The Transformations of the Macedonian Ethno-national Narrative in the Antifascist Context The Twilight of the ‘Classical Land’ through the Visions of ASNOM’s vice-president Emanuel Cuckov

The end of the Second World War and the victory of the antifascist coalition and forces in Europe brought a new rapidly changing global and European landscape. The European nations were freed from the global aggression nurtured under the ideological auspices of the National Socialism. Yet, the ideas and traditions of nationhood that National Socialism built upon were part of a wider and traditionally prevalent societal context in Germany and Europe. After all, the end of the Second World War also marked the Centennial of the Spring of Nations.
While its Prodigal Son, the National Socialism, was both militarily and ideologically defeated, the 19th century German-born concept of Kultur was thriving in the new post-colonial context of the “free nations”.
This presentation analyzes the Macedonian ethno-national narrative in this wider methodological matrix, tracing the key elements of Macedonian antifascist context that enhanced its transformative process. Focusing on the visions and worldviews of a leading Macedonian intellectual, ASNOMs vice president, Emauel Cuckov, the presentation exposes the ideological milieu of the post-war Macedonia where the conservative and liberal remnants were rapidly sidelined by the new communist or communist-inspired principles and ideas.
The presentation hypothesizes that the elements of earlier “civilizational model”, or “French” model of national identity, lingering in the pre-war narratives of the Macedonian identity, due to the particularity of the Macedonian antifascist context, were demoted in favor of a more Volksgeist-centered historical narrative. Yet, the endurance and important place of these elements of the Macedonian identity was demonstrated by their incremental reemergence through the democratization processes of the last decades of the 20th century.