Imagological Patterns in Dragi Mihajlovski's Novel Mojot Skenderbey

Abstract

Considering the imagological conceptions of the Other by Daniel-Henri Pageau and Gordana Đerić, this text analyses the role of literature in the deconstruction of stereo-types that circulate in communication between Balkan neighbours. In the focus of our interpretation is Dragi Mihajlovski’s novel Mojot Skenderbej, which is paradigmatic in two ways: 1.the novel refers to historical events and figures, thus confirming that history is the basic mechanism for the argumentation of stereotypical images; 2.the novel depicts processes of destereotyping both thematically and structurally, but also by its appearance in a particular sociohistorical context, with the aim of promoting supranational, universal, human, civilizational, and cultural values such as love, empa-thy, forgiveness, dialogue, tolerance, education, love of books, optimism, humaneness, all of which are usually treated as originally European values. Literature, by articulating the processes of destereotyping through the narrative strategies in the works, confirms that it holds the potential to act correctively on systems where different forms of power are based on discrimination and submission.