COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE “SERBIAN WORLD” AND “GREATER SERBIA” CONCEPTS

This article aims to present designated outcomes of the author’s research on the Serbian world concept, which surfaced as an indispensable part of the public discourse in the year 2020, and has been ever since repeatedly identified with the notion of “Greater Serbia”. Hence, the methodology of the comparative analysis will be applied with the intention of systematically examining the resemblances and differences of the said concepts, including also elements of the qualitative content analysis. The qualitative content analysis includes pre-selected public statements of prominent regional stakeholders in which they identify the Serbian world with the “Greater Serbia” concept. This represents a significant approach for the understanding of the Serbian world per se and its comparison with other note-worthy concepts, because it is still regarded mainly as a mental construct. Therefore, whilst analysing this concept the focus must be placed on processes of mental shaping of the world as understood by the participants of the discourse, and on the process of the conceptualization of reality. Based on the results of the analysis, the author concludes that only its opponents regard the Serbian world as a modernized version of “Greater Serbia” with the purpose of discrediting the newly popularized term, and for which they assume will have an exclusively territorial connotation with imperial pretensions. However, the analysis has shown that the constant comparisons with “Greater Serbia” are part of an ongoing anti-Serbian campaign, and that the concept was not designed after any greater-state ideas. The Serbian world concept has a predominantly cultural dimension, with a focus on the promotion of the ‘world of values’ of the Serbian people.