Commemorating Defeats · 24 February 2008, 14:50 CET by Charles Vermeulen
Odd as it may seem that the battle of Kosovo of 1389, during which a ‘Serbian’ army was defeated by an army led by Ottoman Sultan Murad on the Kosovo Polje, plays such prominent a role in the Serbian, ethnic tradition, it is not a unique phenomenon. In his ‘Chosen Peoples: Sacred Sources of National Identity’ Anthony D. Smith (Oxford and New York 2003, page 222) lines up three, similar examples of defeats that are treated as defining moments by the defeated ethnic or religious groups in question instead of being smuggled away as something to be ashamed of:
Smith also provides us with an explanation for this phenomenon: ’(...) [D]efeats and, we might add, exile impose obligations more than victories. As important, they provide models for the interpretation of later defeats and persecutions.’
anthony d. smith,
avarayr,
battle of kosovo,
chosen peoples,
ethnic tradition,
karbala,
kosovo,
kosovo polje,
serbia
