The puppets and the puppeteers

The presentation will introduce some aspects of the national mythmaking and nation-building processes in present day Macedonia, examining both their distribution and effects on the Macedonian society. These would be examined through the standpoints of the citizens of the capital - Skopje, and the inhabitants of Dolno Dupeni village on the Greek-Macedonian-Albanian border, based on ethnographic data (observations, interviews, etc.). The lecture will aim to introduce the perceptions of the nation-state’s historical narrative among the Macedonians as well as to demonstrate some reciprocal strategies, developed in answer to the governmental politics of identity construction.