Fractured discursivity: discursive governance in Serbia in relation to nationalism and xenophobia (2012–2016)

Since the end of the wars of the Yugoslav secession, and a decade after the declaration of Kosovo’s independence, the Western Balkans – Serbia included – have somewhat fallen off the radar within the realm of scholarly interest. Yet the political and social situation has changed in Serbia since 2012 and the rise to power of the former Yugoslav warmonger, Aleksandar Vučić, who currently serves as the country’s president. This article analyzes discursive governance tactics in Serbia, wherein, led by President Vučić, discourse fractures into rhetoric offered to the international community, and rhetoric promulgated within the country. Furthermore, there is a significant difference between official and unofficial governmental discourses, which is referred to in this article as fractured discursivity. Whilst xenophobia (and corresponding nationalism) is almost nonexistent in foreign relations, they are used as rhetorical strategies within the country, in a stronger fashion when it comes to unofficial discourse. Fractured discursivity is developed as a theoretical view, drawing upon existing theories of discourse and politics, in order to offer a lens through which the difference in rhetoric and discursive governance strategies can be explained.