Dimic: We live in a time of attempts to revise the past

Historian and long-time member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts Ljubodrag Dimic said that we are living in a time of major attempts to revise the past, in which other nations' cultural, academic and historical arguments and important dates are being appropriated and misused. Because of this, he said, all significant dates in national history should be protected, and Vidovdan is one of them.

"As for the initiative to protect cultural heritage, it certainly deserves support. We are living in a time of sweeping revisionism, especially regarding the past, and in this revision of history, people appropriate the cultural, academic and historical arguments and important dates of others, resulting in a major and unacceptable misuse, particularly when it comes to history. Therefore, all dates of importance in our national history should be protected. As for Vidovdan, of course, we always associate it with the Middle Ages, the Battle of Kosovo and something that was at once both a victory and a defeat for the Serbian people, but which enabled them to preserve the spiritual memory of their glorious medieval past. In a way, Vidovdan became the date on which the Serbian people turned inward and reflected on that memory," Dimic told Kosovo Online.

He pointed out that almost all major historical events concerning the Serbian people took place on Vidovdan.

He added that this is why Vidovdan carries special significance for every generation and should not be viewed merely as part of the past.

"It should be seen as a moment in which we live today and as a part of our cultural heritage that we must pass on to future generations. However, when it comes to history, everything connected with that date must be studied rationally and presented rationally, without mystification, glorification or mythologization. Anything else is harmful because it creates the possibility of losing our way in the time in which we live," he said.

According to Dimic, there are nations whose elites openly say that if they had a day like Vidovdan, they would use it as the foundation for a national revival and as a firm basis on which to build their national culture, historical memory and identity.

"Vidovdan is one of those foundational dates that the Serbian people possess. It reminds them of who they once were and compels them to become what they should be in the future. Vidovdan is something that allows each person to look inward, confront themselves and tell themselves the truth, if not others. We Serbs should ask ourselves how we relate to our past and why we trivialize what we have, because what we possess is undeniable proof of our existence, our continuity and our cultural contribution to what European culture is today," Dimic said.