Valentina Majdenić I Andrea Vučetić - Češki Humor Kao Svevremenska Antiideološka Propaganda

PANNONIANA
GOD. I · BR. I/ 2016. · OSIJEK, LISTOPAD, 2016.

VOL. I · NO. I/2016 · OSIJEK, OCTOBER, 2016
PANNONIANA
Časopis za humanističke znanosti
Journal of Humanities
SVEUČILIŠTE JOSIPA JURJA STROSSMAYERA U OSIJEKU

Fakultet za odgojne i obrazovne znanosti
JOSIP JURAJ UNIVERSITY OF OSIJEK

Faculty of Education
Osijek, 2016.
1
PANNONIANA_______________________________________
Časopis za humanističke znanosti/ Journal of Humanities
NASLOV/ TITLE
PANNONIANA
Časopis za humanističke znanosti/ Journal of Humanities
NAKLADNIK/ PUBLISHER
Sveučilište Josipa Jurja Strossmayera u Osijeku, Fakultet za odgojne i obrazovne znanosti
(Hrvatska)/ Josip Juraj University of Osijek, Faculty of Education (Croatia)
GLAVNI UREDNIK/ EDITOR IN-CHIEF

Damir Matanović, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Education (Croatia)
ZAMJENICA GLAVNOG UREDNIKA/ DEPUTY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Emina Berbić Kolar, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Education (Croatia)
IZVRŠNI UREDNIK/ EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Vjekoslav Galzina, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Education (Croatia)
UREDNICI NOVACI/ ASSISTANT EDITORS

Tanja Đurić, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Education (Croatia)
Pavao Nujić, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Education (Croatia)
UREDNIŠTVO/ EDITORIAL BOARD

Jozef Bushati, University of Shkodra “Luigj Gurakuqi” (Albania)
Adnan Čirigić, University of Montenegro, Faculty of Montenegro Language and Literature
(Montenegro)
Nihada Delibegović Džanić, University of Tuzla, Faculty of Philosophy (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Bogumila Kaniewska, University of Poznań, Faculty of Polish and Classical Philology (Poland)
Ljiljana Kolenić, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Humanities and Social
Science (Croatia)
Polina Korolkova, Russian Academy of Sciences (Russia)
Irena Krumes Šimunović, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Education
(Croatia)
Milica Lukić, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Humanities and Social
Sciences (Croatia)
Ivančica Marković, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Education (Croatia)
Ferenc Németh, University of Novi Sad, Serbia, Faculty of Philosophy Novi Sad (Serbia)
Sema Sandalaci, Trakya Üniversitesi, Edirne (Turkey)
Amira Turbić Hadžagić, University of Tuzla, Faculty of Philosophy (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Bogusław Zieliński, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (Poland)
TEHNIČKI UREDNIK/ TECHNICAL EDITOR

Petar Bašić, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Education (Croatia)
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LEKTORICE I PREVODITELJICE ZA ENGLESKI JEZIK/ ENGLISH LANGUAGE
EDITORS AND TRANSLATORS
Željka Flegar, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Education (Croatia)
Ivana Moritz, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Education (Croatia)
Ivana Marinić, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Education (Croatia)
Ksenija Benčina, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Education (Croatia)
LEKTOR ZA HRVATSKI JEZIK/ CROATIAN LANGUAGE EDITOR

Igor Marko Gligorić, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Education (Croatia)
OBLIKOVANJE KORICA/ COVER DESIGN
Marko Šošić, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Education (Croatia)
EDITION
300 PRIMJERAKA/ 300 COPIES
GRAFIČKO OBLIKOVANJE/ GRAPHIC DESIGN
TISAK/ PRINTED BY
ČASOPIS IZLAZI DVA PUTA GODIŠNJE/ PUBLISHED BIANNUALLY
ADRESA UREDNIŠTVA/ ADDRESS OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Sveučilište Josipa Jurja Strossmayera u Osijeku

Fakultet za odgojne i obrazovne znanosti
31000 Osijek, Cara Hadrijana 10
Phone: 031 321 700 Fax: 031 321 899
www.foozos.hr
E-mail: pannoniana@foozos.hr
Copyright© 2016 Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Education
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CONTENTS/ SADRŽAJ
ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES/ IZVORNI ZNANSTVENI ČLANCI
1. Bogusław Zieliński, Marek Kulec (Poland)……………………………………………….9

Central Europe at the crossroads: controversies of geopolitics and culture/ Srednja Europa
na razmeñu stoljeća: kontroverze geopolitike i kulture
2. Lidija Bakota (Croatia)……………………………………………………………………22

Lexis of textbooks in the nineteen-eighties: a sociolinguistic approach/ Sociolingvistički
pogled na jezik čitanaka u osamdesetim godinama 20. stoljeća
3. Emina Berbić Kolar, Klara Bilić Meštrić (Croatia)……………………………………..41

Influence of Bosnian dialects on youth speech in Slavonski Brod/ Utjecaj bosanskih
dijalekata štokavskoga narječja na govor mladih u Slavonskom Brodu
4. Kinga Siewior (Poland)…………………………………………………………………....55

Universal language, local experience - transnational negotiations/ Univerzalni jezik, lokalno
iskustvo – transnacionalni pregovori
5. Dubravka Smajić, Irena Vodopija (Croatia)…………………………………...………..64

Greetings and farewells as elementary pragmemes of language etiquette/ Pozdrav i odzdrav
kao elementarni pragmemi jezičnoga bontona
PRELIMINARY COMMUNICATIONS/ PRETHODNA PRIOPĆENJA
1. Valentina Majdenić, Andrea Vučetić (Croatia)…………………………………………72

Czech humour as timeless anti-ideological propaganda/ Češki humor kao antiideološka
propaganda za vrijeme i nakon svjetskih ratova
2. Nikola Milivojević (Serbia)………………………………………………………..………82

Relations and connections among Central European people during the Great War depicted
through the fates of residents of a Bačka town/ Odnosi i veze srednjoeuropskih naroda za
vrijeme Velikog rata prikazanih kroz ratne sudbine žitelja jedne bačke varošice
REVIEW ARTICLES/ PREGLEDNI ČLANCI
1. Ana Tereza Barišić (Croatia)………………………………………………………....91

Literary representation of the First World War in the context of bećarac/ Književni
prikaz Prvog svjetskog rata u kontekstu bećaraca
2. Amir Begić (Croatia)…………………………………………………………………105

Intercultural content in grammar school music instruction in Central European countries/
Interkulturalizam u gimnazijskoj nastavi glazbe u srednjoeuropskim državama
3. Irena Krumes Šimunović, Maja Koporčić (Croatia)………………………...…….114

A communicative approach to Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić's opus in the digital media/
Komunikološki pristup stvaralaštvu Ivane Brlić Mažuranić u digitalnim medijima
4
4. Danijel Vojak (Croatia)……………………………………………………………...136
From the history of the Roma suffering in some Central European countries shortly
before and during World War II (Hungary, Croatia, Czechoslovakia, Poland)/ Izmeñu
progona i prešutne marginalizacije, ili iz povijesti stradanja Roma u nekim
srednjoeuropskim državama za vrijeme Drugog svjetskog rata (Mañarska, Hrvatska,
Čehoslovačka, Poljska)
PROFESSIONAL ARTICLE/ STRUČNI RAD
1. Margarita Khazanova (Russia)………………………………………………………….149

Choosing the standard Ukrainian language: speakers at the geographical crossway/ Pitanje
ukrajinskoga standardnog jezika: govornici na geografskom raskrižju
BOOK REVIEWS/ PRIKAZI KNJIGE
1. Tanja Đurić (Croatia)……………………………………………………………………156

Siče words by Emina Berbić Kolar and Ljiljana Kolenić/ Sičanske riči
2. Ivančica Marković (Croatia)…………………………………………………………….159

Mijat Stojanović: Adventures and misadvetures of my life/ Mijat Stojanović: Sgode i
nesgode moga života
3. Pavao Nujić (Croatia)…………………………………………………………………….161

