‘Unfortunately, the theme of nationalism is always topical’, says Dubravka Ugrešić. During the wars in former Yugoslavia, the Croatian author was a vocal opponent of the spirit of nationalist fervour. As a result she was the target of vicious hatred and threats, which eventually forced her to leave her country. In her work she describes the dangerous power of nationalism in an incisive and oftentimes shocking manner, showing how, despite its narrow-mindedness, nationalism manages to spread like a virus and how it poisons people’s minds.

On Wednesday 23 November, Ugrešić held the Nexus Masterclass at Tilburg University. Together with the audience, she explored the role of nationalism in today’s society and politics, as well as the power and powerlessness of literature in opposing narrow-mindedness and hatred.