Sarajevo Under Siege Ch.

1 Mihael Dasovic B block

Summary:
The author opens up the ethnography by describing the social organisation of the Yugoslav country, world
and the social norms that had governed the lives during that era. She talks about how the war did not only
mean the loss of the human life, but also a lost of a nation, Yugoslavia, and how it has changed the whole
Balkans for worse and had a major impact on the peoples lives.
Live if Sarajevo was especially hard as people could barely scrape up for the food or afford life necessities.
Saving your “head” was as valued as having something to eat, as most people were emancipated due to
lack of food. War has destroyed properties os significant values and affected a lot of aspects in the affected
countries.
People were sorted into three modes regarding the perception on the war. Some saw it as an outbreak,
some thought it was a sort of a social event and some have realised what was actually going on or about to
happen.
The war was caused due to politics, and the political violence caused the outbreak. People would not have
jumped into such conflict if it weren’t for the politics. they were exploiting their needs for security, promoting
their own version of “reality:. People were divided by nationality, religion, backgrounds, residences, age,
gender, family status,… all of the social norms were taken into account when regarding the differentiation of
the people.
She has gathered all of her data through the connections she has made with people in Sarajevo and the
family she was staying with. It was common for people to share their was experiences with each other during
that time.
She speaks about how her national identity and the fact that she is Croatian have affected her research, as
people would look and treat her differently.
In order to break out of Sarajevo people had to have connection with the military. However Sarajevo’s airport
was a lifeline, but it’s capacity was limited to a few selected individuals.

Quotes:
P5: The solider mode offers a moral rationale for conflict, making the destruction and killing seem necessary
and even acceptable.
P6: Violence disrupts normality; the norm does not hold anymore.
P7: It is your head that will get blown off if you don't get down immediately.
P9: Almost every detail of everyday life was subject to constant evaluation and revaluation.
P13: I was both a stranger ad a friend.
P14: My national identity influenced my fieldwork primarily, however, because it affected how others saw me.
P27: Before the tunnel was dug, Sarajevo's had to run across the runway hiding from the UN searchlights
and the hail of bullets from Serbian snipers to reach the road into and out of Sarajevo.
This tunnel was eight hundred meter long and it took thirty five minutes to go through it, in a stooped
position, which water up to one’s knees here and there.
P31: People’s most important concern , after not getting show, were not being cold and not going hungry.