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Two Houses above the Sea
- Cultural Memory of Dalmatian Families
- Dražen Lalić
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In the book Two Houses Above the Sea, Dražen Lalić starts from an analysis of historical events and the culture of family memory in Dalmatia, or rather in its two parts. The book devotes much of its time to describing the phenomena and explaining and understanding the conditions of what happened in Dalmatia, Croatia and beyond in the first half of the twentieth century, especially during and after World War II. It is mostly focused on a meaningful treatment of the traumas and psychological burdens of the author's two families in connection with these events and the memories of their descendants in the Makarska Riviera and on the island of Korčula, but also in the USA, Canada and Australia. The author skillfully places all these events of a large number of members of his and their related families in their centuries-old history, some of which are extremely tragic and traumatic, in a sociological, psychological, anthropological and historical context, thus confirming the increasingly prevalent thinking that the so-called „big“ history can best be understood from the elements of „small“ history and from a critical analysis of the ups and downs of individuals and their families in pivotal social and political events.
- ISBN: 978-953-369-057-5
- Dimensions: 155x230 mm
- Number of pages: 336
- Cover: paperback
- Year of the edition: 2025
Using the example of his two Dalmatian family homes over five generations, the author shows the complexity and dynamism of their relationships and processes, the course of which is almost unpredictable, but which generally do not lead to the benefits that the protagonists desire. The book is based on meticulous and long-term empirical research into the complex relationships between society, family and individual over several generations, using appropriate methodology and analytical apparatus.
dr. sc. Dean Ajduković, prof. emeritus
As an excellent sociologist, but also as a descendant of those who suffered in the events in Dalmatia, the author, by reconstructing the history of his family in World War II and the post-war period, when the vortex of violence swallowed countless lives and left survivors and descendants of victims from different ideological and political sides traumatized, makes an important and more than welcome contribution to a better understanding of these historical events and to freeing ourselves from the „ballast of history“ that suffocates our society.
prof. dr. sc. Aleksandar Jakir
Two Houses Above the Sea is an intimate history of Dalmatia, a story about the psychological and historical wounds of that part of Croatia, which remain for generations and shape the reality of even distant descendants. Written in a superb literary style, this scientific monograph will be read as the best novel, also because it touches on many family and social traumas that Croatian society has gone through.
prof. dr. sc. Dubravka Stojanović