The Genesis of the Slavic World: Perspectives and Limitations of Modern Slavocentric Political Discourse

Abstract

The article examines the genesis and current state of the Slavic world as a politically identical construct that arose in the first half of the 19th century in response to the civilizational stigmatization of the Slavs by the Romano-Germanic world. The author analyzes the “Slavic turn” as a form of reflexive emancipation, which, however, carries the risk of remaining dependent on Western discourse through negative self-identification – by negating of their negative image of the Slavs. Special attention is paid to the epistemic and emotional hegemony of the West, which, according to the author, continues to determine the perception of Slavic peoples both within their own societies and in international relations. The examples of Poland, Croatia, Ukraine, Montenegro, Bulgaria, and Bosnia and Herzegovina demonstrate the presence of intra-Slavic schisms, quasi-national counteridentities, and collaborationist positions that hinder the formation of a stable pan-Slavic attitude. The paper also discusses the differences in the perception of the Muslim world between Russia and Serbia as a systemic limitation for developing a common Slavic political position. The article attaches special importance to the category of “subalternized peoples,” borrowed from postcolonial theory, but given an original interpretation: by it, the author understands those Slavic societies that, while fighting for “pan-European values,” actually reproduce the colonial attitude towards themselves, becoming instruments of external control of other “backward” Slavic peoples. The conclusion is drawn that without the discursive sovereignty of Slavic states and overcoming internalized Western stereotypes, the concept of the Slavic World risks remaining an abstract political discourse devoid of concrete content and effective subjectivity.