Memoirs of baron Francis Trenck/ Memoari baruna Franje Trencka
GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS………………………………………………………………...166
CONTACTS………………………………………………………………………………………172
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Predgovor
U Republici Hrvatskoj uobičajeno je da svaka znanstvena ili visokoškolska institucija koja „drži do
sebe“ tiska bar jedan časopis u kojem prezentira rezultate rada uglavnom svojih djelatnika. Tom
vrijednom nastojanju pridružuje se, posebice u humanističkom znanstvenom području, velik broj
časopisa lokalnih zajednica i entuzijasta koji se tematski znatno podudaraju s časopisima navedenih
institucija.
Stoga se postavlja pitanje po čemu je časopis Panonniana drugačiji, tj. po čemu predstavlja novinu
u hrvatskom periodičkom mikrokozmu?! Panonniana će baštiniti elaboraciju svoga mjesta
nastanka: Fakulteta za odgojne i obrazovne znanosti te partnerske institucije Sveučilišta Adama
Mickiewicz iz Poznanja, Republika Poljska. Temeljna je osobina obiju institucija
interdisciplinarnost. Slijedom toga, Panonniana će objavljivati radove iz područja humanističkih
znanosti koji tematiziraju prostor Panonije u njezinom tradicionalnom smislu.
Prostor Panonije unatoč suvremenim ili povijesnim državnim granicama baštini ili živi sličan ili isti
mentalitet, slično ili isto kulturno nasljeñe, sličnu ili istu socioekonomsku situaciju, slične ili iste
političke sustave, slične ili iste školske sustave. Stoga je prirodno taj prostor promatrati kao
jedinstven, i samim time, inspirativan za istraživanje i dijalog. Velik broj priloga pristiglih iz
inozemstva već za prvi broj Panonniane jamči kvalitetan i sadržajan dijalog koji jamči ostvarivanje
„strategije razumijevanja“.
Časopis je otvoren za objavljivanje temeljnih istraživačkih studija, preglednih i stručnih radova, ali i
drugih oblika koji su tematski i sadržajno relevantni te koje su u skladu sa znanstvenim normama
postignutim u Hrvatskoj i Europi.
Uvjeren sam da će Panonniana imati dug i plodan život na zadovoljstvo zainteresiranomu
čitateljstvu.
D am ir M atanović
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Preface
In the Republic of Croatia it is common practice for every renowned scientific or higher education
institution to publish at least one journal displaying primarily the research results of its employees.
These notable efforts are supported by, especially in the field of humanities, a large number of local
community publications, as well as those by enthusiasts, which thematically coincide with the
publications of the aforementioned institutions.
This raises the question of why Pannoniana is different and novel within the Croatian publishing
microcosm. Pannoniana will aim to celebrate the evolution of its founding affiliations: the Faculty
of Education and the partner institution Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland. Both
affiliations are interdisciplinary. Therefore, Pannoniana will strive to publish a variety of papers in
the field of humanities which thematise the Pannonian region in the traditional sense.
Despite the contemporary and historical state borders, the Pannonian region nurtures and exhibits a
similar or identical mentality, similar or identical cultural heritage, similar or identical socio-
economic situation, similar or identical political systems, similar or identical education systems…
For this reason it is only natural to observe the Pannonian space as a unique space inspiring research
and dialogue. The great number of submitted papers from abroad for the first Pannoniana issue
supports the idea of a high-quality and rich dialogue, diverse in content, which fosters “the strategy
of understanding”.
The journal is open to publication of original research papers, review articles and professional
papers, as well as other formats which are relevant in content and meet the academic standards set
in Croatia and Europe.
I am convinced that Pannoniana will have a long and fruitful existence, as well as satisfy the
demands of our esteemed readership.
D am ir M atanović
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ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES
IZVORNI ZNANSTVENI ČLANCI
Bogusław Zieliński, Marek Kulec (Poland)

Central Europe at the crossroads: controversies of geopolitics and culture
Lidija Bakota (Croatia)

Lexis of textbooks in the nineteen-eighties: a sociolinguistic approach
Emina Berbić Kolar, Klara Bilić Meštrić (Croatia)

Influence of Bosnian dialects on youth speech in Slavonski Brod
Kinga Siewior (Poland)

Universal language, local experience - transnational negotiations
Dubravka Smajić, Irena Vodopija (Croatia)

Greetings and farewells as elementary pragmemes of language etiquette
8
Bogusław Zieliński, Marek Kulec
UDK 327(4-191.2)
Original scientific article
Bogusław Zieliński (Poland)

Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
Faculty of Polish and Classical Philology
Marek Kulec (Poland)

Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
CENTRAL EUROPE AT THE CROSSROADS: CONTROVERSIES OF GEOPOLITICS

AND CULTURE
Abstract
The threat that Central Europe faces nowadays is connected with two sets of causes. The first cause
is Russian politics that attempts to establish a new position on a global level. And the second is the
crisis within the Union, which has mainly affected Central European countries, their youngest
members that still bear the post-communist burden. The paper focuses on geostrategic, ideological
and cultural aspects regarding the abovementioned complex threat.
Keywords: Central Europe, crisis, geostrategy, ideology, cultural studies
Introduction
Numerous definitions of the term Central Europe, the phenomenon of not being able to
determine its borders, historical paradoxes and its meandering essence only emphasise the
circumstances in which Central Europe, as a cultural and geopolitical unit, was hit by internal
crisis, but at the same time it faces the crisis in the rest of the world1. The crisis is connected to the
exhaustion of its literary representation after the Revolutions in 1989, a growing distance between
the myths, ideas and symbolic representations of Central Europe and its political circumstances and
finally, its passive attitude towards real external dangers.
Various criteria and attitudes, as well as different geopolitical arguments have resulted in a
vast variety of the names for this region2. Multiple meanings of Central Europe include a great
number of terms that are not necessarily specialised: Central Europe, Mitteleuropa, Central-
European pool, Danube region, Donauraum, Europe Central, East Central Europe, Zwischeneuropa,
Grossmitteleuropa, d'Europe Centrale3. It seems that the abundance of the terms expresses the
1
Compare M. Dobraczyński, J. Stefanowicz, Tożsamość Europy. Warszawa 1979; Europa i co z tego wynika. Red. K.
Michalski. Warszawa 1990; Europa państw - Europa narodów. Problemy etniczne Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej.
Under. G. Babińskiego and W. Miodunki. Kraków 1995; K. Pomian, Europa i jej narody. Warszawa 1992.
2
Compare A. Podraza, Europa Środkowa. Zakres przestrzenny i historia regionu. "Prace Komisji Środkowoeuropejskiej
PAU", I, 1993, p. 23. I. Paska, Morfologija Srednje Evrope, Nr 0:2000. Nowy Sad, p. 1-34 (online version:
www.cmk.org.yu/linkovi/habitus/o/Paska0.pdf). p. 7.
3
I. Paska, Morfologija Srednje Evrope, passim.
9
inability of the scientists to use a unified method for describing various aspects of Central Europe:
geographical, historical, sociological, political, economic, cultural and aesthetic4.
The specificities of Central Europe
The specificities of Central Europe, characterised by its geographical, historical, economic

