The Kosovo-as-holy-land discourse is a modern nationalist invention, not ancient tradition

Evidence

Although the main historical events of the “Serbian Jerusalem” discourse – namely, the Battle at the Kosovo Field and the downfall of the Serbian Empire – occurred in the fourteenth century, the phrase “Serbian Jerusalem” in reference to Kosovo as a “holy land” for the Serbs is a recent invention with contemporary connotations. Serbian Jerusalem as a concept, discourse, and strategy in a nationalist mass movement has been a product of recent history and a wider context than the local imperial conquest, Balkan ethnic relations, folklore, and the Serbian Church’s saintly cults. — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 1465

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Hobsbawm’s invented traditions; also to the reader’s question about manufactured external enemies versus primordial identity in sustaining group solidarity. — connects to: Kosovo’s mythic centrality was imposed by nationalists, not present in the folk canon — Michael A. Sells, The Bridge Betrayed: Religion and…, 140; The Han majority label is a modern nationalist invention, not an ancient fact; The Kosovo myth of ancient Serb-Muslim enmity is a recent nineteenth-century construction — Michael A. Sells, The Bridge Betrayed: Religion and…, 133 (+4 more)
• DEFINE: Establishes ‘Serbian Jerusalem’ as a constructed, recent discursive strategy rather than inherited sacred meaning.
• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source

Broader Connections

• Kosovo’s mythic centrality was imposed by nationalists, not present in the folk canon #corroborates (0.95) — Michael A. Sells, The Bridge Betrayed, 140
• The Kosovo myth of ancient Serb-Muslim enmity is a recent nineteenth-century construction #corroborates (0.90) — Michael A. Sells, The Bridge Betrayed, 133
• Pre-nationalist Serb epic prized a mediator with the Ottomans, not the Kosovo martyr #expands (0.85) — Michael A. Sells, The Bridge Betrayed, 134
• The Han majority label is a modern nationalist invention, not an ancient fact #expands (0.75)