On the edge of reason: The boundaries of Balkanism in Slovenian, Austrian, and Italian discourse

In this article Patrick Patterson offers new perspectives on the critique of Balkanist discourse elaborated recently by Maria Todorova and others. Examining Slovenian, Austrian, and Italian commentary on contemporary southeastern Europe, Patterson concludes that Slovenias western neighbors did not wholeheartedly embrace the campaign by some influential Slovenes to distance their society from other, purportedly Balkan, Yugoslavs. Although Balkanism marked the discourse of all three countries, Italian and Austrian opinion often rejected important implications of the Slovenes exceptionalist rhetoric. Ultimately, the internal dynamics of Austrian and Italian identity and political culture trumped the Balkanist logic behind Slovenes claims to a uniquely central European character. Moreover, even in Slovenian sources, Balkanist rhetoric proved less dominant and consistent than the prevailing critique admits. Accordingly, that critique, which treats Balkanism as a rigid, uniform, pervasive, and virtually inescapable power discourse of hegemony, should be revised to account for forces that may limit or subvert its power.