A Brief Overview of Narratives Forming Serbian Perception of Europe

Resumo

In this paper we will present some of the narratives that have influenced Serbian perception of Europe between the late Middle Ages and the early 20th century. The perceptions were prevalently ambivalent. Their main source stems from the conflicting feelings born out of kind of “cultural shock” experienced by Serbian students in European universities during the 19th century. These experiences were transferred via letters or literary works, but also directly, in their political and professional work in which they tried to apply their skills and knowledge for creating the institutions of the modern state. Although not as important, narratives from previous centuries provided a background on which these ambivalent attitudes could further develop.