Yugoslav studies orYugoslavistics (Serbo-Croatian:Jugoslavistika;Slovene:jugoslavologija;Macedonian:Југословенски студии;Albanian:Studime Jugosllave;German:Jugoslawistik;Latin:Iugoslavistica) is anacademic discipline withinSlavic studies andhistorical studies which is concerned with the study of the 19th-century or earlier origins of theYugoslav idea, thecreation of Yugoslavia, history of theKingdom of Yugoslavia,World War II in Yugoslavia,SFR Yugoslavia andbreakup of Yugoslavia including theYugoslav Wars, as well as theYugoslavs either as an umbrella term or exclusive identification. In contemporary period the discipline is also focused on the post-Yugoslav remembrance of Yugoslavia.[1] Historically, the term was also used as an umbrella term forSerbian,Croatian,Macedonian,Bosnian,Slovenian andMontenegrin studies. During the 1990s the discipline was closely intertwined with the field ofsecurity studies due to the conflicts in the region.[2]
The collapse of the Yugoslav state in early 1990s brought the existence of the discipline into question with multiple institutions changing their names or closing down. The field needed to redefine its new position in relation to closely relatedSouth Slavic studies (which alongside post-Yugoslav space includeBulgaria as well) andSerbo-Croatian studies (further differentiated into Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin studies).[3] In his 1993 essayThe Phantom of Yugoslavistics (German:Das Phantom der Jugoslavistik) German SlavistReinhard Lauer [de] stated that the field was based on the historical coincidence of the existence of a Yugoslav state and on the “fading out of the Bulgarian components and interests" concluding that the South Slavic studies should take its place.[3] The conflict in the area of former Yugoslavia nevertheless attracted significant academic attention with over 130 books being published on it and with multiple authors analyzing it in the framework of Yugoslav or Post-Yugoslav studies.[4] Today the field is dealing with transdisciplinary analysis of various Yugoslav and post-Yugoslav phenomena, social relations and practices.[5]
After her exile from South AfricaAnnMarie Wolpe gained a post at the Department of Yugoslav Studies of theUniversity of Bradford in 1963.[6]
