Political Unconscious of Croatia and the EU: Tracing the Yugoslav Syndrome through Fredric Jameson’s Lenses

Abstract:

This paper deals with several aspects of the ‘return of Yugoslavia’ in Croatia and the European Union (EU). First, we apply the concept of Political Unconscious to the analysis of Croatian political discourse, from the beginning of the dissolution of Yugoslavia to the conclusion of the Croatian EU accession, and then to recent developments in the EU. In the political antagonism between Croatian independence and integration, the most prominent cognitive mapping through conspiracy theories constitutes the haunting ideologeme of the ‘return of Yugoslavia’. Nevertheless, due to the Euro-crisis and structural homologies of Yugoslavia and the EU, it is possible that the old ideologeme will continue to haunt the Croatian political reality. Moreover, this dangerous analogy between Yugoslavia and the EU could not be overlooked even on the European level. Conditions of emergence and possible lines of development of the Euro-crisis are explored by comparing it with similar political, structural and historical dimensions of Yugoslav dissolution.