Ethnic and Personal Borders in the Film “Obrana i zaštita”

The study of divided cities creates an inexhaustible range of topics that can be continuously (re)interpreted in a scientific sense. One such topic is that of ethnic borders, which can be understood not only through the macro-context on the political and social level, but also within the micro-level lens – personal (individual) boundaries. Using the example of the film “Obrana i zaštita” (translated into English as “A Stranger”, but literally meaning “Defense and Protection”), it is possible to explore both levels of borders in Mostar. The division in this city is expressed in an informal, or rather symbolic sense, since it is a single urban area from an administrative point of view. Therefore, Mostar is one city “on paper” but “in people’s minds” it remained divided after the war, which is why the ethnic (symbolic) border between Croats and Bosniaks who move throughout the city on a daily or occasional basis often intertwines with their personal borders. The film “Obrana i zaštita” depicts the main character confronted with crossing both of the aforementioned levels of boundaries, trying to remain consistent on the external level in front of the social environment (“both ethnic sides”), while on the internal level he struggles with the consequences of his actions and thoughts. By equating these two levels of borders, the protagonist thinks that he is distancing himself from his own, already very different and “atypical” experience of Croat ethnic identity. Such distancing would “worsen” the frequent border crossings that some Croats may perceive as “destructive” and “meaningless”, given the belief that “everything” one needs can be found in “their” western part of the city. Slavko’s life “on the border”, i.e. the (un)official ethnic narrative (at the institutional level of identification), regardless of his internal dilemmas, affects the individual level of identification. The intertwining of ethnic and personal borders “in the head” of the main protagonist in the film “Defense and Protection” shows the multi-layered identity complexity of Mostar’s inhabitants and underscores the necessity of paying attention to the micro-context, in contrast to the macro-context that has been widely discussed for several decades.