and cultural position between West and East Europe as the richest part of the continent considering
the linguistic, ethnic and religious aspect, are based on the fact that for centuries it has been, unlike
West Europe, under the influence of German, Russian and even Ottoman Empire expansion. The
territory between Moscow, Berlin, Thessaloniki and Istanbul is inhabited by over 100 million
people and for centuries it has been a crossroads of the influences of western Christianity, Orthodox
Church and Islam. It represents an unbelievable accumulation of national cultures, traditions and
languages, generating great capital that has considerably enriched Europe’s cultural heritage.
However, none of the empires have ever been able to permanently conquer this region. The
Republic of Poland stretched over Zaporožje, Turkey across the Danube, Russia up to Warsaw,
Berlin to Königsberg and Vienna to Sarajevo, but none of the super powers have ever ruled over
Central Europe. They all strived for hegemony in Central Europe, but each of them was defeated in
1918.
The aim of this paper is to emphasise a distinctive character of Central Europe which is the
result of antagonistic circumstances of historical, ethnical, geographical, and above all, political
factors that are also reflected in literature creating its cultural representation. The authors are also
interested in Central European identity, nowadays threatened by political mayhem and subjected to
geostrategic doctrines.
The transformation of Central European idea: from historical turmoil and geopolitics to
culture
Oskar Halecki emphasises that the term Central Europe refers to the relative feature of
arbitrary and dual division of Europe. This “third part of Europe is considered with regard to or
before its two main parts: West and East”.5 Central Europe is – says Miloš Havelka – an empirical,
geostrategic and a political problem6.
Travniček lists four phases of transformation in Central European taking into account its
geopolitical and cultural relation. The introductory phase (from Middle Ages to 1789), the initial
phase (1789 – 1918), the “long” 19th century, the real phase (1918 – 1989) and the “short” 20th
century, i.e. post-phase (after 1989).
The introductory phase (Czech prefáze) is a period of geopolitical influence of German
culture and civilisation. This is the time of Christianisation, German chivalry, wars against pagan
“barbarians”, German colonisation, development of cities, trade and later on Drang nach Osten.
During that period Central Europe did not manage to establish a strong unified political unit which
could foster the process of European development. The rule of king Vaclav I (1278 – 1305) was the
last chance to create a nation of Polish and Czech people. Jirži Podjebradski (1458 – 1471) did not
manage to create a secure zone, and the Jagiellonian dynasty’s attempts to establish a stable Central
European country failed7.
4
M. Foucher talks about “Central Europe that cannot be found” (l'introuvable Europe du Central), “imaginary” and
“invented” Europe (Konarád), Central Europe that is a symbol of “destiny”, whose borders are “imaginary” (Kundera),
“unspecified, elusive, ephemeral, whose contours change depending on the goals” (Foucher) or even its “ghostly,
foggy” essence (Szűcs), “empty” and “debatable” term (Foucher). Geographers of the 19th and 20th centuries
emphasised the complexity and ontological contradiction of Central Europe. Himley and Kretschmer talk about
“indefinite individuality” and “transition” region, Kjellén even uses “critical area”, de Martonne mentions “contrast”
and cultural, historical and political “contradictions”, while Penck emphasises problems in determining borders.
5
Oskar Halecki, Historia Europy - jej granice i podziały. Lublin 2000, p. 121.
6
Miloš Havelka, Střední Evropa: konstrukce – iluze – realita. “Svět literatury” 17, 2007, no. 36, p. 200-201.
7
Travniček, p. 246.
10
The initial phase (Czech protofáze) was a period of polarization between German (Prussian)
and Austrian (Habsburg) idea of Central Europe. Central European concepts originated in the 19th
century. “In the 19th century the ideal of Central Europe was supported by political
argumentation”8. Napoleon’s downfall connected three conservative monarchies: Austria, Prussia
and Russia. Metternich reflected on the idea of Central Europe pragmatically, he perceived it as a
stable element of European security and order, ruled by a firm hand in order to preserve its
autonomy between West and East. As a monarchist, conservative, legitimist and an opponent of
nationalism, he submitted the entire Central Europe’s politics to the dominance of Vienna. He did
not support the idea of Greater Germany which he intended to neutralise by defensive Central
European politics. Metternich, a pure pragmatist and realist, treated Central Europe, perceived as
unity in variety, as a wall against dangers from East and West. Herder’s idea of “happy collective”
was replaced by a pragmatic idea of fortification9. The supporters of Austro-Slavism did not reduce
the significance of Germanic influences in Central Europe.
The abovementioned categorisation does not contain the second remarkably essential
question, namely, German concept and German contribution to the development of the idea of
Central Europe in the two phases, initial and real. German interest in Central Europe was of
secondary importance with regard to geopolitical and imperialistic aspirations of the Republic.
Above all, German Mitteleuropa referred to Germany and Austria, but was expanded with time to
territories from the Rhine to the Vistula and from the Baltic Sea to the Balkans.
The genesis of the German concept of Mitteleuropa has been in the focus of numerous in-
depth and competent studies so this paper will refer only to a few crucial issues10. The predecessors
of Mitteleuropa were renowned German geographers, whereas in Poland it was of interest mainly to
historians and political scientists11.
One of the first forerunners of the term Mitteleuropa was a German geographer Joseph
Partsch (1851 – 1925). In 1904 he published an extensive paper Mitteleuropa that deals with issues
in regions between West Atlantic Europe to continental Russia as well as the four seas: the Baltic,
North, Black and Adriatic Sea12. The author concluded that there existed a separate European
geographic region which was physically and culturally different with the dominance of German
elements. The integration of this region was a historical necessity13. The leading foreign
geopoliticians like F. Ratzel and A. Kirchoff were also well familiar with the issue of Central
Europe. Ratzel perceived Mitteleuropa as a region between the Alps and the North and the Baltic
Sea spreading to the Black Sea. The rivers Rhine and Danube were supposed to be the axes of this
area14. Before World War I and the period of tension on the Balkans R. Tannenberg created his
maximalist concept in which a vast part of the European continent was within the borders of Greater
Germany and Habsburg Monarchy15. The beginning of the real phase (Czech vlastní fáze) coincides
8
Emil Brix, The Future of the Central Europe, [in:] Central Europe. A New Dimension of Heritage. Red. Jacek Purchla.
Kraków 2003, p. 17.
9
Compare Rainer Schmidt, Die Wiedergeburt der Mitte Europas. Berlin 2001, p. 45.
10
Compare P. Eberhardt, Geneza niemieckiej koncepcji “Mitteleuropy“, “Przegląd Geograficzny”, 2005, 77, 4, p. 463-
483. Also extensive list of references.
11
P. Eberhardt, Geneza..., p. 464.
12
Before Partsch’s book, Piter Eberhardt notices that many German researchers studied Central Europe as a separate
region where Germany was supposed to establish complete dominance. We should also mention F. List (1789 – 1864),
a predecessor of German geopolitics, who postulated the creation of German-Hungarian union as a Central European
core. This was supposed to be the first step in conquering the Balkans. Similar views were presented by P. de Lagarde
(1827 – 1891) who perceived the Central Europe’s conquests as a foundation for establishing the German empire. C.
Frantz (1817 – 1891) conveyed similar views to Partsch, although not as nationalistic. He was the supporter of Central
European confederation and independence of Poland. Ethnic criteria were considered to a greater extent by H. Wagner
(1840 – 1929). P. Eberhardt, p. 464.
13
P. Eberhardt, Geneza, p. 465.
14
Compare Eberhardt, Geneza, p. 466.
15
R. Tannenberg predicted a complete victory of Russia, and France distancing from the Rhine. Greater Germany,
besides Germany, included Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands, East France, the entire Belarus and Baltic states
as well as Vienna, Prague, Bratislava and Zagreb. The entire Balkan region was within the borders of the Austro-
11
with the popularity of Fridrich Naumann’s concept, published during World War I (1915), when
German army achieved considerable success in eastern battlefields. Naumann’s study, with the
same title as Partsch’s (Mitteleuropa) played a significant role in scientific and publicistic discourse,
but later on it also influenced German aspirations towards their east neighbours. Despite author’s
endeavours, this concept was a source of inspiration for German nationalistic movement that strived
to conquer Central Europe and afterwards the eastern part of the European continent. Naumann
believed that, taking into account the West, Belgium and the Netherlands belonged to Mitteleuropa
and in south-east all Balkan countries up to Tsargrad. When it comes to countries that officially
belonged to Russia, including Poland, his plans were more moderate and had a few versions, but he
was also a supporter of independent Poland16.
The system after the Treaty of Versailles and the establishment of Soviet Russia brought
about a new geopolitical order east and south of Germany. The establishment of independent
Poland, the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and a great number of new states
created conditions for the birth of new ideas on integration, among others also the Polish idea of
Intermarium.
The post-phase is the fourth part of Travniček’s transformation of Central Europe regarding
its geopolitical and cultural relations with the surroundings and it begins with the Revolutions in
1989.
Central Europe as an alternative to Russia and the West
The greatest success of conceptualisation of Central Europe idea was the transfer of its
semantic meaning from the field of geography and geopolitics into culture. This was achieved in a
remarkable way by Milan Kundera and his famous essay A Kidnapped West or Tragedy of Central
Europe17. The cultural importance of Europe had also been shaped earlier by writers, thinkers and
artists: Kafka, Freud, Wittgenstein, Popper, Cioran, Hayek, Mahler, Chagall, and Ionesco. In the
20th century the inhabitants of Central Europe greatly influenced all creative activities from art to
economy, religion and psychology.
After World War II one of the essential themes in Polish literature is a specific Polish view
of Central Europe. The first phase of Polish reflection on Central Europe begins with a classic text
by Milan Kundera defining the specificities of that region with regard to Russia and its affiliation to
the West. The second phase of Polish reflection on Central Europe started at the beginning of 1990s
with the attempts to redefine Central Europe and establish it as an alternative to Russia and the
West. Polish national universe, especially in literature of the 90s, is often shown as a component of
a heterogeneous structure. The writers of the 90s like Paweł Huelle, Stefan Chwin, Andrzej Stasiuk,
Olga Tokarczuk, the authors from diaspora – Janusz Rudnicki or Piotr Siemion, as well as Jacek
Kaczmarski describe their own origins and the world that has ethnic roots in more or less bordering
cultures or even the global culture. Polish national discourse from the transition period is still bound
with the traditional idea of supranational union such as a historic Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth.
This was the source of a new wave of nostalgic regional literature, border prose and the interest in
the exotic. The travel into Central Europe, expanded with the regions east of the Bug and Neman
rivers as a world of emigrant reminiscence, had already appeared in memoirs by Czesław Miłosz
(Native Realm), Jerzi Stempowski (Essays for Kasandra), etc. This existential, mental, family,
patriotic and nostalgic journey is linked with the idea of creating a European identity after Yalta. It
encompasses the concept of democratic-federative Central Europe as a region of united Europe.
After 1990 Polish literature of “little homelands” remained in the circle of postmodernist
inspirations, but it also tried to stand up to them by inspiring readers to reflect on the awareness of
Polish culture. The sources of this prose lie in the literature of eastern border regions, migration
Hungarian Monarchy (without Greece) and Ukraine up to the Sea of Azov. Compare P. Eberhardt, Geneza, p. 467 –
468.
16
Compare P. Eberhardt, Geneza, p. 471-472.
17
