Nation-building ancient Macedonian style: the origins and the effects of the so-called antiquization in Macedonia

Abstract

The background of the contemporary Macedonian “antiquization” can be found in the nineteenth century and the myth of ancient descent among Orthodox Slavic speakers in Macedonia, adopted partially due to Greek cultural inputs. The idea of Ancient Macedonian nationhood has also been included in the national mythology during the Yugoslav era. An additional factor for its preservation has been the influence of the Macedonian Diaspora. After independence, attempts to use myth of ancient descent had to be abandoned due to political pressure by Greece. Contemporary antiquization on the other hand, has been revived as an efficient tool for political mobilization. It is manifested as a belated invention and mass-production of tradition, carried out through the creation of new ceremonies, interventions in the public space and dissemination of mythological and metaphysical narratives on the origin of the nation. There have also been attempts to scientifically rationalize claims to ancient nationhood. On the political level, the process of antiquization reinforced the political primacy of its promoters, the ruling Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE), but had a negative impact on the interethnic relations and the international position of the country.

Keywords:

• Macedonia
• myth
• ancient descent
• invention of tradition
• antiquization

Notes

Professor Ljubomir Frčkoski, a presidential candidate in 2009 and one of the most prominent Macedonian public figures argued that antiquization is the “most toxic ideology” among Macedonians and a cause for the devolution of the society, comparing its advocates with vultures. The human rights activist Žarko Trajanoski compared the antiquization process with sludge in which the Macedonian society is slowly sinking (“Dodeka pišuvam”). The urban guerrilla choir “Raspeani Skopjani” [Singing Skopjans], which performs songs in protest against the identitarian policies of the government, on one occasion performed a song titled “Antika, Antika” [Oh, antiquity, antiquity], a cover of the Yugoslav popular song “Plastika, Plastika” by VIS Idoli. Some of the performers symbolically wore laurel wreaths and played on fake harps. The lyrics of the song were practically mocking the obsession with antiquity: “I am wearing an ancient suit, Antiquity is my food, probably I am ancient as well.”

As any topic related to the Macedonian Question is highly contingent to the author's approach, before I proceed, I need to clear my stance towards the issues discussed in the paper. I use the term “ethnic Macedonians” to refer to the people who have declared themselves as “ethnic Macedonians” in official censuses in the country. However, I do not imply that they have strictly Slavic or Ancient Macedonian ethnic make-up, but it is a mere issue of their own, individual belief who their ancestors were. However, the population from which ethnic Macedonians were carved in the twentieth century, had been comprised primarily from Orthodox Slavic Speakers. At the same time, I avoid entering the debate of the proximities and differences between Ancient Macedonians and Greeks on the one hand, and Ancient Macedonians and Slavs on the other. In this paper I only try to portray the interpretations of various parties (ex. official Athens claims Ancient Macedonians were culturally Greek; Yugoslav Macedonian historiography claimed they were different peoples, yet Ancient Macedonians were assimilated by the immigrant Slavs in the Middle Ages; the new Macedonian historiography claims that immigrant Slavs were assimilated by Ancient Macedonians and that the cultural traits of antiquity have survived even today, which provide the link between Ancient Macedonians and contemporary ethnic Macedonians.

The process of internalization, reinterpretation and as a final outcome appropriation of Other's identitarian narratives is not alien in social anthropology. According to the approach of Simon Harrison (“Cultural difference”; Fracturing Resemblances), in the development of a nationalist discourse, there can be elements of mimetic symbolic practices and creation of “relationships of conflictual resemblance.” In the case of Macedonian Slavs and the Greek schooling of ancient Macedonian descent, it can be argued that there has been dialectic of such conflicting resemblance and various manifestations of symbolic conflict (Harrison, “Four Types”).

Georgievski after leaving VMRO-DPMNE and openly confronting its leadership has been more open about his pro-Bulgarian standings and has also censured the antiquization practices of Gruevski's government (see Georgievski Lj).

VMRO-DPMNE was founded as a anti-communist and nationalist party, supporting the unification of all the three parts of Macedonia and a revision of the Bucharest Treaty of 1913 (“Proglas za formiranje”). During the 2000s, the party adopted Christian democratic and conservative ideological premises and reduced its radical nationalism. Its most recent programmatic document entitled Doctrine argues that the party nurtures eight core values and ideological pillars: “the real man, the nation, market economy, private property, culture of legalism, family, tradition and faith.”

The discoveries in Vergina had previously caused changes in the public discourse in Greece as well, known as the “Vergina Syndrome” and “archaeologization of politics” (Kotsakis; Kofos “Greek policy considerations”; Kokkinidou and Nikolaidu). For a comprehensive analysis of the events surrounding the adoption of the national flag depicting the Star of Vergina in Macedonia, see Keith Brown, “Seeing stars.”

The renaming of the highway was even more controversial as its reconstruction was supposed to be funded by the EU, with the biggest contribution made by Greece. After the renaming, the Greeks backed off and the construction works were cancelled (“Macedonia Debuts…”).

Several years prior to the Macedonia's Hunza episode, in the same region in Pakistan, Greek explorers encountered another tribe, called Kalasha, which shared a similar narrative of origin. However, they believe they are culturally proximate with today's Greeks, rather than Macedonians. A trip to Greece was organized in order for the Kalasha to visit their remote homeland (Will).

The moral crisis of post-communism, however, is not the frustration of communism itself – in fact, Taleski suggests that the image of Alexander in the contemporary Macedonian context emerged as a substitute for Tito's.