Marshall Tito Street is also an exception, though, to these transformative processes. Heightened resistance ensued when a commission attempted to change the name of Sarajevo’s main avenue to reflect a Bosnian head. Since the fall of Communism, the central boulevard in Sarajevo has maintained its title of Marshall Tito Street, nostalgically commemorating the former Yugoslav leader. Why Sarajevo has kept the memory of Tito alive on its main street while so many other cities under the former Yugoslavia have changed theirs remains complex. Perhaps it is form of protest intended to preserve distinctive ethnic characteristics that were strongly present in the Yugoslav era and to resist the imposed unification of Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats. Defiance is a tool, and “if one mode of operation of power is to attach identities to subjects, to tie subjects to their own identities through self-knowledge, then resistance serves to reshape subjects by untying or untidying that relationship,” (Gupta, Ferguson). Perhaps, according to a professor at the University of Sarajevo, it represents a failed attempt at imposing new ideology in Sarajevo. In the photograph below, for instance, someone has spray painted under the Maršala Tita street sign the words “Probudite se! (Wake up!) No global.” For a shop keeper in Baščaršija, the time during which Tito was present was a much happier time, and that many still feel affectionate toward the Yugoslav strongman. Our tour guide stated that people felt protected and taken care of by Tito. In this time, Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs lived harmoniously. After Tito died, Bosnia became an independent state subject to devastating losses which incited fear and panic, to say the least. A response commonly encountered during my time in Sarajevo was this: life was simply better under Tito. Now that the war has ended, many wish to live in concurrence with all ethnic groups. Maybe keeping the name Maršala Tita serves a reminder that Sarajevo is not for one ethnic group, age group, or regime. Our hotel manager, a Muslim man, asserted that he did not mind Croats or Serbs. “To me,” he said, “we are all Bosnians.” Additional thoughts or comments are warmly welcome. Please visit the blog page. A graffiti memorial to Tito on Maršala Tita Street.Blog/Blog.htmlshapeimage_1_link_0
The Tito Exception