Epiphany - Journal of Transdisciplinary Studies

8

Authors: Dželal Ibraković, Haris Hojkurić

The progress of Western countries and the colonization of oil-rich Muslim countries clustered within the Ottoman Empire, which was located in the controlled agony of the new geo-strategic and technological processes, produced a turbulent beginning of the 20th century. The establishment of nation states has jeopardized the survival of monarchies such as Austro-Hungary, Russia, and others. The battle for the new, above all, European order signified the World War, in political science but also in historiography, and it established the principle that the term “world” war refers to the conflicts waged in Europe. The First World War was the site scene of the disappearance of the great empires and also the definite disappearance of the juncture of state and religion, as well as suppression of religion and other monarchist structures into new paradigms such as the nation-state, democracy and secularization. On the contrary, it opened the opportunity for the development of totalitarian regimes - socialism and Nazism - created precisely in Europe. Muslim-majority countries were colonized and brought to a vassal state, and their rich natural resources were enslaved. The principle of the nation state was imposed upon them by imperial methods and brutal clashes with opponents, aiming to eliminate in the long term any significant force since the overthrow of the Ottoman Empire and the attempts to destroy Turkey completely. Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Balkans emerge as a collateral damage that lasts even in the 21st century.

9

Authors: Indira Hasanovic

Gender is a social construct that outlines the roles, behaviors, activities and features that a particular society believes are appropriate for men and women. Gender equality is necessary in order to ensure a fair and productive labor market. Even though, Bosnia and Herzegovina has established legal framework including gender equality laws, women are still facing barriers to participation in the labor market. This research paper will indicate what are the main challenges behind the low participation of women in the labor market. It will provide information on gender differences; the main challenges, and also emphasize gender stereotypes which are contributing the gendered division in labor market.

10

Authors: Jahja Muhasilović

Division of historical consciousness in Bosnia and Herzegovina started before the Yugoslav Wars, but this division of historiographies and approaches towards the past resulted with more openly manifestation of the divisions to educational system and history textbooks during the wartime and post Dayton era. Even though International Community tried to change poisonous environment of ethnic hatred in which textbooks are produced, except few successes with Bosniak textbooks, not much positive development was achieved. Reform period which started in 1998 today is seen as an unfinished project. In Bosnia and Herzegovina three different versions of history with two of them having the focus point in neighboring Serbia and Croatia are taught to the students. Besides the fact that students are learning three different histories, there is a certain level of hatred and fear of others spreading through history textbooks. History textbooks became an important tool for poisoning the minds of the youth and building the barriers towards the others. This is the case especially with Serb and Croat textbooks in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ottoman period in Balkans is mainly seen as a ‘’dark age of the Balkans’’ as it is underlined in one Serbian textbook and to lesser extend in Croat ones. Even though Bosniaks see Ottoman period in more positive light than other two ethnic groups, there are certain topics and periods were it is possible to see romantistic and nationalistic tone towards the Ottomans. History textbooks in Bosnia are having negative contribution for country’s possible future dissolution and it is the one of the main source of stereotype engineering that country is passing in the last decades and which is one of the main reason of the recent wars. In the times where country is confronting with secessionist threat, it is highly important to start building Bosnian statehood and understanding of others through history textbooks, otherwise we can expect new turmoil in the region known for its sensitivity towards the ethnic conflicts.

13

Authors: Golbarg Khorsand

There are three nets that shape the basic notions in Joyce's works: religion, language and nationality. The dilemma of his plots revolves around at least one of these issues. Joyce believes that for a man to seek and reach the true nature of freedom in his life, it is necessary to leave these boundaries behind. Usually in most cases, one of the characters in Joyce's writings is captive by those nets. They are put in a dramatic situation in which a revelation would lead him/her to an epiphany. Joyce's use of symbolism and realism and also his different layers of narration is what endow significance, life and glamour to the simple plots of his stories. The main point of concentration in this paper is to define the notion of paralysis in terms of symbolism and narratology, respectively in the two short stories "Araby" and "Eveline"; to show how different symbols and different voices draw upon the desired theme of the author; how religion, language and nationality are packed into variant symbols in order to enhance their significant function in issue of paralysis and how the various methods of narration can depict the nature of paralysis with which the characters struggle.

15

Authors: Lejla Panjeta

The artistic attempt to convey the reality or the author’s vision of the reality can be reduced to the simple communication process between the creator of the strategic artistic idea or message aimed at emotions of the recipient. Manipulation with the impact of the art work results in the stereotyped values on the matter presented in the art work. Such impact is vividly evident in the motion pictures. Ever since the beginning of the film exemplary influences of the film on its audience are enormous. It is the inherent feature of film to be convincing, because if it is not, the audience does not believe the interpreted reality or identify with the story, and thus the communication process is not working properly. Why are we watching movies? We do understand that the material before our eyes is not reality, but, nevertheless if it does not follow its own principles of reality that creates within, we do not believe it. As communication in the art of film is based on the stories, and stories need heroes and enemies, the different parties in the war reality play roles in the film reality. In this reality the perception of what happened in one period of history is represented and interpreted in the movies. This perception depends on authors believes but also political adequacy at the time, place and origin of the finances for the moviemaking. The features of cinematography (placing the camera for the point of view thus interpreting the reality and transgressing the author idea and or ideology) and storytelling (narrative on Enemies and Saviors), subjugated to the stereotypes along with the propaganda possibilities and impacts of film contents and contexts in reference to the war and after war reality are the main focuses of this essay. The reviewed and referenced Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian films are: No Man’s Land, Turneja, Nafaka, Djeca, Ostavljeni, Grbavica, Gori vatra, Parada, Srpski film, 10 minuta, Notre Musique, Savršeni krug, In the Land of Blood and Honey, Venuto al Mondo, Shot through the Heart, Welcome to Sarajevo, The Hunting Party, Krugovi, and Halimin put.

20

Authors: Robert Lee Oprisko, Josh Caplan

Intersectionality came about as a critique of traditional, uniaxial studies of oppression. The initial wave argued that the intersection(s) of multiple axes of social construction create uniquely experienced forms of domination and oppression that can only be studied within the context of said intersections. Methodologically, intersectional research has been used primarily as a tool of studying dichotomous intersections of race, gender, and class. However, theoretically focused literature articulates the importance of operating in a more complex understanding of intersectional axes by adding both breadth and depth. Current intersectional studies, therefore, are locked intradeoff between precision and generalizability in any quantitative research and intersect thus far, the power of intersectionality remains unrealized. This paper argues for a large-scale expansion of the number of variables studied in order to gain the most precise understandings of social construction. This creates a tradeoff between precision and generalizability. The power of intersectionality however is not in its generalizability, but rather in its precision for the study of small-n groups. We suggest moving beyond the cake model and into acritical intersectionalitymodel that embraces the agential realism of quantum politics.