M. Kundera, Zachód porwany albo tragedia Europy Środkowej. "Zeszyty Literackie" 1984, no. 5, p. 14-30.
12
novels and political-literary discussions of the first phase. This was the period when Kundera’s
essay, in Polish emigrant and soon afterwards official magazines, sparked a debate on belonging
and links to culture and history of Central Europe. In Polish view, it is more a Central-East Europe,
which reflects an enormous influence of the tradition of eastern border regions. This indicates that
the focus of such prose is on the east vector. In this very broad Polish view, Central-East Europe is
not one united region. It is divided into constituents that rarely function as a whole. Polish writers
also perceive Podolia, Galicia, Bukovina, border regions of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and
even the area around Vilnius as parts of Central Europe. Nowadays they also turn to Germany,
introducing besides the east vector a new direction of literary searches and explorations. Polish
narratives that mythologise Central Europe by including expanded territories east of the Bug and
Neman, create the myths of borders, myths of “private homeland”, and versions of idea of “my
Europe”. These myths directed at “Yalta occupied terrain” are aimed at surpassing Soviet
dominance in that part of Europe. Fictional Central European federation was supposed to play the
role of the former “Habsburg bulwark”, i.e. on the one hand, to prevent the unification of Europe
under German patronage, and on the other, to stop Soviet imperialism.
The western vector, linked to Polish-German border territory, was initiated by Günter Grass
whose The Tin Drum aroused interest in previously cursed Polish-German border region. The
works of Paweł Huelle, Stefan Chwin, Artur Liskowacki, Jerzy Sosnowski, Roman Reda-
Praszyński, Piotr Siemion, Szczepan Twardoch focus on literary explorations of the essence of
“homelands” that had previously been forbidden or undervalued – the “Germanness” and
“Polishness” of Gdansk, Szczecin, Wroclaw, Kołobrzeg, generally of Pomerania and Lower Silesia,
the regions that had been ignored in literature before. These authors initiated the search for identity
far away from the centre of culture, in the sphere of their own personal experience and in the history
of local events.
The two concepts of Central Europe, Polish and Czech, differ a lot. Polish tradition of
reflection on Central Europe is characterised by the interest in Central-East Europe and the
expansion of this macro region, due to Polish historical events, into countries that were in the zone
of Polish cultural and historical influence. The controversy over Polish and Czech tradition of
Central Europe is actually a dispute over the territory and the centre of this geocultural region, its
function and subjects. The Czech tradition positions the Czech Republic not only in the centre of
Central Europe, but perceives the Czech Republic and its culture as a Central Europe’s predecessor
and compass, since Czech culture is linked to the core and origin of Central European self-
awareness. The Polish tradition of Central Europe differs from the Czech due to the east vector
directed at Galicia as a “soul” of Central Europe, since Galicia is at the same time the source of
Habsburg and Central European myth which creates an ideal version of this region – a man from
border regions – an archetypal citizen of Central Europe. The two subjects of Central European
motto “maximum variety in minimal space” stand one opposite the other: a “Czech little man” and
Polish “man from borders of neighbouring cultures”.
After the triumph of the Revolutions in 1989, the ideas of cultural identity only increased the
distance between political representations of Central European identity. The third phase of literary
myths of Central Europe in Polish literature (from the end of 90s to the beginning of the 21st century
and today) mark a meta discourse in that region. The literature is dominated by critical reflection,
the awareness of the size of the project and differentiated traditions representing various narratives
of Central Europe. One of the dominant features is the significance of the Habsburg myth which
expresses the coexistence of nations, religions and cultures and exposes the idea of Habsburg
bulwark. In the third phase Polish literature abandons the fascination by Vilnius and Lviv as “stolen
Arcadias” in which Polish culture had been exterminated and the attention of the writers takes a
different direction – the South (southern vector).
Andrzej Stasiuk in his novel Babadag presents a postmodern vision of Central Europe by
setting the narrative between high, middle and low genres; essay, report, diary, philosophical,
poetical and trivial style. The motifs of the Habsburgs in his prose do not identify the state with
history but with culture: fiction, parody, vagueness, self-parody, the ephemeral, the marginalisation
13
of history, exposure of Austrian decadence. Stasiuk’s Central Europe moves, at the expense of
Mediterranean myth, towards the Black Sea and Danube. The Habsburg myth is a core, but it does
not completely fulfil the content of Central Europe by connecting that category with Danube
civilization.
Hence the Revolutions in 1989 were not the end of literary mythological strategies whose
subject is an inhabitant of Central European countries. The hero of Central Europe, after the
overturn in 1989, faces new challenges and must cope with the pressure of modern times and the
burden of history, with traumatic events, changes, disintegration of old and establishment of new
socio-political systems, nomadic existence and new forms of life. Modern processes taking place in
that region, whose identity is submitted to actualisation and re-evaluation, deprive the hero of a
stable, ready-made form in which he could inscribe his existence, his biography. He is nowhere at
home. The topos of Atlantis is replaced by the topos of Prometheus, a character of a secular pilgrim,
vagrant, gambler, wanderer, tourist, drifter. The literature of Central Europe still has not managed to
react to a hybrid war in the east of Ukraine.
Andrzej Stasiuk and Jurij Andruchowycz are the authors of almost programmatic essays
Moja Europa. Dwa eseje o Europie zwanej Środkową (My Europe. Two essays on Europe called
Central 2000) for a generation of Polish and Ukraine writers of the 90s. Their representations of
history are, of course, different, but not conflicting. The on-going Polish-Ukraine literary dialogue
has abandoned the vicious circle of memories, idealisation and historical reminiscence. Jurij
Andruchowycz describes the contents of the Habsburg myth in a different way. He observes the link
with the West, and that is Greece, perceives it as the element of eastern culture in the culture of the
West. The author believes that Ukraine needs Central Europe because it links the country with
Western Europe. Belarus writer Ihor Babkou attempts to incorporate the idea of Central Europe into
the postmodern vision of the world in which periphery plays an important role. Unlike Kundera,
who tried to prove that Central Europe belongs to the centre of European civilisation, Babkou, even
in term concepts, uses the word Central-East Europe which is in literary discourse, unlike in
geopolitical and political sciences discourse, burdened by negative connotations. According to him,
Central Europe is a different Europe, the one which has been in the shadows of western European
modernity, Europe which does not exist in common European cultural heritage – Europe of missed
chances, forgotten heritage and unrealised ideas.
Central Europe from a condominium to a cordon sanitaire
We live in the world in which order and security have until recently been guaranteed by the
EU but now they slide into oblivion. The EU is facing the most serious crisis which is destroying its
unity and the politics of Putin’s Russia strive to create a rift in Europe’s strategic alliance with the
USA. When Central-East European countries joined the EU, the EU relations with Russian
Federation deteriorated and a long-term crisis began. The abandonment of the principle of nuclear
“balance of fear” and a complicated concept of the “zone of influence and interest”, which is not
obeyed by the countries which gained independence after the Revolutions in 1989, also ignored by
the Union and NATO, replaced the quantity of growing problems with quality and none of the sides
in conflict have clear and concrete strategic aims which could be brought closer in a negotiation. It
is also significant that none of the sides have a vision of Russia’s role in the processes of European
integration18. Neither Moscow nor Brussels are able to clearly define common values and
interests19.
A famous Putin’s speech at a Munich Security Conference in February 2007 announced
what was later to become a consequence of bloody Kiev’s Maidan (2014). A hybrid war in the east
of Ukraine proves that Russia is ready to use force in order to pursue its interests and it can use
18
N. K. Arbatowa, W. A. Ryzkow, Rossija i JeS: sblizenije na fonie razrywa? “Rossija w globalnoj politikie” styczeń-
luty 2005, no. 1.
19
Otnoszenija Rossii i Jewropejskokogo Sojuza: sawriemniejnnaja situacija i pierspektiwy (situacionnyj analiz pod
rukowodstwom S.A. Karaganowa). Moscow 2005.
14
force to change the borders in its immediate surroundings. Moreover, it is capable of playing games
on the verge of provocation and serious international conflicts20. After a decade and a half of
politics of coexistence, Putin’s Russia opted for confrontation with the EU instead of integration21.
In today’s politics Central Europe is identified with the countries of the Visegrad Group22,
but this is the stagnation after the period in which all the countries from the Group struggled to
become NATO members, and later on, through rivalry, strived to join the EU. Today, Central
Europe faces a difficult dilemma since it should, by overcoming dualism of two Central Europes (in
Halecki’s sense), support the participation of Germany and Ukraine. The problem is that, from the
view of Polish national interests, German participation in any Central European project can cause
marginalisation of Poland, whereas Ukraine’s participation, at least from today’s perspective, seems
unrealistic. Still, Central Europe with Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, possibly
Romania, Bulgaria or Baltic and Balkan countries, will not have relevant political, economic and
demographic significance.
The common memory and success of countries of ex-Eastern bloc, which was the result of a
successful transformation, have not so far brought about a political union of Central and East
European countries which could efficiently articulate common interests regarding energy policies in
the EU. The political present of Central and East Europe is determined by political tendencies
which put to test poor regional connections affected by oil and gas.
There are numerous factors that pose a threat to Central Europe’s existence, first of all, there
are some which originate in its weakness as an autonomous subject in international politics, in its
economic-resource dependence as well as its periphery statues understood as “no one’s country”.
Many authors have dealt with the connections between politics and energy resources export. They
refer to Putin’s politics as a knot of co-dependence of geoeconomy and geopolitics23.
Ivan N. Tarasov from Social-Economics State University in Saratov, in his article published
in magazine “Полис. Политические исследования”, states that “objectively a military conflict
between Russia and those countries [Central and East Europe] is hindered by the fact that these
countries are members of the EU and NATO24.
This article presents not only the author’s views but also the attitudes of relevant political
circles. The article classifies Central European countries into five categories with regard to the
nature of their relations with Russia. The Russian Federation politics to Central Europe is
characterised by colonial segregation, as an area affected by epidemics, which is evident in the
implementation of the system of gradual privileged “passes”.
The first group of countries with the most optimal “passes” is made of so-called Trojan
horses of Russia in the EU, Greece and Cyprus. The next group are Russian “strategic partners”,
France, Germany, Italy and Spain. The third group are so-called well-meaning pragmatists, Austria,
Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, Luxemburg, Malta, Slovakia, Slovenia, Portugal and Hungary. The
fourth group are “cold pragmatists”, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, the
Netherlands, Romania, Sweden and Great Britain. Finally, the fifth group – “new cold war
warriors” sentenced to a certain quarantine – Lithuania and Poland that suspect, as the authors of
20
S. Bieleń, Tożswamość europejska Rosji – związki i róznice cywilizacyjno-kulturowe, [in:] Stos Rosji z Unia
Europejską, p. 26. See also S. Bieleń, Deficyt realizmu w polskiej polityce zagranicznej. “Stosunki Międzynarodowe –
International Relations” 2008, t. 38, no. 3-4.
21
