Stumbling through various cultural faux pas whilst travelling might seem harmless enough, but in Bosnia & Herzegovina, adopting one person's symbol of cultural pride may also be the cause of another person's pain. This poetic binary finds its form in the three fingered Serbian salute.
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| Novak Djokovic, celebrating with the three finger Serbian Salute |
It is one of my bad habits, as I'm sure it is of many other tourists, to embrace some of the national symbols of a destination in order to show how 'cultured' you have become. This phenomenon manifests itself in tourists buying a never-to-wear-again beret in Paris, or a pair of unseasonable bikinis plastered with an Aussie flag or maybe succumbing to an evening of Guinness induced inebriation because, well, it's Ireland. The irony is, by adopting supposedly local symbols or customs, it becomes all too easy to cross the fine line from benign ignorance to outright insensitivity.
With limited success in creating a trans-ethnic identity, many pockets of Bosnia & Herzegovina are still bubbling with a confused post-war patriotic fervour. And so, whilst everyday gesticulation is not usually a tourist's main problem, this three fingered gesture has served to incite divisions in BiH.
(Side Note -And just in case it's what you were thinking; no, it is not the same as the three fingered Hunger Games' salute.)
For many Serbians this salute is an ancient one of religious pride, rooted in christian tradition with the thumb, middle and index fingers representing the holy trinity. However, it has since become synonymous as a sign of the Serbian nation.
In the 1990s in the midst of the Balkans war, this salute was consistently used by the Serbian Army for both celebration and provocation. After inflicting ethnicised atrocities (including mass torture, rape and murder) on Bosnian Croats and Muslims this symbol was what was then witnessed by the victims and their families in a show of Serbian dominance. In some cases, victims bodies were mutilated by having these three fingers cut off.
These descriptions are gruesome and confronting, yet they are necessary if you want to truly understand how something such a a simple gesture can be greatly related to personal suffering. In recent years, the Serbian salute has been seen in football matches, the olympic games and even Eurovision, and has often been met with controversy. However, it is still commonly used by Serbians (including Bosnian Serbs) as a symbol of national pride and it is not likely to disappear anytime soon.
If you travel through BiH you might come across this gesture. Like so many other aspects of travel, it is up to you whether you embrace it or reject it. A small effort as a tourist to understand a symbol's wider cultural meaning may be all it takes to make a smarter and more respectful decision.
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| Serbian Protestors Saluting in Belgrade, 21st February 2008 |
In the 1990s in the midst of the Balkans war, this salute was consistently used by the Serbian Army for both celebration and provocation. After inflicting ethnicised atrocities (including mass torture, rape and murder) on Bosnian Croats and Muslims this symbol was what was then witnessed by the victims and their families in a show of Serbian dominance. In some cases, victims bodies were mutilated by having these three fingers cut off.
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| Muslim women in the town of Vlasenica, in an ethnically Serbian part of Bosnia-Herzegovina, sit prior to an April 2012 mass funeral for victims of the Bosnian conflict. |
These descriptions are gruesome and confronting, yet they are necessary if you want to truly understand how something such a a simple gesture can be greatly related to personal suffering. In recent years, the Serbian salute has been seen in football matches, the olympic games and even Eurovision, and has often been met with controversy. However, it is still commonly used by Serbians (including Bosnian Serbs) as a symbol of national pride and it is not likely to disappear anytime soon.
If you travel through BiH you might come across this gesture. Like so many other aspects of travel, it is up to you whether you embrace it or reject it. A small effort as a tourist to understand a symbol's wider cultural meaning may be all it takes to make a smarter and more respectful decision.
Please note (if you are not familiar with the war in the former Yugoslavia), all sides committed horrendous acts of violence and people on all sides suffered. Divisive nationalism was a precursor to violence not only in the case of Bosnian Serbs but also Bosnian Croats and Muslims.
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