A Cultural History of the 1984 Winter Olympics: The Making of Olympic Sarajevo by Zlatko Jovanovic (review)

Abstract

Stubbs describes the book as a ‘multivoiced’ effort ‘revealing the contradictions, contestations, and complexities’ of Yugoslav non-alignment (p. 4). There is much to commend in the rejection of unitary narratives. Yet at points, perhaps more so than usual in edited volumes, the authors speak past each other. Videkanić, Kolešnik, and Bojana Piškur and Đorđe Balmazović’s presentations of non-aligned culture are particularly difficult to reconcile, but do not tackle each other’s differences. A reader new to the topic may be confused — although those with an existing understanding can find themselves usefully challenged, and from this strengthen their own arguments and research.