Cosmopolitan memory

The Old Bridge of Mostar, a sixteenth-century Ottoman architectural masterpiece symbolizing ethnic integration, was destroyed during the Bosnian War (1992–1995) as a deliberate act by Croatian forces. This destruction marked a dramatic shift from Mostar’s pre-war cosmopolitan identity to one defined by ethnic fragmentation and conflict. The study examines how this physical and symbolic erasure reflects broader historical tensions, illustrating the interplay between memory, urban geography, and political violence. It employs qualitative analysis of historical accounts, architectural symbolism, and post-conflict narratives to explore the loss of cosmopolitanism in a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

(Ed.). (2012). Cosmopolitan memory. Routledge Handbook of Cosmopolitanism Studies, 270–282. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203837139-29