S. Bieleń, ibid, p. 27.
22
Central Europe did not manage to transfer its identity from a cultural sphere into political and economic institutions.
The Visegrad Group was established in 1991 (V3) and since 1993, after the disintegration of Czechoslovakia, the
Group was expanded (V4). It should be noted that after 1989 The Visegrad Group was the first definition of Central
European countries, and it referred to post-communist countries.
23
Czadajew A., Putin: jego idieologia. Moskwa 2006 oraz A. Tsygankov, Vladimir Putin’s Vision of Russia as a
Normal Great Power. “PostSoviet Affairs” 2005, no. 2, p. 138.
24
I. N. Tarasow, Politiko-ekonomiczeskaja asimmietrija w otnoszenijach Rossiji so stranami Centralno-Wostocznoj
Jewropy, “Polistr. Politiczeskije issliedowanija” 2008, no. 2, p. 138.
15
reports write, that Russia is fighting a cold war against the EU25. It should also be emphasised that
besides the first two groups, Central European countries are in all three other groups. Calling two
countries “cold war warriors” means, according to the author, that these countries are the only EU
members that have attempted to oppose cold war politics26.
On March 19 2004 at an international conference in Bratislava, the deputy Minister of
Russian Foreign Affairs Vladimir Čižov warned the EU not to create “cordon sanitaire” of countries
subordinate to the EU along Russian borders27. He repeated these accusations in a bit milder form in
October of the same year, expressing hope that the EU will not interfere with the integration
processes in CIS, but it will use them for improving relations with its east neighbours28. A month
later he advocated the continuation of integration process in the EU and CIS and their future
harmonisation and synchronisation as well as establishing better connections between the EU and
CIS. His argument was that both processes complement each other, and in establishing a united
region of CIS the standards and norms of the EU are being implemented29. This indicated that
Russia had clearly outlined its specific vision of European integrations. It was supposed to be
created on two pillars: the EU in the Western part and structure of CIS, especially in Common
Economic Space in the East. In that way Russian strategic control would be preserved in the eastern
parts of the continent30.
The year 2016 marks the 25th anniversary of the establishing of this organisation. Yet, it is
facing a serious crisis and it keeps postponing the signing of executive agreements within Common
Economic Space and Eurasian Economic Union31, even though Kremlin has been intensifying
verbal declarations on the foundations of Eurasian Union. Central Europe in the context of global
politics of super powers looks like a small centre and a possible entrance hall for super powers’
conflicts because the return of plans of anti-missile shield (in Poland and Czech Republic) is faced
with the danger of Russian nuclear attacks on Warsaw and Poland32.
From the Triangle of Three Seas to the Triangle of Austerlitz
The idea of Intermarium was shaped between the two wars as resistance to growing German
influence from the West and Russian from the East. It was a plan pursued by Pilsudski and his
supporters and also close to national programmes, which was crucial for its weakness. Intermarium
was supposed to be a federation of countries in ABB triangle (the Adriatic, Baltic and Black Sea).
This concept was advocated by Roman Dmowski. The utopia of Intermarium failed when
confronted with internal ethnic conflicts of this hypothetical community. Polish-Ukraine, Serbo-
Croatian and Hungarian-Romanian conflicts made it impossible to put up resistance to super powers
(Turkey, Russia, Prussia).
The idea of Intermarium was reactivated a few times after World War II in the circles of
right, national and Christian movements. After gaining independence in 1989 the Leszek
Moczulski’s Confederation of Independent Poland and Jan Parys’ Third Republic Movement
25
M. Leonard, N. Popescu, A power Audit of EU-Russia Relations, The European Council on Foreign Relations
(ECFR), 07 November, 2007, p. 2.
26
S. Parzynies, Wpływ państw członkowskich UE z Europy Środkowej na kształt stosunków, [in:] Stosunki Rosji z
Unią Euro, p. 279.
27
See: www.mid.ru, for: Rocznik Strategiczny 2004/2005. Przegląd…, p. 216.
28
See: “Mieżdunarodnja Żizń” 2004, no. 9, for: Rocznik Strategiczny 2004/2005. Przegląd…, p. 216.
29
Wystąpienie W. Czyżowa na konferencji “Wizja Europy”, Berlin, 19 November, 2004, see: www.mid.ru, for: Rocznik
Strategiczny 2004/2005. Przegląd…, p. 216.
30
See: Rocznik Strategiczny 2004/2005. Przegląd…, p. 216.
31
Rocznik Strategiczny 2006/2007. Przegląd sytuacji politycznej, gospodarczej i wojskowej w środowisku
międzynarodowym Polski, under. R. Kuźniara, Warszawa 2007, p. 191 - 192.
32
Kosaczow: Tarcza w Polsce może być naszym celem, mar, PAP, IAR, according to: www.gazeta.pl (retrieved on: 4
February 2008); Eksperci IISS: Napięcie rośnie z powodu CFE, a nie tarczy antyrakietowej, rik, PAP, according to:
www.gazeta.pl (retrieved on: 5 February 2008); Putin: Rozpoczyna się nowy wyścig zbrojeń, mar, PAP, according to:
www.gazeta.pl (retrieved on: 8 February 2008); Putin: Przekierujemy rakiety na Polskę, mar, PAP, IAR, according to:
www.gazeta.pl (retrieved on 8 February 2008).
16
adopted the idea of Intermarium as their official geopolitical concept. This attitude was upheld by
IV Congress of KPN organised in Warsaw in 1992, but this idea was supported by political parties
of six countries: Belarus, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Ukraine by establishing the
organisation the League of Parties of Intermarium in Kiev in July 1994. The League’s Congresses
were held in Yaroslavl (1995), Minsk (1996) and Kiev (1997). This idea was followed by some
non-political social initiatives dealing with issues in Central Europe.
The idea of Intermarium was also dominant in other circles of Polish political activities, but
this variety was rather a sign of the weakness of its real significance and paradoxical limitations.
Janusz Korwin Mikke thought of the Intermarium concept as having the centre in Budapest and
Jacek Bartyzel considered Baltic-Hungarian-Slovene Empire with the capital of Lvov. These
projects did not have a significant impact because, on the one hand, they represent the aspirations of
small, endangered nations and on the other, the national nature of its genesis ensnares them in a web
of opposing national interests and presents their limitations. The National Party’s programme
documents emphasise the necessity of cooperation between Poland and its brotherly nations the
Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Balkan states. Marian Piłka even suggested a controversial
collaboration with Serbia during Slobodan Milošević’s regime, which was not at all recorded by
any politically correct media33.
Nowadays the idea of Intermarium is realised in the Congress of Gniezno and Lech
Kaczynski’s east politics, promoted as the idea of Prometheus in Polish foreign politics even though
his political surroundings talked more about Jagiellonian politics. They were both inspired by
Christianity and reveal anti-European character.
The contemporary Congresses of Gniezno are linked to the Congress from the year 1000
which, in short, represented the recognition of Poland’s presence in Europe of that time. After that
Congress there have been eight such meetings34 in contemporary times, but only two played an
important role in redefining the region of Central Europe35.
Before a milestone in 1989 this idea was supported by parties that were not in power, but
later the official politics of the Third Republic (1989 – 2004) were characterised by initiatives
which clearly reflected Piłsudski’s ideas. This was without any doubt fostered by close cooperation
of Poland and Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia until July 1991 within the
Hexagonale that was supposed to create balance of Germany’s growing influence in the region. The
Hexagonale was transformed into Central European Initiative in 1992. In addition, Poland
collaborated with Hungary and Czechoslovakia within CEFTA, which was also initiated by Poland.
Central European Free Trade Agreement was signed on 21 December 1992 and later on more
countries from the region joined and spread the organisation from the Baltic and Black Sea to the
Adriatic36.
According to his supporters of the east politics, Lech Kaczynski was inspired by
organisation “Prometheus”, established by Piłsudski and his followers, whose task was to form
emigrant governments of the states subjugated by the USSR including the Azerbaijani, Ukraine,
Georgia and Chechen. In this circle the idea of Prometheus marked a common independent front of
leaders and politicians who represent in emigration the nations oppressed by the Russian Empire37.
33
http://archiwum.patriota.pl/197_zapomniane_miedzymorze/. (retrieved on 22 March 2015)
34
3 June 1997, 12 March 2000, 15-16 March 2003, 12-16 March 2004, 16-18 September 2005, 15-17 June 2007, 12-14
March 2010, 16-18 March 2012.
35
Marking the 1000th anniversary of Saint Vojtech [Adalbert of Prague, author’s remark] on 3 June 1997 in Gniezno
there was a meeting of John Paul II and Presidents of seven European countries: Poland – Aleksander Kwaśniewski,
Germany – Roman Herzog, The Czech Republic – Václav Havel, Slovakia – Michal Kovacz, Hungary – Arpad Göncz,
Ukraine – Leonid Kučma, Lithuania – Algirdas Brazauskas, and on 12 March 2000 there was a meeting of Presidents of
five European countries: Aleksander Kwaśniewski, Poland; Johannes Rau – Germany, Rudolf Schuster – Slovakia,
Arpad Göncz – Hungary, Valdas Adamkus – Lithuania. The representatives of the Czech Republic and Ukraine were
not present.
36
http://www.stosunkimiedzynarodowe.pl/trzecia-europa-czyli-idea-mi%C4%99dzymorza. (retrieved on 22 March
2015)
37
W. Bączkowski, Prometeizm na tle epoki. Wybrane fragmenty z historii ruchu. “Niepodległość” 1984, t. XVII, p. 28.
17
Kaczynski believed that the position of Poland in the Union was “marginal38” and he redefined the
interwar political idea of Prometheism by giving it the dimension of Polish east politics whose
crucial elements were relations with Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Georgia and Azerbaijan, but he
also linked it to energy security. A few summits on energy were organised, the first one in Krakow
in 2007 with Presidents of Lithuania, Azerbaijan and Georgia and afterwards in Vilnius, Kiev and
Baku.
So far the representation of Intermarium idea has not been subjected to literary reflection
since it was overshadowed and sometimes coincided with dominant Central European topos or
small homeland’s literature. Undoubtedly literary representation of Intermarium idea did not have
such a great influence as the idea of Central Europe, but it seems that they also follow different
directions. The field of Central Europe idea is literature, and the field of Intermarium idea is history,
especially alternative history.
The sources of the idea of Intermarium could be found in works of Stefan Żeromski where it
gets the character of an autonomous idea, but is established in Jagiellonian tradition and works of
Henryk Sienkiewicz. Jerzy Stempowski in essay Berdyczowski attributes different meaning to the
idea of Intermarium.
The consequence of the Battle of Austerlitz, of course only symbolically, can be the
establishing of the so called the Slavkov triangle, which is evidently directed both at the idea of
Central Europe and Intermarium. On 29 January 2015 in Slavkov (former Austerlitz) the Prime
Ministers of three countries, Austria, The Czech Republic and Slovakia signed a declaration on
establishing a new platform of cooperation in the field of infrastructure, transport, energy security
and cross-border relations. It is important to mention that one of the co-authors of the declaration,
Petr Drulak, vice minister of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during bilateral talks with
Austria stated that the task of both countries is to improve cooperation with Slovenia and Croatia.
Still, present political circumstances exclude Hungary from the declaration, but some analysts
believe that Hungary could join later. The political aims of the declaration are also not very clear. It
is hard to conceal the attempt to create a pro-Russian platform within the EU, creating local
infrastructure, abandoning liberal doctrine in favour of left economic doctrine in the EU. If Polish
Intermarium or Jagiellonian politics mark an attempt to re-establish Poland as a European hegemon,
isn’t the Slavkov triangle, at least from Polish point of view, an attempt to uphold the tradition of
Austro-Hungarian Monarchy? Still, if Polish right-wing fantasies do not find politicians who would
validate them, the idea of a new Austro-Hungary is verified by the signatures of three Prime
Ministers.
Central Europe in the context of Russian geostrategic politics, i.e. in the direction of political
fiction
The expansion of NATO and the EU in the post-Soviet regions as well as relocation of
USA’s geostrategic activity in West and South-East Europe, Central Asia and Caucasia regions
