Liminal Spaces of Memory and Remembrance: Realignment of Agonistic Interpretations at Sites of Complex Histories in Sarajevo

In the Oscar-winning film No Man’s Land (2001), a Serbian and a Bosnian soldier are trapped between the frontlines of the opposing armies, in a trench positioned in no man’s land. Although awkward, the situation is not tragic until the two soldiers discover another Bosnian soldier, presumed dead but who then gains consciousness while lying on an unexploded mine. The slow progression of the film’s plot hints at a potential for development of an agonistic forum between the protagonists, which opens with the question ‘who started the war?’, asked by whichever soldier is in possession of a gun. While this discussion is acted out relying on humor, this scene in the movie is critical in terms of relativisation of history and clarity of historical facts – contrary to the cinematic storyline, there is no confusion about who started the aggression on Bosnia and Herzegovina. Further into the movie plot, United Nations (UN) peacekeeping units were forced into action by a journalist who suspected the UN’s indifference to act even in emergency situations. Similarly, Joe Sacco’s non-fiction graphic novel The Fixer: A Story from Sarajevo (2003) opens up the complexity of ‘the great Siege of Sarajevo’ from within, as the narrative focuses on ‘war within the war’ wherein the main protagonists are local criminals profiting from war and dubious government decisions. Both examples end with a moot prospect for an agonistic space of living, either among the hostile ethnic parties or within the international community with its failure to successfully resolve the issue. [...]