Synecdoche, New York and Synecdoche, Croatia

“Something very similar—and, only slightly less surreal—is currently happening in the Republic of Croatia.”

The classic 2008 Charlie Kaufman film Synecdoche, New York is about a frantic theater director who undertakes an insanely ambitious project of replicating New York City in a massive Manhattan warehouse. The warehouse turns into a copy of the city itself, which—like a Russian Matryoshka doll—contains a copy of the warehouse within the original warehouse. The professional actors who participate in the director’s project (as decades go by and the director’s warehouse threatens to replace the whole New York City) get their own actors, who then play the parts of the old actors. By the time an unknown disaster hits New York City, the director’s microcosm had become so sophisticated that it made the existence of the real New York City simply unnecessary.

Something very similar—and, only slightly less surreal—is currently happening in the Republic of Croatia. The latest example of this process is the victory of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) at the parliamentary elections held last Sunday, July 5th. HDZ won with just over 37% of votes cast and can now constitute the government practically alone.

The symbiotic relationship between political elites and institutions will not perceive itself as a part of the society but, rather, as the society itself. New York is gone, but the warehouse lives on.

According to the 2011 census, Croatia is a country of 4 million people. In reality, though—and this will become evident by the time of the 2021 census—hundreds of thousands of mostly young people have fled Croatia since 2013. This was the year, of course, when Croatia became a member of the European Union, and these young people went abroad to seek work in more prosperous European countries. Causes for this exodus are numerous; however, one of the most significant factors is likely the toxic touch of politics that permeates everyday life in Croatia. For instance, if one is looking for a desirable job in Croatia, this usually requires membership in one of the handful of ruling political parties, of which HDZ is the most powerful. And this negative business climate not only drives out foreign investors but also young, well-educated Croats.