Speak Up, Write Out: Language and Populism in Croatia
Narratives of Identity in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change
ISBN: 978-1-78635-078-7, eISBN: 978-1-78635-077-0
Publication date: 16 August 2016
Abstract
The focus of this paper is a comparative case study of the symbolic role of the Croatian and Serbian languages and writing in discourses of the Nation and the National. Our research is situated at the intersection of the scientific fields of sociolinguistics, memory studies, and studies on nationalism. Using Anthony D. Smith’s ethno-symbolist approach to the study of nationalism, which focuses on the reciprocal relationship between elites and the people, we analyze the case of anti-Cyrillic protests in Vukovar, Croatia, which were triggered by the implementation of Croatian minority rights legislation. This research analyses the role of language and its use as a symbol in memory practices and accompanying discourses in Croatia and its echoes in Serbian public space. The top-down perspective observes state-promoted events and populist implications of language mis(use). Alternatively, the bottom-up approach encompasses various actions and initiatives of so-called “activists” who belong either to “nationalist” organizations or to liberal/democratic NGOs. The majority of voices that are not aligned with the above-mentioned organizations are neglected in the public space (Obradovic-Wochnik, 2013).
We explore the dynamics created between social groups promoting populist ideas, other groups promoting alternative practices, and their influence on the ideological pattern adopted by ruling elites.
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Acknowledgements
Acknowledgments
The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7 2007–2013) under grant agreement n° 291823 Marie Curie FP7-PEOPLE-2011-COFUND (The new International Fellowship Mobility Programme for Experienced Researchers in Croatia – NEWFELPRO). This paper has been written as a part of a project “Lost in transition: (mis)use of transitional mechanisms in post-conflict countries (TRANSJUSMEM)” which has received funding through NEWFELPRO project under grant agreement no. 75.
Citation
Ljubojević, A. (2016), "Speak Up, Write Out: Language and Populism in Croatia", Narratives of Identity in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change (Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change, Vol. 40), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 29-55. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0163-786X20160000040003
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
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