Boštjan Narat: INNOCENT PATRIOTISM

Whose flag is this, whose coat of arms is this, whose country is this and whose homeland is this? In the theatrical essay Innocent Patriotism, which is formally divided between a lecture and a solo performance, the author and performer Boštjan Narat confronts the notion of patriotism with two points in time, two personal experiences with the state. Thinking about patriotism is a complex task, as is understanding one’s relationship to community, tradition and one’s own origins. When the concept loses its complexity, it becomes an empty word, left to violence or to oblivion. And this is what patriotism seems to be today: those who have appropriated it are turning it into a slogan of fear and hatred. If you do not agree to this, you lose the word and the right to use it. And when you are left without a concept and a symbol, it becomes an impossible task to think yourself in relation to the community. Boštjan Narat’s reflection on the stage is a renewed search for the concept.