Titostalgia. A Study of Nostalgia for Josip Broz, Mitja Velikonja, Mirovni Institut, Ljubljana, 2008. Available for free download and to buy here.
Titostalgia. A Study of Nostalgia for Josip Broz is a book by Mitja Velikonja, a Slovenian academic working on memory, subcultures, and South-Eastern Europe. Published in 2008 by the Institute for Peace in Ljubljana, it only addresses what concerns the subject up to that year. Of about 150 pages, 120 excluding the bibliography, it deals with titostalgia, a contraction of the terms “nostalgia” and “Tito.”
Josip Broz, known as “Tito”, was the leader of socialist Yugoslavia from 1944 until his death in 1980. Before that, during the Second World War, he led the Partisans who liberated pre-war and post-war Yugoslavia entities. He was, therefore, an important figure – the most important in socialist Yugoslavia, and is inherently associated with it even today.
What Titostalgia addresses is nostalgia for Tito: How is he remembered today? How does the memory for Tito manifest? Where? In what objects? Moreover, what does it show about society?
Mitja Velikonja has organized his work on titostalgia into three parts, plus an introduction and a conclusion. The following is a review of his study.
Introduction
The introduction shortly explains the notions that will be developed further: nostalgia, nostalgia for Tito, and yugonostalgia, nostalgia for socialist Yugoslavia. The two go together since Tito was a socialist Yugoslavia, and a socialist Yugoslavia would never have existed without him. We regret one while regretting the other. However, one of the two, titostalgia, is expressed more concretely and efficiently, since it concerns someone. This someone can be represented in objects, celebrated in places and events. Thus, we show what he embodied. However, firstly, a political figure, he is now (partly) a commercial tool.
Nostalgia and Memory
This part explains the notions of memory and nostalgia. Memory is formed during a given period – in this case, Tito’s socialist Yugoslavia for titostalgia (1944-1980). It can also be formed after this period through more or less realistic memories and by the presence of this period in daily life under different forms. Nostalgic memories are proof of dissatisfaction in the present, disappointment with unmet promises, and the impossibility of projecting oneself into the future. In reaction, we turn to the past, which we know and idealize. There are two types of nostalgia: direct nostalgia, that is to say, nostalgia for a period that the individual has experienced, and indirect nostalgia, which is transmitted to an individual who did not experience this era.
Nostalgia is, therefore, a regret for the past that we want for our future because we are unhappy with the present. Unfortunately, we know that this wish is unreachable, so we lose hope. The past no longer exists, and the future does not exist either.
Nostalgia is a feeling, but it can also be used for commercial purposes, for example. The nostalgic feeling is cultivated by objects we purchase or get and by events in which we participate to remind us of the past and give ourselves a moment of enjoyment.
The author Mitja Velikonja presents this to us here: titostalgia is used for commercial and tourist purposes. He describes how he proceeded to study this nostalgia. He noted the representations of Tito, their places, objects, their creators, and users/consumers.
The Culture of Titostalgia
In this part, Mitja examines the objects, places, and events where titostalgia is present. It can be found in all spheres: public and private spaces, hotels and restaurants, urban spaces, etc.
Consumers good
Here are some of the objects where we find Tito and which, therefore, illustrate and cultivate the titostalgic feeling: pens, cups, notebooks, clothes, accessories, statues, and statuettes. These everyday objects can be found and purchased and are sold everywhere, both in the countries of former Yugoslavia and beyond their borders, such as Germany, Russia, and China.
Some of these objects have been produced since he died in 1980 and the breakup of socialist Yugoslavia in 1991 to use his image to sell more. Another part of these objects dates from when he ruled the State and continues circulating: stamps, cards, and medals.
Other elements that cause and cultivate titostalgia are food, but especially drink: sandwiches, mineral water, and alcohol.
Literature also fosters this nostalgia with realistic or sensational writings by authors who knew him. What are they talking about? They are talking about his diet, private life, and everything.
Another field in which titostalgia manifests itself is tourism. Many places, hotels, restaurants, and cafes brag that Tito was once there to attract customers and tourists. However, his name is also in every day and non-commercial places: parks, squares, streets, schools, and factories.
Places
Therefore, places are full of elements that cultivate Tito’s nostalgia. In his birthplace, Krumovec, in Croatia, a memorial and a park with his name have been erected. The village is even a pilgrimage site. At the House of Flowers, in Belgrade, Serbia, lies his tomb in the Museum of Yugoslavia History, which is, therefore, (and perhaps even above all) a Tito museum.
