PREFACE

This is a book about the lyrics of national anthems. It is specifically about the anthems of the new states in southeast Europe that have arisen from the disintegration of Yugoslavia. The book attempts to analyse the use of the poetic texts sung by national subjects to express their devotion to the (new) state in which they enjoy citizenship. A focus of attention is in the use (for better or worse) of poetic texts for an ideological purpose. We are interested in the use of poetry in shaping devotion to a nation state (or its proxy). We are also interested in the ways in which political movements (ideologies and parties) deploy poetic devices and imagery to evoke and maintain both the national identity and the sense of self of citizen-subjects. The key ideology in question is nationalism and it is essential to note that the resurgence of nationalist ideology in the Balkans over the past three decades has been a key world-development for the study of nations and nationalism.

The idea of this book originated in Christopher (Kit) Kelen's interest in ‘anthem quality’ – that is to say, the soul-stirring effect that certain combinations of music and lyrics achieve, most typically in the service of national affiliation. This is the subject of Kelen's general study Anthem Quality (Kelen 2014) and a number of earlier papers, going back to the 1990s. Aleksandar Pavković's interest lies in the history of national ideologies of the Balkans and their impact on the recent creation of the new states in this area (Pavković 1997/2000, Pavković 1998). As the introduction of new national anthems preceded or followed the creation of new states in the region, our interests proved to be mutually supportive and resulted in a research project of which this book is the final outcome. To spell out the terms of the synergy more clearly: the Balkans seemed to be an ideal place to study the creation (and recreation) of anthem quality in the world today while the anthem seemed to be the ideal place to make a comparative study of nationalist sentiment in a place where it was being revived and renewed.

Importantly, this interdisciplinary book brings together culture and politics as a single object of scrutiny. Nations, as ‘imagined communities’, require belief on the part of both their citizens and their neighbours. Nations need images, symbols and narratives in order to create this belief. Anthems are a key symbolic means by which the life of nations is asserted, maintained and sometimes challenged. Of course context of culture is a key to understanding what and how any text means, and so a large part of this book is about the history of the songs and poems from which the anthems concerned originate. It is also about competitor-texts and about the political context within which the anthems were introduced and sometimes re-introduced.

The research project started while both authors were working at the University of Macau, in China, and when Aleksandar left Macau for Sydney in 2010, we continued writing the book together, letting technology (and modern transport) overcome the tyranny of distance. So this then is a book about the national songs of a corner of Europe by authors who live respectively in Asia and in Australia.

Doubtless, the book would have been enriched by a study of the music accompanying the lyrics with which we deal. Certainly we touch on music and its composition along the way. Music has also much to tell us about the general and particular nature of national devotions. As is also the case with anthem lyrics, there are relatively few scholarly studies of anthem music. Among those few, Karen A. Cerulo's (1989, 1995) studies are certainly outstanding. This is a fertile interdisciplinary field for further study of anthems and their role in evoking and maintaining national devotion.