ABSTRACT
The Balkan idea in circulation, the view of the Balkans that has acquired discursive currency, is "balkanization", which refers to the centrifugal dissolution of a region and the division among its antagonistic entities. The idea of the Balkans is coterminous with that of their locus no matter how that may be defined. The same can be said about intellectuals from outside the Balkans, even those with the friendliest and most enlightened dispositions. One simple explanation is that for both Balkan and non-Balkan alike there is no such thing as the Balkans to be surveyed, theorized, and elaborated. Aside from that, however, at least at the juncture in time, there may be no point in talking about the Balkans in terms other than that of ideology critique—that is, in order to criticize and take apart dominant representations of the idea in the arts, media, policies, and cultural geographies.