Finally, events, culture, and the arts are also vectors of titostalgia: events, sports, movies, exhibitions, music groups, books, etc.
The image and figure of Tito are, therefore, present in all areas and forms: in the public, in the private, in the collective, in the official, and in the individual spheres. Many of these elements are produced for commercial purposes by using his image to attract and sell.
Titostalgic Culture
Here, the author does not deal with “where” Tito is present but with “how” he is represented and what he embodies. This concerns both the elements mentioned in the above section and others.
His portrait, evocation, and memory are comforting since they remind us of a time when “everything was better and easier.” It also serves as a historical marker: “during Tito’s time,” “after Tito.”
Titostalgia is explained and justified: “We miss him, we love him. He was a humble man, close to the people, he beamed. He made Yugoslavia famous and respected globally and guaranteed security, prosperity, and progress.” Therefore, His image is positive, reassuring, comforting, and representative of an era when everything was fine.
Limits, Clarifications, and State of Society
Mitja Velikonja presents and rejects this section’s arguments about the material and immaterial titostalgia. He goes beyond received discourses and ideas, delving into them and sometimes debunking them. Moreover, he does so in 13 points:
Tito’s use
1– Tito’s “return” is the consequence of the catastrophic events that followed his death (wars, crises, economic and political stagnation). It is logical because, in his time, everything was fine, and since then, everything has gone wrong. That is why we want him back with us.
2 and 3– Those who are nostalgic may sometimes be more nostalgic about their youth and the good old days than about Tito. For young people who did not even know Tito and Yugoslavia, their nostalgia is a kind of “neostalgia.” Their nostalgia is transmitted by their environment, both alive and material, then internalized and “experienced.”
4– Tito is a hero who defeated and outlasted all the villains of the 20th century. He was close to the people. However, (point 10), he led a luxurious life, met the jet set, and traveled a lot.
5– Of course, he was an original political figure. However, he carried on the pan-Yugoslavism that had already existed with the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, and pre-war Yugoslavia. So, he did not invent Yugoslavia, as many people think.
6– Tito sells well. He is deliberately used to increase sales and the number of visitors, even if sometimes the product has nothing to do with him at all.
State of the society
7– The “rehabilitation” of Tito after his death is a concrete expression of regret for the past. It is only one among many. However, this one is easier to express because the man is not that far away in time, and he is someone, something tangible. These elements partly explain why he is the figure chosen to express and use one of the different nostalgias.
8– Titostalgia and its positive image exist among left-wingers, nationalists, and others. Some also fight and accuse each other of using Tito, while others would not be against returning to Yugoslavia (point 11).
9– Despite everything, not everyone is nostalgic or even blind. Some think this nostalgia is ridiculous and retrograde, trapping people and the country in a sort of inertia, feeding constant dissatisfaction and despair, and preventing or slowing down society’s progress. It shows the condition of society, which lives in the past and is unable to project itself into the future because it is disappointed in the present.
12– So, overall, the image of Yugoslavia and Tito is (very) good. Moreover, the image of this socialist period is better in Yugoslavia than in other communist/socialist countries. This is partly due to the anti-propaganda in socialist Yugoslavia, which presented the country as much better and more open than other eastern countries.
13– Titostalgia is a rejection of the current political situation, which provokes discontent and despair. It is an indirect critique of the present, rejecting unfair globalization, capitalism, US/EU/NATO unilateralism, and militarization.
Conclusion: “We are Tito’s; Tito is ours.”
This concludes Mitja’s study of titostalgia, which is part of yugonostalgia. It comes in different forms and different areas. As a whole, Tito’s image is positive. Titostalgia concentrates on expressing feelings about today’s society, which we would like to be closer to a socialist Yugoslavia. However, as nostalgically remembered and presented, this Yugoslavia and this Tito never existed: they are imagined and idealized, partly as some would have liked them to be or as the future they would have liked to see.
On the one hand, this titostalgia can be found in everyday life and public places, for commercial purposes; on the other hand, it can be found at an individual level, as each person makes it their own.
Concluding remarks
Titostalgia. A Study of Nostalgia for Josip Broz by Mitja Velikonja is the perfect book if you want to learn about Tito’s nostalgia 30 years after his death and 20 years after the breakup of socialist Yugoslavia. This study is evident and accessible, full of examples and images. Moreover, it includes a touch of humor and makes a difference between the modern countries of former Yugoslavia. Last but not least, it can be accessed for free online.
It would be interesting to study titostalgia again, but the one from 2024, i.e., 15 years after Mitja. Where is it now? Is titostalgia less or more vivid? What does it show about society? Have things changed?
