Voditelji naroda (Leaders of the Nation)

Of the many perspectives included in discussions of heroes, saints and famous persons, three are particularly noteworthy; they have to do with power, a sense of belonging and with the need for someone who is larger than life. In examining these three perspectives, the author uses examples from Slovenia and Central Europe and relies on an analysis of the use and symbolism of space, i.e. of special memorial places through which the knowledge of heroes and other well-known people is conveyed.
In order to address the question of power, it is necessary to analyse the individuals who gained a special, privileged position by wielding political or another type of power, or to whom later discourse attributed such a standing that they were granted, post festum/post mortem, a special position of authority by institutions of power (Prešeren, Ševčenko, Pučnik, etc.). The sense of belonging to a nation or a country, to a large family and its father or mother, was created mostly through media constructs.
What drove that effort, however, was motivation, the frame, the recreation of the need for an ideal type model, for a person larger than life.

The book of abstracts: leaders.pdf