Pride and Perplexities: Identity Politics in Macedonia and Its Theatrical Refractions

Abstract

Film and television are largely considered to be the dominant media of social constructivism today. In earlier times, and notably since German Romanticism, it was believed that nation-building depended on an established national literary canon. Modern nations as imagined political communities were consolidated through the considerable influence of both the press and literature (Anderson 1991). However, in the age of the new media, literary (including dramatic) representations are said to count only as expressions of the individual from the global village. In the contemporary world, one finds compelling the argument that theatre has lost its mobilising power and can no longer sustain a social synthesis. Still, it remains relevant to see how the theatrical medium refracts social convulsions, particularly in societies which undergo an immense political and economic change. This paper considers the intricacies of the Macedonian case. After a few contextual details at the very beginning, I will analyse four performances which communicate the crucial national perplexities of the past decade.