Abstract

This paper aims at investigating the positions of the Balkans in our contemporary world in its continuous change – for instance the rapid Europeanization for the protection of a common inheritance of Balkan countries. Moreover, this historical heritage is sometimes presented as a simple burden that should be overcome: the name Balkan has negative connotations, being associated with violence or primitivism. The criticism of this type of derogatory discourse called « Balkanism » is built on the deconstruction of Orientalism as initiated in the 70’s by Edward Said. In this paper, we will analyze the various types of possible objections to this Balkan approach . Furthermore I will present the arguments in favour of another way of interpreting the Balkans which consists in the understanding of the narrower relation between European modernity and history