The Blind Spot of Balkanism

This chapter argues against a hidden orientalism, or balkanism, which has paradoxically been revealed in Maria Todorova’s highly influential book Imagining the Balkans (1997). Despite this, the very book in question remains well known and has been widely acclaimed for its’ imagological turn, which has proposed a new operative tool, or key term, in order to design the discursive space a hitherto unrecognized of, internal European colonialism towards the Balkans. The treatment of Macedonia in Todorova’s theoretical “bestseller” confirms the incorporated effect of both a historically and culturally grounded neglect as well as a hidden orientalization of the Macedonian Other. In other words, the presence of a blind spot at the very core of balkanism, overshading its declarative emancipatory approach, otherwise implemented in the book. The process of the perpetual “othering” of Macedonia can be recognized this time through the tendency of Todorova’s book to (re)present and describe Macedonia, using simply the perspective of a landscape, whilst unconsciously or, rather, intentionally omitting its historical, and also its contemporary achievements. More precisely, Macedonia’s prominent authors and their work, referring to the topic of Balkan, in the domain of art and culture, which today are also well known abroad. This process of “landscapization” or exoticizing is already recognized as one of the fundamentally colonizing discursive strategies, thereby justifying its paternalist attitude of dominance over the exotic Other. Therefore, we hope that the author, for the sake of true post-colonial objectivity and open-mindedness, could take into consideration our academic objection and compensate for it, by simply adding the names, as well as the creative contribution of Macedonian authors, artists and intellectuals, in future editions of her book.