Feature Film as Intangible Cultural Heritage The Safeguarding and Transmission of Public History and Cultural Memory in Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams (2006)

Kosmidou, Eleftheria Rania

Abstract

This chapter discusses Jasmila Žbanić’s Grbavica: The Land of my Dreams (2006) as an Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) by advocating for the film’s social and cultural value. It argues that the film attempts to make sense of the history and memory of the Bosnian War in a personal as well as collective level. To do this, it engages with a close textual analysis of the film that combines film studies and interdisciplinary discussions regarding collective memory and postmemory. In particular, the chapter considers how the film creates, preserves and transmits historical knowledge in the form of the traumatic collective and personal memories of gender violence during war time it deals with, specifically rape violence and female victimhood during the Bosnian War. In doing this, Grbavica: The Land of my Dreams powerfully assists in collective identity formation and cohesion, which are crucial aspects of ICH.

• Publication Date: May 1, 2025
• Deposit Date: May 12, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 2, 2026
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Book Title: Intangible Cultural Heritage and New Methodological Frameworks
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003415329-13
• Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge Intangible Cultural Heritage and New Methodological Frameworks on 2025, available online: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003415329-13/feature-film-intangible-cultural-heritage-eleftheria-rania-kosmidou