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Bosnia in Limbo: Testimonies from the Drina River
To this day, almost all narratives on Bosnia focus on the 1990s, the war, and the labyrinth that Dayton's institutional system represents. They also tend to be imbued with a perspective that often overdoes the ethnic and religious element. The truth is that, beyond the causes of war and its manifold tragedies, we actually know very little of its forgotten consequences, once the CNN effect is long gone. As importantly, we know very little of Bosnia today: a society shaped by the past, yes, but also exposed to shifting twenty-first-century dynamics. A society haunted not only by war tragedies but also by a long-standing and long overlooked social crisis.
This revealing book thus tries to provide a somewhat different picture of Bosnia, twenty years after the war. Largely based on the author's experience in the field, it is to some extent an account of rural Bosnia, in particular of the Drina River Valley, which bore the brunt of the ethnic cleansing in the 1990s. Yet, and starting off from that isolated region of open wounds, unfinished issues and a cast of characters that range from displaced persons and victims to committed women, the book aims to overall provide a portrait of modern Bosnia as such, while also looking critically at the workings of the international community and European diplomacy. The book, with its landscape of activists, Western diplomats, and inhabitants of an underground world in Sarajevo for LGBT and youths, shows a country of so-far failed Springs and leaders who go on with their bad governance. Meanwhile, the "Europe" towards which Bosnia theoretically moves drifts between a poor understanding of the country, a fear of conflict that acts as its Achilles' heel, as well as lack of genuine interest, seems unable to really change things. This compelling book shows that Bosnia is still, in a way, a country in limbo.
This revealing book thus tries to provide a somewhat different picture of Bosnia, twenty years after the war. Largely based on the author's experience in the field, it is to some extent an account of rural Bosnia, in particular of the Drina River Valley, which bore the brunt of the ethnic cleansing in the 1990s. Yet, and starting off from that isolated region of open wounds, unfinished issues and a cast of characters that range from displaced persons and victims to committed women, the book aims to overall provide a portrait of modern Bosnia as such, while also looking critically at the workings of the international community and European diplomacy. The book, with its landscape of activists, Western diplomats, and inhabitants of an underground world in Sarajevo for LGBT and youths, shows a country of so-far failed Springs and leaders who go on with their bad governance. Meanwhile, the "Europe" towards which Bosnia theoretically moves drifts between a poor understanding of the country, a fear of conflict that acts as its Achilles' heel, as well as lack of genuine interest, seems unable to really change things. This compelling book shows that Bosnia is still, in a way, a country in limbo.
132 pages, Paperback
Published March 30, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 9, 2026
Estoy en esa época del año en la que la “monotonía” del día a día en Madrid me hace evocar los Balcanes como vía de escape. Por eso me puse a buscar lecturas sobre Bosnia y terminé topándome con esta.
El libro recoge las experiencias y relatos de Borja Lasheras durante sus años trabajando para la OSCE en la Bosnia rural del valle del Drina. Una de las zonas más aisladas y deprimidas del país, donde las heridas de la guerra siguen especialmente presentes: nacionalismo feroz, limpieza étnica, desplazados, memoria fracturada...
A lo largo de sus páginas, el autor entremezcla magistralmente vivencias personales con una explicación de los principales temas que atraviesan la política y la sociedad bosnia desde el final de la guerra en los 90. En el camino se cruza con activistas, diplomáticos y personajes del submundo alternativo local.
También hay una crítica muy interesante al laberíntico sistema institucional surgido de los Acuerdos de Dayton, que garantizaron la “paz” al precio de consolidar una etnocracia que bloquea cualquier reforma, así como al difícil papel de la intervención internacional en el país.
Me ha gustado mucho. No es el típico libro histórico distante o académico: baja al barro y permite entender desde dentro una sociedad profundamente marcada por el pasado, pero expuesta a las dinámicas del siglo XXI. Un país en el limbo.
El libro recoge las experiencias y relatos de Borja Lasheras durante sus años trabajando para la OSCE en la Bosnia rural del valle del Drina. Una de las zonas más aisladas y deprimidas del país, donde las heridas de la guerra siguen especialmente presentes: nacionalismo feroz, limpieza étnica, desplazados, memoria fracturada...
A lo largo de sus páginas, el autor entremezcla magistralmente vivencias personales con una explicación de los principales temas que atraviesan la política y la sociedad bosnia desde el final de la guerra en los 90. En el camino se cruza con activistas, diplomáticos y personajes del submundo alternativo local.
