The Bridge Betrayed: Religion and Genocide in Bosnia by Michael A. Sells (Englis

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The atrocities in Bosnia-Herzegovina have stunned people throughout the world. Drawing on historical documents, unpublished United Nations reports, articles from Serbian and Bosnian media, personal contacts in the region, and Internet postings, this title reveals the central role played by religious mythology in the Bosnian tragedy.

FORMATPaperback LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITIONBrand New Publisher Description

The recent atrocities in Bosnia-Herzegovina have stunned people throughout the world. With Holocaust memories still painfully vivid, a question haunts us: how is this savagery possible? Michael A. Sells answers by demonstrating that the Bosnian conflict is not simply a civil war or a feud of age-old adversaries. It is, he says, a systematic campaign of genocide and a Christian holy war spurred by religious mythologies.This passionate yet reasoned book examines how religious stereotyping-in popular and official discourse-has fueled Serbian and Croatian ethnic hatreds. Sells, who is himself Serbian American, traces the cultural logic of genocide to the manipulation by Serb nationalists of the symbolism of Christ's death, in which Muslims are "Christ-killers" and Judases who must be mercilessly destroyed. He shows how "Christoslavic" religious nationalism became a central part of Croat and Serbian politics, pointing out that intellectuals and clergy were key instruments in assimilating extreme religious and political ideas.Sells also elucidates the ways that Western policy makers have rewarded the perpetrators of the genocide and punished the victims. He concludes with a discussion of how the multireligious nature of Bosnian society has been a bridge between Christendom and Islam, symbolized by the now-destroyed bridge at Mostar. Drawing on historical documents, unpublished United Nations reports, articles from Serbian and Bosnian media, personal contacts in the region, and Internet postings, Sells reveals the central role played by religious mythology in the Bosnian tragedy. In addition, he makes clear how much is at stake for the entire world in the struggle to preserve Bosnia's existence as a multireligious society.

Notes

American Academy of Religion's Awards for Excellence in the Study of Religion, Historical Studies.

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"Sells brings a deep historical perspective to bear on recent events, and he powerfully indicts not only those Balkan leaders who manipulate popular fears and fanaticism to further their expansionist aims, but also those Western politicians and diplomats who helped obscure the truth about the campaign by Serb and Croat religious nationalists to destroy the uniquely rich culture of Bosnia."--William Finnegan, staff reporter for The New Yorker and author of A Complicated War

Author Biography

Michael A. Sells is Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Religion at Haverford College. He is the author of several books on religion, including Mystical Languages of Unsaying (1994).

Table of Contents

         Guide to Pronunciation                                    Preface to the 1998 Paperback Edition                    Preface to the 1996 Edition                       I       Fire in the Pages                                  2       Christ Killers                                    3       Performing the Passion                            4       Masks of Otherness                                5       The Virgin and the Jewel of Herzegovina           6       Masks of Complicity                              7       The Bridge                                              Note on Sources                                         Notes                                                   Recommended Readings                                   Index  

Review

"Sells's well-written, impassioned, and informed book represents a deepening of the ongoing discourse about the collapse of Yugoslavia."--"Kirkus Reviews

Promotional

American Academy of Religion's Awards for Excellence in the Study of Religion, Historical Studies.

Kirkus US Review

A penetrating argument that the heady mix of religion and modern nationalism are at the heart of the Bosnian catastrophe. Sells is a professor of religion (Haverford Coll.) of Serbian descent. Here he joins these personal and professional interests, although he sides not with the Serbs but with the Bosnian Muslims. His book is both a condemnation of anti-Muslim religious stereotyping by Serbs and Croats, and an impassioned argument that the genocide in Bosnia is "grounded in religious symbols." He is forthright in his accusations, charging that Western policymakers failed by denying Bosnia the right to self-defense and by neglecting their "moral and legal duty" to uphold the Geneva Convention's call for action against genocide. Sells is determined to debunk the popular misconception of "ancient Balkan hatreds" and to replace it with what he perceives to be the driving force of the war: explicitly modern, anti-Muslim religious and nationalist mythologies in which Muslims are represented as Christ killers and in which the Bosnians who long ago converted to Islam are seen as race traitors (because all Slavs, supposedly, should be Christian). However, while religion explains much in the former Yugoslavia, it does not explain all. Political, economic, historical, and social factors, though they're often overemphasized, have their place in an examination of Yugoslavia's collapse. Moreover, the war in Bosnia cannot be isolated from the larger conflict in the former Yugoslavia. And while Sells convincingly exposes the slander, falsehoods, and misinformation about Muslims that Serbs and Croats accept as true, he sheds no light on how and why they came to believe in these myths. Still, Sells's well-written, impassioned, and informed book represents a deepening of the ongoing discourse about the collapse of Yugoslavia. (Kirkus Reviews)

Long Description

The recent atrocities in Bosnia-Herzegovina have stunned people throughout the world. With Holocaust memories still painfully vivid, a question haunts us: how is this savagery possible? Michael A. Sells answers by demonstrating that the Bosnian conflict is not simply a civil war or a feud of age-old adversaries. It is, he says, a systematic campaign of genocide and a Christian holy war spurred by religious mythologies. This passionate yet reasoned book examines how religious stereotyping--in popular and official discourse--has fueled Serbian and Croatian ethnic hatreds. Sells, who is himself Serbian American, traces the cultural logic of genocide to the manipulation by Serb nationalists of the symbolism of Christ's death, in which Muslims are "Christ-killers" and Judases who must be mercilessly destroyed. He shows how "Christoslavic" religious nationalism became a central part of Croat and Serbian politics, pointing out that intellectuals and clergy were key instruments in assimilating extreme religious and political ideas. Sells also elucidates the ways that Western policy makers have rewarded the perpetrators of the genocide and punished the victims. He concludes with a discussion of how the multireligious nature of Bosnian society has been a bridge between Christendom and Islam, symbolized by the now-destroyed bridge at Mostar. Drawing on historical documents, unpublished United Nations reports, articles from Serbian and Bosnian media, personal contacts in the region, and Internet postings, Sells reveals the central role played by religious mythology in the Bosnian tragedy. In addition, he makes clear how much is at stake for the entire world in the struggle to preserve Bosnia's existence as a multireligious society.

Details ISBN0520216628 Author Michael A. Sells Short Title COMPARATIVE STUDIES IN RELIGIO Pages 260 Publisher University of California Press Language English ISBN-10 0520216628 ISBN-13 9780520216624 Media Book Format Paperback Series Number 11 Year 1998 Imprint University of California Press Subtitle Religion and Genocide in Bosnia Country of Publication United States Place of Publication Berkerley Residence US DOI 10.1604/9780520216624 UK Release Date 1998-12-10 NZ Release Date 1998-12-10 US Release Date 1998-12-10 Series Comparative Studies in Religion and Society Publication Date 1998-12-10 DEWEY 949.7024 Illustrations 8 b-w illustrations, 3 tables, 4 maps Audience General AU Release Date 1998-12-09 We've got this

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