A Dissident's Progress: Milovan Djilas Redux

Argues that changing context to post‐communist pluralism and possible civil war brings the textual ambiguities and current relevance of Milovan Djilas′ political thought into a sharper focus. From this angle Djilas is provocatively Janus‐like, sounding simultaneously“liberal” on policy issues, and “revolutionary existentialist” in literary and biographical genres. In deconstructing Djilas, methods of post‐modern discourse analysis and post‐communist political analysis converge. Shifting language from pragmatism to absolutism is expected in Yugoslavia. Djilas′ originality lies in making the rules of applicability for each mode of discourse clearer.