The thesis examines Serbian conspiracy culture at the time of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in the spring of 1999. During the war, conspiratorial themes became a regular occurrence in Serbian mainstream media, as well as in pronouncements by the Serbian political establishment. For the most part, conspiratorial explanations focused on the machinations of transnational elite organisations such as the Bilderberg group or, more generally, on the conspiracy of 'the West'. However, conspiratorial accounts of the war occasionally invoked themes which were previously deemed to be beyond the boundaries of acceptable opinion, such as the allusion to a Jewish conspiracy or to the esoteric and occult aspects of the alleged plot. The thesis outlines the history of conspiracy theories in Serbia and critically reviews psychological approaches to understanding the nature of conspiracy theories. It suggests that the study of conspiratorial discourse requires the exploration of the rhetorical and argumentative structure of specific conspiratorial explanations, while paying special attention to the historical and ideological context within which these explanations are situated. The thesis is largely based upon the examination of the coverage of the war in the Serbian press. Recorded conversations with two well-known Serbian conspiracy theorists are also analysed. The study suggest that conspiratorial interpretations of the war drew upon a longstanding conspiracy tradition of explanation which has a strong anti-semitic legacy and is rooted in right-wing Christian ideology. Analytic chapters explore the discursive and ideological dynamics by which the anti-semitic and mystical aspects of the conspiracy tradition emerged briefly in Serbian mainstream media and political discourse. The thesis concludes by examining the status of conspiracy theories in Serbia in the aftermath of the political changes in October 2000.

The presented work deals with the topic of the relationship between the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) and the regime of Slobodan Milosevic in the years 1987 - 2000, which is a topic that has scarcely been elaborated upon in academic circles. It specifically deals with the concept of symphony as an Orthodox ideal of the arrangement of relationship between the Church and the state in the SOC policy towards the Serbian political leadership of that time. The thesis illuminates the origins and the essence of this concept and defines the adjustments which it went through in the Serbian milieu. In comparison to the original concept of symphonic interaction between the Church and the power of the state, the author establishes the core alteration as the addition of a national aspect and the creation of an organizational triad of nation, Church and state, which became a characteristic feature of the Serbian Orthodox theology. Based upon the analysis of SOC discourse, the treatise then refreshes the proposition that the symphony of Church and state, taking into account specific attributes, forms a key framework that has influenced and to this day to a certain extent still influences the SOC policy and its approach to a particular political power and regime.

(česky) Tématem mojí práce je přiblížení sporných otázek týkajících se národního vymezení srbské komunity v Dalmácii mezi lety 1878 až 1905. Jedná se o dílčí posouzení vztahu pra-voslavné církve a srbského národního hnutí v Dalmácii. Dále se práce zaměřuje na zformová-ní komunity římskokatolických Srbů a jejich vnitřní profilací. Zkoumán je rovněž srbský pří- stup k jejich konfliktu s Chorvaty v rámci Dalmácie. Práce má též přiblížit historiografické spory vedené na toto téma mezi chorvatskými a srbskými historiky. V práci se přibližuji okolnosti zformování srbského národního hnutí a vzniku samostatné politické srbské strany. Ve zvoleném období se věnuji v rámci strany prezentovanému přístupu k pravoslaví a přístupu vedení pravoslavné církve k vymezení srbské národní identity. Dále se zabývám římskokatolickými Srby a spornými otázkami s nimi spojenými. Zaměřil jsem se také na postoj srbské reprezentace k chorvatskému národnímu hnutí a vypo- řádání se s jeho nároky v rámci vlastního národního projektu. Zjistil jsem, že propojení mezi liberálním srbským národním hnutím a místním vedením pravoslavné církve bylo těsnější, než je běžně uváděno v odborné literatuře. V případě Srbů katolíků se mi podařilo přiblížit konflikt mezi jejich vírou a národní identitou, ale i jejich roli v místním...

Dans cette thèse je démontre comment les imaginaires de la nation serbe, de l’Occident et des valeurs universelles (démocratie, droits de l’homme et tolérance) véhiculées au sein de la revue ‘Orthodoxie’ (publiée par l’Eglise Orthodoxe Serbe) ont pour but final la préservation de la position sociale de l’Eglise et de ses intérêts en tant qu’une institution religieuse au sein de la société serbe. Cette ‘résistance’ aux changements construit des imaginaires sociaux qui nous appréhendons comme des représentations sociales et ont tendance à (re)devenir la vision dominante de la société serbe. J’étudie le discours de la revue ‘Orthodoxie’ et des acteurs qui y contribuent afin de montrer le processus des créations des imaginaires sociaux et leurs tentatives de se présenter au public et dans la sphère publique comme les courants de pensée dominants concernant la nation serbe, l’Occident et les valeurs ‘universelles’. J’ai répondu aux questions suivantes : - comment la tradition nationale « se traditionalise », la culture nationale s’idéalise et l’identité nationale se sacralise ? - comment l’imaginaire de l’Europe et de la culture européenne/occidentale (‘EUX’) se construisent en opposition à l’imaginaire de la nation serbe (‘NOUS’) ? - comment les valeurs de la démocratie, des droits de l’homme et de la tolérance sont imaginées à travers une telle construction opposée (‘EUX’ versus ‘NOUS’) ? / In this thesis I demonstrate how do the imaginaries of Serbian nation, of Occident and of ‘universal’ Values (democracy, human rights, tolerance), constructed in the journal published by the SOC serve as factors of conservation and protection of the social position of the Church, its social and political interests in the sense of national religious institution in the Serbian society. The ‘resistance’ to change allows the construction of social imaginaries that we comprehend as social representations with a tendency to become (again) or to impose them as a dominant vision of the Serbian society. I studied the discourse in the ‘Orthodoxy’ journal and the social actors that published their articles in order to demonstrate the process of the creation of social imaginaries and the tentative to present them publicly/in the public sphere as dominant currents of social thoughts on Serbian nation, Occident and ‘universal’ values. I answered to the following questions:- The way national tradition is “traditionalized”, national culture is idealized and national identity is sacralized.- How the imaginary of Europe and European/western culture (‘THEM) are constructed in an opposition to the imaginary of a Serbian nation (‘US’)?- How the values of democracy, human rights and tolerance are imagined through this opposed imaginary construction (‘US’ vs ‘THEM’)?

This work examines issues related to the national definition of the Serb community in Dalmatia between 1878 and 1905. It provides a partial assessment of the relationship between the Orthodox Church and the Serbian National Movement in Dalmatia. The thesis focuses on the formation of the Roman Catholic community of Serbs and the internal profile of this community. It also studies how the Serbians approached their conflict with the Croats within Dalmatia. This work also closely considers the historiographical disputes held on this topic between Croatian and Serbian historians. The work examines the circumstances leading up to the formation of the Serbian national movement and the creation of the independent Serbian political parties. I specifically focus on the political parties within the selected period for which Orthodoxy and the Orthodox Church are closely tied to the definition of the Serbian national identity. I also deal with the contentious issues with the Serbs and Roman Catholic communities. I also study the attitude of Serb representatives to the Croatian national movement and deal with their rights under this national project. I found that the connection between the liberal Serbian National Movement and the local leadership of the Orthodox Church was closer than is commonly reported in...