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Have you ever been in Bosnia? British military travelers in the Balkans since 1992

Have you ever been in Bosnia? British military travelers in the Balkans since 1992
Have you ever been in Bosnia? British military travelers in the Balkans since 1992
Tens of thousands of British military personnel traveled in former Yugoslavia as peacekeepers between 1992 and 2007. The settlements where British forces established their military presence and supply chain were conceptually far from former Yugoslavia’s tourist sites, but military travelers made sense of them by drawing on the commonplaces of previous travel accounts and the lessons of pre-deployment training.

British military travelers constructed themselves as often frustrated helpers in Bosnia who struggled with political limitations on their activities but found satisfaction in improving socio-economic relations at the level of the immediate community. For troops, long otiose periods in a stabilizing and startlingly cheap country engendered a touristic sensibility. This paper draws on published memoirs and more than fifty new oral history interviews with British peacekeepers and their Bosnian employees to illustrate how British military travelers drew on, perpetuated and changed the patterns and representation of British travel to the Balkans.
balkans, bosnia-herzegovina, military, peacekeeping, travel
1752-2358
63-92
Baker, Catherine
50f848f3-f852-43ef-8bbc-a087313a779f
Baker, Catherine
50f848f3-f852-43ef-8bbc-a087313a779f

Baker, Catherine (2011) Have you ever been in Bosnia? British military travelers in the Balkans since 1992. Journeys: the International Journal of Travel and Travel Writing, 12 (1), 63-92. (doi:10.3167/jys.2011.120104).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Tens of thousands of British military personnel traveled in former Yugoslavia as peacekeepers between 1992 and 2007. The settlements where British forces established their military presence and supply chain were conceptually far from former Yugoslavia’s tourist sites, but military travelers made sense of them by drawing on the commonplaces of previous travel accounts and the lessons of pre-deployment training.

British military travelers constructed themselves as often frustrated helpers in Bosnia who struggled with political limitations on their activities but found satisfaction in improving socio-economic relations at the level of the immediate community. For troops, long otiose periods in a stabilizing and startlingly cheap country engendered a touristic sensibility. This paper draws on published memoirs and more than fifty new oral history interviews with British peacekeepers and their Bosnian employees to illustrate how British military travelers drew on, perpetuated and changed the patterns and representation of British travel to the Balkans.

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More information

Published date: 1 June 2011
Keywords: balkans, bosnia-herzegovina, military, peacekeeping, travel

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 184031
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/184031
ISSN: 1752-2358
PURE UUID: 1ab59818-d4bc-43c7-b9e8-b49e412c60ce

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Date deposited: 11 May 2011 09:36
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 03:05

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Author: Catherine Baker

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