“The Other Within”: Challenging Borders from the European Periphery

While postcolonial studies have stepped into dialogue with postsocialist frameworks, there remains a need for critical and creative tools from the postsocialist arena with which to enrich postcolonial theory. The Balkans represent an ambiguous entity in Europe; geographically inside but ideologically outside, this region can be considered Europe's constitutive other, or the 'other within.' Art from the former Yugoslavia frequently plays with this indeterminate position to produce works that not only challenge the politics and ideology behind Fortress Europe in terms of the artistic content that they produce, but I claim that the Balkans' status of 'inbetweenness' gives artworks produced in this region their transgressive force. To argue this point, I situate Bulgarian scholar Maria Todorova's concept of Balkanism into my analysis, which speaks not of a clear Self-Other dichotomy characteristic of colonial/Orientalist discourse, but rather of a superior-inferior Self. This inherent ambiguity can be used productively in the creation of art as a 'border crossing practice,' which I showcase through three select examples of ex-Yugoslav visual art.