También hay una crítica muy interesante al laberíntico sistema institucional surgido de los Acuerdos de Dayton, que garantizaron la “paz” al precio de consolidar una etnocracia que bloquea cualquier reforma, así como al difícil papel de la intervención internacional en el país.
Me ha gustado mucho. No es el típico libro histórico distante o académico: baja al barro y permite entender desde dentro una sociedad profundamente marcada por el pasado, pero expuesta a las dinámicas del siglo XXI. Un país en el limbo.
October 31, 2018
Muy buen libro para conocer el ambiente de la Bosnia actual más allá de los clichés que suelen estar presentes en las informaciones de los medios de comunicación.
September 17, 2020
Hard as he tries to elevate local voices, and god bless him for it, this really is the author's own testimony, although made so much better by his attempt to elevate local people and their own experience. We, his readers, outsiders seeking to understand Bosnia, still do so through Borja's filter. What a lucky mistake that Borja's filter is stupendous.
My first reaction when beginning this book was "here we go, a journalistic New York Times Weekend Magazine-style take, full of colour but devoid of content, and where it gets to saying anything at all it will all have been in the service of power."
My second thought, as I continued reading, was "wow, this man writes better than the new york times." His writing is so soft, easy, artful, agreeable. He just writes so gosh-darned well. Where does one learn to write like this?!
And finally, about halfway through, it begins to dawn on oneself that one's first reaction was utterly wrong. This is absolutely not an empty form, assertively not so much aesthetic flaunting empty of serious engagement. He is not just ticking boxes. There is indeed bravery and real substance here. There is a subjectivity that is acknowledged, claimed and argued for. There is an important critique of power here. And it is difficult to disagree with it.
The world is made better by people like Borja. And his writing. He ought to do much more of it.
In the meantime, read this book.
My first reaction when beginning this book was "here we go, a journalistic New York Times Weekend Magazine-style take, full of colour but devoid of content, and where it gets to saying anything at all it will all have been in the service of power."
My second thought, as I continued reading, was "wow, this man writes better than the new york times." His writing is so soft, easy, artful, agreeable. He just writes so gosh-darned well. Where does one learn to write like this?!
And finally, about halfway through, it begins to dawn on oneself that one's first reaction was utterly wrong. This is absolutely not an empty form, assertively not so much aesthetic flaunting empty of serious engagement. He is not just ticking boxes. There is indeed bravery and real substance here. There is a subjectivity that is acknowledged, claimed and argued for. There is an important critique of power here. And it is difficult to disagree with it.
The world is made better by people like Borja. And his writing. He ought to do much more of it.
In the meantime, read this book.
January 16, 2024
Diego me recomendó este libro y me ha costado mucho ponerme a leerlo de verdad (casi dos años) pero me alegro de haberlo hecho.
Esta narración en la que se mezclan las percepciones de un extranjero en la Bosnia de los años 10 y el relato de los hechos que han marcado su historia refleja bastante bien el ambiente de un país que sigue fragmentado por su pasado más reciente (y más remoto).
En ocasiones la mano del autor me ha parecido excesiva pero conforme avanzaba en los capítulos la inclusión de sus experiencias personales dotaba toda la obra de una vulnerabilidad y sinceridad que la elevan bastante: nos habla desde su perspectiva y nos deja verla para llevarnos hasta aquello que vivió y que pudo compartir, es un espectador como nosotros pero nos lleva hasta las puertas de los protagonistas.
El apartado de las fotografías me ha resultado especialmente enternecedor ya que nos recuerda que detrás de cada historia hay personas que sonríen junto a sus seres queridos en los momentos especiales y que no pueden permitir que su historia caiga en el olvido.
Esta narración en la que se mezclan las percepciones de un extranjero en la Bosnia de los años 10 y el relato de los hechos que han marcado su historia refleja bastante bien el ambiente de un país que sigue fragmentado por su pasado más reciente (y más remoto).
En ocasiones la mano del autor me ha parecido excesiva pero conforme avanzaba en los capítulos la inclusión de sus experiencias personales dotaba toda la obra de una vulnerabilidad y sinceridad que la elevan bastante: nos habla desde su perspectiva y nos deja verla para llevarnos hasta aquello que vivió y que pudo compartir, es un espectador como nosotros pero nos lleva hasta las puertas de los protagonistas.
El apartado de las fotografías me ha resultado especialmente enternecedor ya que nos recuerda que detrás de cada historia hay personas que sonríen junto a sus seres queridos en los momentos especiales y que no pueden permitir que su historia caiga en el olvido.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews