The starting point of Bulgaria in national mythology

Author(s): Nikolay Aretov / Language(s): English Issue: 14/2014

This paper examines the dynamics of ideas on the beginnings of Bulgaria, such as were developed by early nationalism in the 18th and 19th centuries. Surveys show that there were different theses which competed tacitly. It is immediately noticeable that the figure of the Founder was imposed with difficulty and relatively late – in fact not until the 20th century. Paisius of Hilendar and the other authors of early histories presented Bulgarians in the context of Biblical history, and thus the beginning of Bulgarian time was associated with Noah and his sons. This idea was not openly attacked by successive generations, but they alternatively associated Bulgarian time and Bulgaria with the medieval kingdom, and especially with the baptism and deeds of Saints Cyril and Methodius. Among pre-Christian rulers, Khan emerges as significant, presented as Law-Maker and great Warrior, but not as Founder. It is typical for the nationalism of any ideological (and not only ideological) structure to strive for extension – in this case to seek its starting point at an ever earlier date. This proces can also be observed in the structures of Bulgarian nationalism: in the second half of the 20th and early 21st centuries there was a clear focus on the time before the Founder Khan Asparukh (7th century), and scholars and journalists still take pleasure in finding older Bulgarian states. However, before the founding of the Principality of Bulgaria (1878), the opposite was true. (Some) representatives of the revolutionary movement in fact rejected the medieval period and preferred to focus on more recent periods, if not on their time itself and even on the immediate future. More or less unexpectedly, this idea was re-vitalised in the late 20th century with the catch-phrase “the most Bulgarian time” associated with the 1870s.

Poricanje suvereniteta Bosne i Hercegovine i figura „posljednjeg rata“

Author(s): Zlatan Delić / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 1/2016

This paper researches background and explicit relationships, interactions and discontinuations between classic, modern and globalization theories of state sovereignty, considering the changeable meaning of the often used figure of “the last war”. The knowledge of what we call “the last” war is not the first or the last of what interest us when we systematically consider the more uncertain difference between what we call peace and what we call war. We prove that, what includes the modern studies of state, politics, security, structural violence and negative peace (which is also connected to non-transparent changing of the meaning of sovereignty), is always shifting, depending on the aims and the varying character of the key categories that figure the new transnational descriptions of the new, (disturbed) reality that we arrived to. An idea was developed in the text, that all great concepts from the domain of classic theories of state and law, and afore all concepts such as sovereignty and political representation – need thorough and radical reconstruction. This reconstruction ought to be real and program based. And, in a normative sense, it ought to become more far reaching than in the dispersed theories of “multitude”, especially if we keep in mind the pacifist and security aspects of integrative and disintegrative processes and politics of EU expansion to the East. In what scope have the concepts, such as political, legal, party, parliamentary (re)presentation of population in the post-Dayton ethnomathematical politics (and aggressive politics of symbols), become moot, becomes obvious only when we face the predator attempts of expansion of sovereignty of neighboring states (Serbia and Croatia) on the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where – sometimes concealed or secret – it aggregately negates its independence. The enigma of Bosnian and Herzegovinian sovereignty probably also consists in the fact that this sovereignty, in the global context, is indicated as phantasmagoric, fluid, demonstrational, experiment, laboratory, and most often as an apparition. The core of the issue, however, is the topography of European bureaucratic horror, personalized in the post-Dayton politics of representation, and also the bureaucratic and the “metanarrative” processes within Bosnia and Herzegovina‟s entrance to the European Union.

Ne postoje suverene etničke zajednice u državi Bosni i Hercegovini

Author(s): Nermin Tursić / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 1/2016

The paper‟s methodological basis deals with the issue of legitimacy and defining the titular sovereignty in the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On that trail, the paper studies the problem of categorizing the concept of "sovereign constituent peoples - could there be "sovereign Serbian", "sovereign Croatian" and "sovereign Bosniak" peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and whether or not these terms are justified. Pursuant to the existing sovereignty theories and their practical application, the paper explicitly concludes that individual ethnic groups cannot bear sovereignty, but only in its totality as a political people of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Odnos religioznosti, stavova o nacionalizmu i o rodnim ulogama s postmaterijalističkim vrijednostima splitskih srednjoškolaca

Author(s): Boris Milavić,Vesna Trut,Petra Sinovčić / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 1/2016

According to Inglehart's modernisation theory, socio-economic growth leads to changes in values. Following a longer period of economic growth, a gradual change from materialistic to post-materialistic values is established. The main goal of this study, which is based on Inglehart's theory, was to assess the relationship between post-materialistic values on one side and religiousness, attitudes towards nationalism, and attitudes towards gender roles on the other among high school students in the city of Split. The research was conducted on a convenience sample of 427 high school students from Split (there were 269 female students and 158 male students) with the average age of 17 years. The results indicated that the students from the sample had mixed materialistic and post-materialistic values. Statistically significant differences were found between male and female students in all measured variables. For this reason, analyses were conducted separately by gender. Using multiple regression analysis, it was established that the model with post-materialistic values as the outcome was statistically significant regardless of gender. Discriminative analysis additionally showed that the measured attitudes discriminated groups of students with different levels of post-materialistic values (most prominently, attitudes towards gender roles and religiousness among female students, and attitudes towards nationalism and gender roles among male students). The main finding of the study was that of a difference between male and female students in terms of measured religiousness and two sets of attitudes, as well as gender differences in the relationship between the measured religiousness and the measured attitudes on one side and post-materialistic values on the other. Higher post-materialistic values were associated with lower religiousness among female students and lower acceptance of nationalism among male students.

Islamski doprinosi rješenju rasnog pitanja

Author(s): Esmir M. Halilović / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 13/2015

This paper treats the racial issue, which is present in an entire human history, and contributes to Islamic teachings overcoming and solving this issue. This important topic is present in the primary Islamic sources: the Qur’an and Sunnah, but also in the sira of Prophet, s.a.w.s. and biographies of companions ... Companions of the Prophet, s.a.w.s., were of different nationalities and races. During that time, their true brotherhood, commitment and helping each other was a revolutionary idea for which is hard to find examples in an entire human history. Therefore, this paper examines the basic instructions and advice of Qur’anic and sunnah texts, as well as their implementation by the early Muslims. The paper proves that Islam brought the true solution to racial issues and that in the in Islamic doctrines and Islamic orthopraxy there is no basis for any conflict that may arise from race, nation, etc. This can be felt in all Islamic norms, and the holy places of Islam, where all races and nations are met together, fully committed to the Divine Creator, who is One, like they all are, in fact, only a manifestation of a unique humanity.

Teologija i društvena promjena: pokušaj postavljanja pitanja

Author(s): Zoran Grozdanov / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 86.32/2016

Original falsifikata

Author(s): Slobodanka Ast / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 181/2014

NEKAŽNJIVOST VRIJEĐA

Author(s): Irena Antić / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 181/2014

Far-right populism as a response to the crisis of multicultural Europe. PEGIDA case study

Author(s): Mateusz Pietryka / Language(s): English Issue: 04/2016

The influx of refugees to EU states in recent years has contributed to the rise of xenophobic and racist sentiments. In at least several countries parties and organizations that are far-right, eurosceptic, with a negative attitude to the admission of migrants and demands for wide political changes got into public debate. This paper is a case study of German organization PEGIDA, which, as I will try to prove, is the avant-garde of new far-right movements. The features I will discuss include an extremely efficient use of social media websites to mobilize supporters and building transnational alliances with ideologically similar organizations from other European countries but not only. I will describe the history of establishing PEGIDA, profiles of its activists, relationships with other groups such as HoGeSa or the Alternative for Germany, as well as the demands they make, comparing individual topics with the situation of nationalist organizations in Poland. I will also show that the opposition to Islam, in spite of being the flagship slogan, is only an excuse for making a wide range of demands and reactivating anti-establishment resentiments, which I will discuss in detail. Finally, I will analyse the real roots of the rise of xenophobic sentiments on the continent, linking them to the economic crisis and the neo-liberal model of societies.

THE TRENDS IN ANTI-SEMITISM IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC 2004-2014

Author(s): Eva Taterová,Marcela Urbaníková / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

This paper aims to introduce the current trends in anti-Semitism in the Czech Republic in 2004-2014. This period maps the changes that appeared since the end of Second Palestinian intifada to the year 2014 which is the last year with available set of data of anti-Semitism in Czech society. The article shall examine whether there is a direct link between the contemporary important events in the Middle East and the changing number of anti-Semitic incidents in the Czech Republic. The attention shall also be given to the issue which groups of Czech society are mostly associated with anti-Semitism and what is their main motivation to participate in the anti-Semitic campaign.

Postmoderna vrtoglavica prostorne ontologije: analiza procesa teritorijalizacije i deteritorijalizacije u suvremenom svijetu

Author(s): Dražen Barbarić / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 1-2/2015

The purpose of this paper is to critically approach the concept of deterritorialisation and its continuum pair of territorialisation, and therefore try to point out to their indistinguishable dialectical nature. The aim is to show that every process of deterritorialisation results in reterritorialisation in terms of spatial ballast or waste, in a concrete fashion. A significant part of the paper is dedicated to proving that many authors have written off the space as an important variable of socio-political processes much too early. The first point is to acknowledge that postmodern critical geopolitics methodologically neglects the territorial basis of spatial discourse and practice through their deconstruction and therefore loses an important analytical segment. The second point is the emphasis on the fact that the identity construction of selfhood always demands spatial differentiation from the Other, which is an exceptional proof of the importance of space in postmodern conditions. The paper can also be interpreted as an unpretentious methodological attempt to emphasize the already mentioned indistinguishability of the processes of deterritorialisation and reterritorialisation with an important review, which leads to the acceptance of the much larger responsibility of agents towards spatial imagination and practice, as well as to appreciation of the broadest spectrum of different spatial perspectives and discourses.

Procesy formowania narodów i tożsamości narodowej w Ameryce Łacińskiej

Author(s): Anna Kaganiec-Kamieńska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 48/2016

The history of nation formation in Latin America cannot be easily interpreted within the frames of existing theoretical perspectives, such as modernism. The difficulty lies in the fact that the existing theories only partly apply to this region. The aim of this article is to present the processes of nation and national identity formation in Spanish America until the 1950s pointing to its main characteristics and selected factors of the most significant impact.

How did 22/7 shape the political rhetoric on immigration and integration in Norway?

Author(s): Nicoleta Carmen Olteanu / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2014

In Norway, a leading promoter of peace, the attack on the 22nd of July 2011 came as a shock, not merely because of its violence, but also due to the perpetrator’s motivation. According to him, multiculturalism undermined Norway and had to be stopped. The act did not only target the direct victims, but also some of Norway’s social and political traits. An open democracy and a multicultural society were then being placed under scrutiny. This paper thus focuses on the role of the attack within the subsequent political discourse on immigration and integration in the Norwegian context, discussing how it was shaped by the 22/7 events. Through Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) this paper identifies the circumstances under which the attack has been referred to (directly or indirectly), the manner in which the events have been portrayed at a political level, as well as the specific approaches of left-wing and right-wing parties and the influence of the attack on their rhetoric. The findings reveal that the event played a role in discourses regarding political, institutional or social issues. It has been portrayed as a violent attack, perpetrated by a lone, mentally ill person; who targeted innocent young people, but also as an act of terror, performed by a right-wing extremist, aimed at challenging the Norwegian state and society. While the major political parties maintained their ideological lines of discourse, the event seems to have moderated their rhetoric.

NASILJE I SJEĆANJE

Author(s): Hikmet Karčić / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 65/2016

Modern history of Muslims in Balkans including the history of Bosniaks is marked by violence: demographic changes, crimes and genocide. One of the key features of this violence is erasing the memories of any kind of trace. The aim of the article is to raise the question of remembrance that is commemoration of crimes. Second part of the article will focus upon the forms of erasing or falsifying history in the example of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Wokół zagrożenia języków, rewitalizacji i ideologii językowych Polemika z artykułem Tadeusza Lewaszkiewicza

Author(s): Nicole Dołowy-Rybińska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2016

In his article entitled “Lower and Upper Sorbian – Endangered or Dying Languages?” published in Slavia Occidentalis 71 (2014) 1, Tadeusz Lewaszkiewicz presents the situation of the two Sorbian languages and claims that they are doomed to die before the end of the 22nd Century. He blames the critical situation of these languages on the Sorbs themselves who – according to him – “care mainly for material comfort and national aims are of secondary importance”. In my opinion, Lewaszkiewicz’s article presents a number of false theses (relating to bilingualism, the role of the education process for language revitalization etc.) and represents itself as a document that could be called applied language ideology. In my paper I discuss some of the ideas presented by Lewaszkiewicz. Using Bourdieu’s concept of symbolic power and Chromik’s idea of three levels of language ideology, the mechanism of the minority language abandonment process is explained. It is also demonstrated why – from the point of view of language revitalization – creating a prognosis for the death of a language is dangerous for motivation and language attitudes within a speech community and also by the same token for the future of minority languages themselves.

Patriotiškumo ženklai XX a. pirmosios pusės kasdienybės kultūroje

Author(s): Lijana Šatavičiūtė / Language(s): Lithuanian Issue: 3-4/2009

The object of discussion in the article is the spread of state symbols in the culture of daily life of the first half of the 20th century. The authoress seeks to establish the preconditions for the penetration of historical signs into non-representational spheres, the scale of their spread, and the most typical forms of their expression. In the period of the national revival movement, the young Lithuanian nationalism was limited to the Lithuanian press and schools, the development of ethnic culture and the awakening of national sentiments. Though at the beginning of the 20th century historical state symbols were increasingly used by professional artists, they were still uncommon among ordinary citizens.A totally different situation was formed in Lithuania after regaining independence when it became necessary to unite the nation for the purpose of building a unified state. Influenced by state propaganda and nationalist ideology, Lithuanians tried to fill their daily environment with state symbols: the Pillars of Gediminas, the Cross of the Jagiellonians, the Vytis (Chaser), the tricolour, and portraits of the Grand Dukes. These symbols were transferred to daily life from the press, public events, festivals, exhibitions and applied graphic works.State symbols were used for the décor of summer camps of youth organizations and patriotic actions (human chain of Scouts in the form of the Pillars of Gediminas on the dunes of Nida, 1933). They frequently appeared in handicrafts: textiles, carvings, and decorated Easter eggs. Linen towels used to be decorated with the words of the national anthem, sashes had occasional inscriptions and patriotic slogans, tablecloths and floor mats showed state symbols. The estate owner and physician Boleslovas Kaunas-Kaunackis established a crypt in the form of the Pillars of Gediminas near Bugeniai (Mažeikiai district), and in the Antalina manor (Anykščiai district) its proprietor Mykolas Linkevičius planted fir trees in the form of the perennial “Pillars of Gediminas”. In the process of construction of the Žemaičiai motorway, the Pillars of Gediminas with the date “1937” were cast of concrete on a hill slope near Ariogala.The wish of the ordinary citizens of the country to see the state symbols in daily life reveals their wish to return to their historical roots, to identify themselves with the country’s history and cannot be interpreted as a mere devaluation of state symbols.

The Political Myth of Margaret Thatcher in Scotland

Author(s): Tomasz Czapiewski / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2016

The article describes and explains the phenomenon of the political myth of Margaret Thatcher – her anti–Scottish attitude and policies and its impact on the process of decomposition of the United Kingdom. The author indicates that the view of Margaret Thatcher’s dominance in Scotland is simplified, stripped of complexity, ignoring significant information conflicting with the thesis, but that also plays an important role in current politics, legitimizing secessionist demands and strengthening the identity of the Scottish community. In the contemporary Scottish debate with its unequivocal defence policy of Thatcher is outside of the discourse, proving its sanctity status. Thatcher could see this special Scottish dimension within the United Kingdom, but treated it rather as a delay in the reforms needed in the country. There are many counterarguments to the validity of the Thatcher myth. Firstly, many negative processes that took place in the 80s were not initiated by Thatcher, only accelerated. Secondly, the Tory decline in popularity in the north began before the leadership of Thatcher and has lasted long after her dismissal. The Conservative Party was permanently seen in Scotland as openly English. Thirdly, there is a lot of accuracy in the opinion that the real division is not between Scotland and England, only between southern England and the rest of the country. Widespread opinion that Thatcher was hostile to Scotland is to a large extent untruthful. She has never retreated radically from any of the Scottish privileges, such as the Barnett formula or the Scottish Development Agency.

“LET’S BEGIN LOVE ANEW”:RIGHT WING ON WOMEN, WOMEN ON RIGHT WING, CASE OF SERBIA

Author(s): Jelena Višnjić / Language(s): English Issue: 03/2016

Public disqualification of women is done through denying them the right of ownership and decide on their bodies and it is a paradigm of the conservative, nationalist discourse of the Serbian Orthodox Church, but also a crucial part of the value system of the right wing, which remains the same for different social systems. Right wing organizations and the Serbian Orthodox Church not only disapprove the emancipation of women and their equal position in society, but continually oppose these values in public and media space and actively advocate for the disrespect and violation of the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and other laws. In a secular society such as ours, the border separating state and church should be clear, so that patriarchal, traditional, conservative discourse of the church and the right wing could not even think about usurping the (symbolic) spaces of freedoms and rights we have won, nor could they produce the hate speech and discrimination against women.

Stiliaus varžtuose: tautinės tapatybės paieškos tarpukario namų pramonės dirbiniuose

Author(s): Lijana Šatavičiūtė / Language(s): Lithuanian Issue: 2/2007

The object of the article is the situation of traditional rural crafts in Lithuania in the beginning of 1930s when coordination of craftsmen’s activities was started on the institutional level. Even though home-made wares were still widely in use in rural areas, the economic and cultural changes in the state deeply affected the daily life of country people and traditional crafts faced the threat of extinction. During the interwar period, enlightened people realized that folk crafts were of great importance to the Lithuanian people and it was necessary to attach more significance to this problem in order to protect folk crafts from extinction. Relations between folk style and cosmopolitan manifestations were of extreme importance to the manufacturers of mass-production home-wares which imitated or interpreted folk arts stylistics.The mastering of the folk style was far from being a smooth process under conditions of the modern life-style. Written sources reveal the fact that a lot of work was done by institutions and cultural figures in pursuance of enhancing respect to folk art by means of reviving traditions. The need for traditional artefacts arose from the higher status of folk art and enlightenment of society. The development of home industry was boosted by the system, intending to coordinate craftsmen’s activities in rural areas, which consisted of instructions, supply of tools, pickup and sale of home-wares. The system was organized by the Chamber of Agriculture in Kaunas. Paulius Galaunė, Antanas Tamošaitis, Ignas Šlapelis and other propagators of the folk style in the interwar period made every effort to open one more page of the book of the development of folk art, which later, in the second half of the 20th century, was considered to have naturally developed from the archaic traditions of the state.

Andriaus Olekos-Žilinsko „Šarūnas“ ir tautiškumo problematika 3–4-ojo dešimtmečio sandūros lietuvių kultūroje

Author(s): Šarūnė Trinkūnaitė / Language(s): Lithuanian Issue: 4/2007

One of the most important Lithuanian interwar theater events, “Šarūnas” directed by Andrius Oleka-Žilinskas, was produced at this very time – at the turning point of the third and fourth decades when Lithuanian culture experienced the necessity to renew its artistic language. However, the renewal of stage language inspired by “Šarūnas” evoked a strong opposition of the Lithuanian theater society. Modern theater direction principles and language used in plays such as “Šarūnas” were misunderstood and incorrectly interpreted by the Lithuanian audience that cherished literature theatre traditions, and resulted in miscommunication. Though the broad concept of nationality was formed in the Lithuanian culture of that time, it did not function in the field of theater perception. Plays were accused of disdaining the native land and having dangerous soviet influences, whereas productions like “Šarūnas” were just a modern reflection of nationality, expressing both the vitality of the primitive concept of national theater and the Lithuanian interwar culture’s fear of Russia, which was partly related to the theatrical immaturity of the Lithuanian society of that time.