History in Exile: Memory and Identity at the Borders of the Balkans Paperback - 2002

First line

HAVING sketched out broad theoretical issues that frame this project, I now lay out the landscape of memory in the Julian March, that is, the terrain shaped by historical processes and, in turn, the field in which the production of memory and history occurs Some anthropological accounts of displacement, loss, and nostalgia have offered superb microstudies focusing on individual houses and neighborhoods as sites of remembrance and social architecture (Bahloul, 1996; Hirschon 1998).

From the rear cover

"This is a wonderful book, beautifully written and painstakingly researched. Pamela Ballinger has crafted a work that will stand on its own for years to come. Her prose is lively, at times lyrical, and conveys the rich complexity of identity, memory, and loss in contemporary contexts marked by the traumatic legacy of violence. The interplay between literary sources, social science literature, popular cultural registers, and personal accounts, is delightful while sharp and analytically clear."--Donald Carter, Johns Hopkins University

"This is a richly rendered narrative ethnography that brilliantly interleaves the fraught stories of people living across the shifting borders of Italy, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its most significant contribution lies in how it creates a distinctive space for ethnographic inquiry whereby the monumental historical and cultural transformations that have unfolded across the Julian March are manifest as intimate human struggles. Ballinger achieves this with intellectual rigor, candor, and humanity."--Douglas R. Holmes, University of Otago, New Zealand

"History in Exile is a significant contribution to our understanding of a little-known chapter in the development of Balkan identities in relation to Western Europe. Ballinger's meticulous research and her ability to maintain a balanced distance from all the parties concerned will make this work a major addition to the literature. The writing is fluent and engaging, is unincumbered by unnecessary jargon, and conveys complex situations with lucidity and empathy."--Michael Herzfeld, Harvard University