always on My Mind We Shall Have to Build a Whole New National Identity What Do I Mean By ''My Country''? I Was a Yugoslav, but Now I Am a Bosnian I Am a Citizen of a State That Does Not Exist One Day We Shall All Live in Harmony Pictures in My Mind Chapter 8: Hopes and Wishes I Feel I Have Started All Over Again I Hope. .. I Have Only My Knowledge to Offer I Have Often Wondered What My Friends Feel and Think I Want to Talk About My Studies, Not About Whether My Father Is a Croat or Not ''Sarajevo Will Remain, the Rest Will Pass'' I Pray to God for an Opportunity to Continue My Music Education I Can Only Hope That Peace Will Prevail I Find It Difficult to Answer Your Questions Post Scriptum: Letter to a Sarajevo Generation

Review Quote

"Intensely personal essays by young people whose lives were interrupted by the war in their country."--Times Literary Supplement

Details ISBN1858660416 Author Z. Lesi&cacute Pages 184 Language English ISBN-10 1858660416 ISBN-13 9781858660417 Media Book Format Paperback DEWEY 949.7 Year 2006 Publication Date 2006-01-31 Imprint Central European University Press Subtitle Voices from the Former Yugoslavia Edited by Zdenko Lesic Short Title CHILDREN OF ATLANTIS Illustrations black & white illustrations Series Central European University Press Book Publisher Oxford University Press, USA Place of Publication NY Country of Publication United States DOI 10.1604/9781858660417 UK Release Date 1995-01-06 We've got this

At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it.With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love!

TheNile_Item_ID:40260572;