force Russia to mobilise forces and resources39.
In the debate organised by “Gazeta Wyborcza” Sergey Karaganov, with regard to fears of
Russian neighbours (Georgia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine) and Russian intentions to them, said:
“Russia is not interested and hopefully future Russia will not be interested in your problems; we are
fighting for our position in the future world, for the position of a super power40. Russia’s aim is to
strengthen the position of the “independent pole” in the world with multiple poles41.
38
Compare W. Wieczysty, Idea prometeizmu w polskiej polityce zagranicznej Lecha Kaczyńskiego. “Arcana”, nr 117,
maj-czerwiec 2014, p. 214.
39
Bieleń, p. 241.
40
S. Karaganow, Rosji będziecie się bać. “Gazeta Wyborcza” z 17-18 maja 2008.
41
S. Bieleń, ibid.
18
Russian writer and political scientist Aleksandr Dugin42 in his numerous works drafts the
geopolitical future of the world, primarily of the Euro-Asian continent43. In these plans, Central-
East Europe, i.e. the region between Russia and Atlantic Europe, situated between east part of a
small European peninsula between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Sea, has great importance for
strategic safety of Russia. Geopolitical separation of that region is the consequence of its double
role since it represents the west periphery of the Euro-Asian continent and the guard of the Atlantic
world dominated by the naval superpower, the USA. Geopolitical disconnectedness of that region is
also increased by cultural differences since the ethnic-religious border between Latin civilisation
and countries linked to the Byzantine Empire44 cultural heritage goes through Central-East Europe.
An important geopolitical factor influencing the situation in Central Europe, according to
Dugin, is Germany which is historically determined to have the role of a hegemon in Central
Europe. Germany can be Russia’s faithful partner, even an ally. It can also be an opponent of
imperial Russia due to its military collaboration with Atlantic Organisation. Culturally divided
Central-East Europe which comprises numerous states and nations is an important geostrategic
factor for Russia that forces Russia to monitor this region in order to secure its imperial interests45.
The key task of Russian people is the formation of great continental empire. Dugin supports
this extremely nationalistic and imperialistic programme, presented as a doctrine, with historical,
geographic, ethnic, religious and political arguments. He relies on classics of geopolitics, especially
the representatives of integral traditionalism such as philosophers Julius Evola, Rene Gueron and
Mircea Eliade, who formed his points of view. At the same time, his ideas are close to the school of
geographic determinism, especially to Friedrich Ratzel46. Dugin is also inspired by works of
Halford Mackinder, the creator of famous term Heartland (“the heart of the continent”). Heartland,
“World Island” is made of three continents – Asia, Europe and Africa. Conquering the “World
Island” results in ruling over the whole world because, according to Mackinder, “who rules the
heartland, commands the World Island, and who rules the World Island, commands the world”.
Dugin perceives heartland as s territory of Russian Empire, Soviet Union and Russian Federation.
The most important task is a complete political control of the north part of the Euro-Asian
continent, i.e. heartland. This control would make it possible to efficiently stand up to superpowers
situated on world oceans. The conflict between land and marine civilisation, i.e. between Euro-
Asian Russia and Atlantic world, is inevitable. This requires the disintegration of the union between
the USA and West Europe, in other words, of NATO. The second step is weakening and disuniting
the EU. This would be an appropriate reaction to events from the end of the 20th century when the
Atlantic bloc managed to destroy the Warsaw Pact and state unity of the USSR. Dugin believes that
Russia and “Euro-Atlantic world” are in the ideological and cultural opposition. Rivalry and
confrontations of such different philosophies and social attitudes are inevitable and determine the
future destiny of the world47.
42
Out of numerous Dugin’s works the monumental “Podstawy geopolityki. Przyszłość geopolityczna Rosji” had the
greatest impact. Dugin became the supporter of Euro-Asian idea and the great Euro-Asian Empire. The social-political
movement “Eurazja” was formed on his initiative.
43
In this text we present only some of Dugin’s ideas that directly refer to Central Europe. They are discussed in more
detail by Piotr Eberhard 2008 and D. Madejski 2009, L. Sykulski 2009a, b). Eberhardt, Geneza niemieckiej koncepcji
“Mitteleuropy”, “Przegląd Geograficzny” 77, 4, p. 463-484; Eberhardt, Rosyjski euroazjatyzm i jego konsekwencje
geopolityczne, “Przegląd Geograficzny” 77, 2, p. 171-191; Eberhardt, Koncepcje geopolityczne Karla Haushofera,
“Przegląd Geograficzny” 81, 4, p. 527-549. D. Madejski, Pocałunek mongolskiego księcia. Euroazjatyzm Rosji w mysli
Aleksandra Dugina, “Geopolityka”, 2, 1 (2), Częstochowa, p. 87-100; L. Sykulski, Rola paradygmatu geopolitycznego
w rozwoju neoazjatyzmu we współczesnej Rosji, [in:] T. Nodzyński (red), Miedzy historią, literaturą i polityką, Instytut
Geopolityki, Częstochowa 2009.
44
P. Eberhardt, Koncepcje geopolityczne Aleksandra Dugina. “Przegląd Geograficzny” 2010, 82, p. 222.
45
P. Eberhardt, p. 222.
46
Some chapters of Ratzel’s works were published in conference proceedings Przestrzeń i polityka. Z dziejów
niemieckiej mysli politycznej. Wybór i oprac. A. Wolff-Pawęska, E. Schulz, Poznańska Biblioteka Niemiecka,
Wydawnictwo Poznańskie, Poznań 2000.
47
Eberhardt, p. 224.
19
The mission of Russian people is not only to conquer the heartland, but, due to further
expansion, to form a great continental super empire. This calls for a creation of system of unions
which can neutralise Atlantic power led by the USA. Dugin suggests formation of three axes that
would strengthen the strategic position of continental Russian empire. The first axis, positioned in
Europe is the Moscow – Berlin route, the second, directed at east is Moscow – Tokyo, and the third,
meridian axis, is Moscow – Teheran48.
Close and stable cooperation on the Moscow – Berlin route should eliminate direct Atlantic
influences from Central Europe outside the Rhine and Alps. Eberhardt concludes that Dugin
“greatly overestimates the power of Russia and the possibility of its ruling the world. He is unaware
that Russia is at present politically, demographically and economically a weak country and cannot
realise plans within continental, let alone global reach49.
In his book Fourth political theory published in 2009, a work on Russian-Georgian conflict,
intertwined by extreme dogmatism and xenophobia, Dugin states that the West world is hostile to
Russia and does not intend to respect its vital geopolitical interests. Dugin predicts new military
clashes and believes that it is necessary to create a new philosophical-political idea/theory in Russia
that would be an alternative to ideological reality of Euro-Atlantic world. This fourth way, devoted
to tradition and theology, should take advantage of achievements of Euro-Asianism, social-
bolshevism, collectiveness, egalitarianism, Orthodox dogmatism and principles of sovereignty and
ethnicity. Its most important characteristic should be a hostile attitude towards contemporary
liberalism, globalism and postmodernism and criticism of societies of West Europe that advocate
consumerism deprived of moral norms50.
Geopolitical future of Central Europe according to Aleksandr Dugin’s concept
Regarding geopolitical consequences of the strategic axis Moscow – Berlin, Dugin pays a
lot of attention to the territory between Russia and Germany. Central Europe, including Germany, is
perceived as an inland-continental territory, unlike West Atlantic Europe, positioned on the Rhine.
Geopolitical capital of the region is Berlin and only Germany has the power to integrate that region.
The opposite of inland Germany is Atlantic England as a naval base of the USA. This state will
always be Germany’s opponent as well as Russian enemy. This is a common condition of the union
between Central Europe, i.e. Germany and Asian Empire, namely Russia which at present embodies
the doctrine of global hegemony51.
The Moscow – Berlin axis should secure the union of inland part of Europe led by Germany and at
the same time guarantee German-Russian alliance. Dugin refers to the ideas of German
geopoliticians: Ernst Niekisch and Karl Haushofer, the advocates of German-Russian alliance52.
The formation of Moscow – Berlin axis will stimulate “geopolitical reorganisation” of a
considerable part of Europe that could be desirable for Atlantic states, primarily the USA as the
organiser of various “cordon sanitaires”53. Therefore it is necessary to form a border between the
parts of Central Europe controlled by Germany and Russia that would restrict the dominance of
third countries. Such demarcation should prevent religious conflicts and inhibit the expansion of
Catholicism and Protestantism in the regions that traditionally belonged to Orthodox Church54.
48
Eberhardt, p. 225.
49
Eberhardt, p. 226.
50
Eberhardt, p. 227.
51
Eberhardt, p. 228.
52
The book dedicated to the development of German political thought contains two articles by K. Haushofer published
in Polish: Geograficzne zasady polityki zewnętrzenej oraz Geopolityczne spełnienie trójkąta (Przestrzeń..., 2000), p.
350-425 and 493-496.
53
Dugin 1999, p. 369 according to: Eberhardt, p. 229.
54
Russian imperial plans aimed at enslaving, submission or neutralisation of Central-East European countries, have
been discussed in a few interesting papers in independent Poland: J. Bratkiewicz 1991, A. Andrusiewicz 1994, A.
Lazari 1996, S. Grzybowski 1998, A. Nowak 2004 and R. Paradowski 2003 (A. Andrusiewicz, Mit Rosji. Studia z
dziejów filozofii rosyjskich elit, t. I, II, Wydawnictwo WSR, Rzeszów 1994; J. Bratkiewicz, Wielkoruski szowinizm w
20
Dugin considers the preferences of Slavs from Central-East Europe to be irrelevant, but this region
should be organised in such a way that it does not collide with Moscow’s interests in the whole
Euro-Asian continent55.
He refers to the part of Europe between the Rhine in the West and Belarus and Ukraine in
the East as “Srednjaja Jevropa”, Central Europe. This region is inhabited by “nations of former
Austro-Hungarian state and Germany, Prussia and parts of Polish and West-Ukraine territories”
(Dugin 1999, p. 220)56. In the attached map Dugin divides Central Europe by a meridian line that
connects north part of Norway with a point on the Adriatic coast near the border between
Montenegro and Albania. The territories east of that border belong to the Russian zone (Euro-Asia)
and Central Europe in the West is within German zone. The latter also contains three Baltic states
(Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia). Transylvania (Erdelj), Bukovina and Vojvodina are excluded from
Central European region even though they belonged to Austro-Hungary.
In other words, the border drawn by Dugin goes along the religious border. West of the
border are Catholic and Protestant nations, i.e. nations connected to Latin culture, and east of it is
the region of Orthodox Church linked to Byzantine tradition and heritage, even though Finland
should remain next to Russia.
This border between the zone of influence of Russia and Germany, on purpose or
accidentally, is linked to a demarcation line established in September 1939 between Ribbentrop and
Molotov. The judgement on the reality of this concept should be left to the future, but its
provocative character is perceptible. The aim of the political significance of that concept is to
receive Germany’s affection by promising it territorial compensation in the East. Finally, the zone
of German influence includes Poland, three Baltic states, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary,
Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and part of Ukraine where Greek Catholic Church and
strong Ukraine nationalism dominate. Dugin believes that this will make it easier to integrate other
parts of Ukraine with Russia57.
Dugin discusses the destinies of a few European countries between Russia and Germany by
nonchalantly depriving them of their sovereignty and putting them into hands of Moscow and
Berlin governments. Russian geostrategic scientist generously hands the territories over to Germany
, with the exception of Kaliningrad region, which have not been under Moscow authority for years
and which, except for parts of Belarus and Ukraine, are in the EU and NATO. We witness how
elements of “geopolitical decomposition” of Ukraine in its eastern parts (Donbas and Crimea)
become a fact, but we do not know the extent to which Putin realises Dugin’s programme. Poland,
along with Lithuania and Latvia, will be given a special status under the condition to leave NATO
and create a demilitarised zone.
SAŽETAK
SREDNJA EUROPA DANAS – NOVE IDEJE PREMA KRIZI

