A new article by MEMPOP researcher Eric Ušić has been published in Comparative Southeast European Studies (Vol. 74, Issue 2, De Gruyter Brill).
Titled Reenacting History, Reconfiguring Memory: Performative Historiography in Igor Bezinović’s Fiume o morte! (Croatia, Italy, Slovenia, 2025), the article examines the intersections of documentary filmmaking, performance, and memory politics in the Adriatic region.
Ušić zooms in on director Igor Bezinović’s 2025 documentary Fiume o morte!, which revisits Gabriele D’Annunzio’s 1919 occupation of Rijeka (Fiume). Rather than approaching historical reenactment as a straightforward reconstruction of the past, the film employs what can be conceptualised as performative historiography: a set of practices through which established historical narratives are reenacted, questioned, and reconfigured.
Ušić’s analysis focuses particularly on the film’s dual archival lens, which intriguingly combines the reappropriation of conventional archival materials with the simultaneous treatment of Rijeka’s urban environment as a living memoryscape.
We are tempted to tell you more, but instead, we encourage you to watch the documentary or read the full article, which is available open access.
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