Censorship of Njegosh, in the past and now

Montenegro and the future

Attempts to re-write or re-orient history did not have many takers except a few intellectuals in Montenegro. - Two questions stand out in my mind: nationality (narodnost): Serb; citizenship (drzavljanstvo): Montenegrin.

By Alex N. Dragnich

The recent discussions about the status of Montenegro and the future reminded me of some experiences I had when I was doing research in Belgrade on the 1970s. I was impressed by the fact that among the intellectuals in Belgrade the Montenegrins were very numerous and that they were the most outspoken defenders of Serbian interest.

As every one knows the Tito regime tried to sow division and discord between the Serbs of Serbia and those of Montenegro. Specifically, Tito's policy was calculated to get the inhabitants of Montenegro to think of themselves as Montenegrins instead of Serbs. The policy, went so far as to seek to deny that the greatest Serbian literary figure, Njegosh, was a Serb. Njegosh could not be listed in the encyclopedia or in the section on Serbia as a Serb. In a printing of an anthology of his works, Njegosh was censored by cutting out the words "Serb" and "Serbian", wherever they appeared. Moreover, at the time of the new (and controversial) dedication of the Njegosh mausoleum on Mount Lovchen, only parts of his classic The Mountain Wreath, did not contain the words "Serb," "Serbian," or "Serbs" were read.

These attempts to re-write or re-orient history did not have many takers except a few intellectuals in Montenegro. But it was impossible for anyone to take issue with official policies. In the summer of 1986, however, a literacy bombshell hit the Belgrade bookstores in the form of a book entitled Montenegrins About Themselves (Crnogorci o sebi: prilog istoriji crnogorske nacije). This was answer to those, as the author maintained, who "grosely falsify history". The author was Batric Jovanovic from Montenegro, a Communist party member since 1940, and the holder of the Partisan medal of 1941, meaning that he was among the first in Tito's movement. He was also a former member of the Yugoslav parliament, who had held a number of other responsible positions in Yugoslavia.

Jovanovic reported that he had read most of the historical works by Montenegrins and found that they always thought of themselves as Serbs, many asserting that they were the best Serbs. Jovanovic also told a Belgrade interviewer that he had also read many books about Montenegrins written in French, Russian, English, German, and Italian, and that all of them treat Montenegrins as Serbs, as part of the Serbian people.

On a personal note, my father and mother came from Montenegro and in answer to questions, they always said that they were Serbs from Montenegro. And I recall an identity document that Dad had. Two questions stand out in my mind: nationality (narodnost): Serb; citizenship (drzavljanstvo): Montenegrin.