Closed Circle – The Ideal of Nationalism in a Palanka

Abstract

By applying the figure of a closed circle, the paper aims to interpret the phenomenon of palanka, elaborated by Radomir Konstatinovic in his book titled Philosophy of Palanka. One of the main goals of the nationalism of palanka is achieving completeness, inhibition, and rooting itself in the reality of an island/isolation, thus emphasizing uniqueness, chosen, and perfect nature. Through the prism of the Bible, it is often believed that a nation, chosen by God, should be the one to transfer the message to the rest of humanity. The God-chosen nature could refer to the fact the nation is bearing a universal, messianic message aimed at humanity in total - but it could also mean that the nation, perfect as it is, should not mingle with other nations, but live its circular reality of an island. Konstatinovic points out that a palanka is always somewhere between openness and inhibition, between city and country life. This does not imply that palanka does know its borders so that it could open up - but that it prefers distance, reservation, and residing in its perfection of a closed circle. Relying on the circle - this paper not only provides a new angle for reading the Philosophy of Palanka, but also strives to obtain new insight into the nationalism of palanka.