This paper delves into the intricacies of knowledge production concerning gender and sexual diversity in the Western Balkans during the precipice of 20th-century modernization. Drawing from the writings of German-speaking and South-Slavic ethnographers from the late 19th to early 20th centuries, this study illuminates the lived experiences and daily practices of gender non-binary individuals, known as "tobelijas," and same-sex-loving individuals, termed "pobratimi" (male) and "posestrime" (female).
In contrast to the prevailing narratives, early South Slavic ethnographies often depicted these phenomena without explicit references to sexuality, sex, or gender. Recognizing that modern homophobia, codified by the state, is a recent construct rather than gender fluidity or same-sex love, this research seeks to reevaluate these accounts beyond the supposed subtlety of non-heteronormative roles in pre-modern and early modern societies. Central to this inquiry is the question of marginalization: Was it the communities themselves that sidelined sexual and gender diversity, or were the modern knowledge producers, with their inherent biases, the true culprits?
Building on Djajic Horváth's assertion that European travelers perpetuated myths about tobelijas by eroticizing and orientalizing the Balkans, this paper contends that these Western scholars, emerging from societies where male homosexuality faced severe penalties, either overlooked the sexual nuances that did not align with their gender role perceptions or imposed celibacy narratives on the tobelijas, posestrime, and pobratimi to render their subjects more digestible to their readership. By scrutinizing these practices within the knowledge production networks between pioneering regional ethnographers and their German-speaking mentors, this paper offers a critical reflection on early methodologies of knowledge production about the region, emphasizing the nexus between coloniality, the state, and knowledge producers in shaping third-gender identities and narratives.