Bogusław Zieliński, Marek Kulec, Sveučilište Adama Mickiewicza u Poznańu
Prijetnja koja dotiče sadašnju Srednju Europu vezana je uz dvije skupine uzroka. Kao prvo, s
politikom Rusije koja traži novo mjesto za sebe na globalnoj razini. Kao drugo, s krizom unutar
świetle teorii kontynuacji, Instytut Nauk Politycznych PAN, Warszawa 1991; S. Grzybowski (red), Miedzy Europą a
Azją. Idea Rosji – Eurazji, Uniwersytet im. M. Kopernika, Toruń 1998; A. Nowak, Od imperium do imperium.
Spojrzenie na historię Europy Wschodniej, Wydawnictwo Arcana, Kraków 2004; R. Paradowski, Euroazjatyckie
imperium Rosji. Studium idei. Wyższa Szkoła Handlu i Finansów Miedzynarodowych, Warszawa 2003; A. Lazari, Czy
Moskwa będzie trzecim Rzymem? Studia o nacjonalizmie rosyjskim, Wydawnictwo Śląsk, Katowice 1996).
55
Eberhardt, p. 230.
56
Eberhardt, p. 230.
57
Eberhardt, p. 231-232.
21
same Unije, koja se većinom tiče zemalja Srednje Europe kao najmlañeg njezinog člana i onoga
koji nosi postkomunistički teret. Geostrateški, ideološki i kulturološki aspekti povezani s prethodno
spomenutim kompleksima prijetnje bit će predmet izlaganja na konferenciji.
Ključne riječi: Srednja Europa, kriza, geostrategija, ideologija, kulturologija
22
Lidija Bakota
UDK 371.671”198”:81'27

Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek
LEXIS OF TEXTBOOKS IN THE NINETEEN-EIGHTIES: A SOCIOLINGUISTIC

APPROACH
Abstract
Language is an essential part of a nation's identity. Language, especially its lexis, reflects social and
historical changes that a nation goes through. It means that lexis development takes place
simultaneously with social changes that occur over time. The second half of the twentieth century in
Yugoslav philology is characterised by Serbo-Croatism, i.e. the intention to merge two languages
into one. The political parlance became a part of widely used public language and permeated school
textbooks as well. The paper analyses ideologically determined lexis in the textbooks for young
learners that were used in schools in the nineteen-eighties. Qualitative and quantitative analysis was
applied in order to obtain the answers to the following questions: Do texts in the analysed textbooks
promote the values of the political regime in Yugoslavia?, Do they contain the lexis of political
discourse, the so called ideologisms?, Is it possible to illustrate the transformation of ideological
literary contents through visual arts? Textbook, as an important teaching aid when it comes to the
development of pupils’ literary skills, can help promote political values of the ruling regime, in this
case the values of the Yugoslav communist regime.
Keywords: textbook analysis, Serbo-Croatism, political lexemes – ideologemes
Introduction
Lexis is foremostly the fundamental carrier of meaning within a language, but it is at the same time
the treasury of cultural and civilization experience and an important marking of people’s identity.
To study language is to, among other, study the human experience and knowledge in the most
encompassing sense.
The Croatian language was used to communicate in different times and under various social
circumstances. The language evolved throughout history by keeping up with historical and social
trends. Therefore, in language one can always detect data which reflect the nature or the intensity of
social changes (Samardžija 2000).
The history of a language can be divided into external and internal (Holzerova 2007, qtd. by Tafra
2013). The external history of a language, for example, is focused on the relationship between
authority and language, the politics of language,58 official regulations, language use etc.59 In this
58
The concept of language politics in linguistic research appeared relatively late, in the 1970's. Language politics, from
the linguistic point of view, belongs to the domain of sociolinguistics. Language politics is by definition differentiated
from language planning; language planning refers to an “action with the intent of promoting the system of language
23
Lidija Bakota
paper we are primarily concerned with the political framework of language politics in the Socialist
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. On the theoretical level the language politics of SFRY was
influenced by a fundamental political oritentation – socialism, self-government, delegate system,
federalism (Škiljan 1988: 78). In its political programme it contained the ideas of freedom, equality
and brotherhood “which in the linguistic and communication sense implies, in principle, the free
choice of means of public communication, the equality of all selected idioms… and the mutual
respect of all citizens, no matter which language they use.
Changes in society, the political ones included, reflect on changes in language, mostly on the level
of lexis. Sociolinguistically speaking, the changes are visible in the attitude of a speaker towards
words that in the Croatian language practice remind one of bad political circumstances or the
language of “bad neighbours”60 (Gnjidić 2001). By that we primarily allude to the unitarist
language politics of the former state which under the dominant influence of the Serbian language
asserted to create the “Serbo-Croatian language” (Auburger 2009, Grčević 2002).
The topic of this research is the analysis of ideologically determined lexis in the textbooks for lower
primary school children which were used in the nineteen-eighties, and whose lexical aspect reflects
the political discourse of the Yugoslav ruling regime. It is the lexis that, observed with hindsight,
reminds one of the formerly troublesome political times.
Sociolinguistic perspective of the Croatian language in the second half of the twentieth
century
As mentioned in the introduction, language reflects the social and historical changes of a nation.
Such changes were evident in the Croatian language in the second half of the twentieth century.
The second half of the twentieth century in Yugoslav philology was marked by endeavours to create
one language – Serbo-Croatian or Croato-Serbian.61 Leopold Auburger (2009) introduced the term
Serbo-Croatism which implies the programme of creating the singular Serbo-Croatian language.
The name Serbo-Croatian or Croato-Serbian mirrored the theory of the existence of the so-called
two variants of the common non existant language.62 In order to modify the unitarist language
change in a community of speakers” (Žanić, 2007: 136), whereas language politics is the “set of ideas, laws, regulations
and practices announced by the government or other relevant body or person with the intent of, under specific
conditions, achieving a planned change in language “ (Žanić, 2007: 136). Škiljan (1988: 8) defines language politics as
a set of rational and mostly institutionalised procedures by means of which a society influences the language forms of
public communication and the forming of an awareness of such forms among its members. More on the differentitation
between the terms and the historical development of language politics and language planning, see: Škiljan, 2000:
160−175, Wright, 2010: 7−12.
59
Internal history of language monitors orthography and assimilation of language, in other words the development of
orthographic and linguistic norm (Tafra 2013: 414).
60
The syntagm of “bad neighbours” denotes the Serbian language.
61
Croatian studies have very clearly described the relationship between the Croatian and Serbian language. “Those two
languages carry with them different cultures, language history and literature. Throughout history there are no common
texts which would be considered both Croatian and Serbian” (Babić 1995: 17). Croats have developed their language on
the basis of Western Catholic culture, and since the second half of 14th century have used Roman script which is
nowadays the only Croatian script. Serbs based their language on the Oriental, Bysantine Orthodox culture using the
Cyrillic script which is nowadays the official Serbian script (Babić 1995: 17). “It is unfounded to claim that the
Croatian standard language had a history up to the mid-nineteenth century, that since then it has been the history of
Serbo-Croatian which dissolved in the 1990’s, as many foreign Slavists think, that in that period there was no Croatian
or Serbian, and it is also unfounded to talk about either of these histories” (Tafra 2013: 424). There have always “…
been two standard languages, or there has always been one, but there certainly cannot be ‘two in one’ or, depending on
political circumstances, a bit of one and a bit of both“ (Tafra 2013: 424). For more on this topic, see: Brozović 2008.
24
Lidija Bakota
politics, after the Novi Sad agreement in 1960 Daničić institutes the two-part language title
connected by means of the conjuction or, in other words Croatian or Serbian as the more acceptable
language variants.63 “The introduction of the linguistic model of Croatian or Serbian language, as
the foundation of language community, was, therefore, simultaneously a scientific and a political
act. Scientific in order to be the instrument of describing the differences of several related
languages. Politically, in the sense of being the starting point in the attempt to establish social
communication among several nationally and socioculturally diverse environments“ (Peti, in: Babić
1990: 293), in other words, as a means of achieving political goals (Peti, in: Babić 1990: 310).
Auburger (2009) emphasises that Serbo-Croatism achieved victory by means of extorting The Text
of the Novi Sad Agreement (“conclusions”) in 1954 which antihistorically proclaimed the “national
and standard language of Serbs, Croats and Montenegrins as a single language” with two accents
which are to be treated equally, and two scripts.
The language unity of Croats and Serbs (entered additionally by Montenegrins and Muslims) in the
period since the nineteen-fifties was characterised by the suppression of the words that were thought
to be typically Croatian. This had to do with the language politics of the former SFRY and its
efforts to create the “Serbo-Croatian standard language” under the dominant influence of the
Serbian language (Grčević 2002: 514). Many so-called “questionable” Croatian words were in the
nineteen-eighties characterised as words associated with the Ustaše regime and were considered
“ustashoid”. The intense linguistic changes are visible in the emphasised internationalisation of
political language and a surge of loanwords derived from Russian (Samardžija 2002). The changes
were mostly ideologically conditioned. Yet, the Croatian language is not an isolated case of such
practice. Similar changes happened in most of the Slavic languages (Bulgarian, Czech, Slovak,
Slovenian, Serbian and, in a specific manner, in Macedonian).
The tendency towards the internationalisation of political lexis first appeared in its administrative
style and then permeated the other functional styles of the Croatian language. The most frequent
such lexemes (armija, partija, partizan, pionir, proleter, revolucija, revolucionar) were not
unfamiliar to speakers of Croatian. Most of the lexemes were adopted before 1945, but the novelty
was that after 1945 the aforementioned lexemes combined with new meanings and new
connotations became ideologemes64, mandatory in many areas of public language use. The political
lexis began to strongly enter school book texts by becoming their consitutent and unavoidable part.
The linguistic and political pressure of Serbo-Croatism and unitarist Serbism developed in the
nineteen-seventies and nineteen-eighties, affecting particularly the public use of language in civil
service, education, in scientific and professional terminology, as well as in mass media (Auburger
2009).
Research goal and methods

This research discusses the political lexis in textbooks aimed at lower primary school pupils. The
analysis encompassed textbooks that were used in primary schools in the nineteen-eighties and that
marked the final decade of school literary communication with literary works before the political
62
The Serbo-Croatist idea of the relationship between the Croatian and Serbian language as a “Western” or “Eastern
variant” was especially embraced by international Slavistics, probably because it simplified that relationship (Auburger
2009).
63
Moguš (2009) emphasises the fact that the freakiness of the title with a conjuction or existed only in Croatia and
Yugoslavia and nowhere else.
64
Ideologeme - ling. A new meaning or a unit of language created within the frame of a certain ideology; ideologism, 2.
Word or phrase which is within an ideology assigned symbolic value of belonging and recognition when producing
texts or by way of expression (e.g. brotherhood and unity, Croatian fight for independence) http://hjp.novi-
liber.hr/index.php?show=search.
25
Lidija Bakota
changes in the Republic of Croatia. It is also the decade marked by, among other, the death and
memory of the head of state, Josip Broz Tito.65
The tasks/goals of the research are listed as follows:
- to detect the appearance of textbook reading materials which thematically promote the
values of the SFRY political system
- to analyse the lexemes of political discourse, the so-called ideologemes, in the texts and the
didactic-methodological instrumentarium of the textbooks
- to detect various audio-visual devices in the textbooks by means of which the ideological
principles of the governing regime are promoted.
The following textbooks/readers were analysed:66

1. Bendelja, Neda − Vajnaht, Edo (1981) Dobro jutro 3 [Good Morning 3], 1st form primary
school reader. Zagreb: Školska knjiga.
2. Bendelja, Neda – Brajenović, Branko (1985) Radosti druženja [The Joys of Friendship].
Textbook in literature, drama and film for 3rd form of primary school, 2nd unchanged edition.
Zagreb: Školska knjiga.
3. Bendelja, Neda − Vajnaht, Edo (1986) Sunčeva ljuljačka [Sun Swing]. 2nd form primary
school reader, IV unchanged edition. Zagreb: Školska knjiga.
4. Bukša, Juraj − Antoš, Antica (1984) Dječak u sjeni vrbe [The Boy in the Willow Shade]. 4th
form primary school reader, XIII unchanged edition. Zagreb: Školska knjiga.
5. Vajnaht, Edo (1981) Dobro jutro 2 [Good Morning 2], 1st form primary school beginner.
The above mentioned textbooks/readers were quantitatively and qualitatively analysed in order to
accommodate the anticipated tasks and goals of this research. The quantitative analysis was used to
acquire the numeric data: the total number of texts, the number of titles which reveal ideological
themes and their percentage in relation to the total number of texts. The texts were further analysed
with regard to the National Liberation Struggle (NLS), the National Liberation Army of Yugoslavia
(NLA), the chief of state Josip Broz Tito, as well as other accomplishments of the communist rule
in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). The qualitative analysis was used to
describe individually percieved values, and synthesised according to their relation and logical
clustering into larger groups.
Results and discussion

The results obtained by means of the analysis of the textbooks/readers were listed and presented
according to the sequence of the set research tasks. The research encompassed the frequency of
texts in textbooks which theme-wise promote the values of the political system of SFRY, extracting
and describing the lexemes of political discourse in writings and the didactic-methodological
instrumentarium, and describing the various audio-visual devices which are used to promote the
ideological principles of the governing political system at that time.
Texts as promotors of value of a state political system

Texts in readers should perform the function of developing pupils’ literary abilities. What we mean
by literary abilities implies pupils’ perception, understanding and interpretation of a literary work.
In other words, literary abilities enable a kind of literary communication (Rosandić 2005). Aside
65
Jospi Broz Tito died on May 4th, 1980.
66
The analysed textbooks that were used in schools in the nineteen-eighties were selected at random.
26
Lidija Bakota
from experiencing, perceiving and evaluating literary and aesthetic values of a literary work of art,
pupils are trained to detect the ethical and cognitive values of which the text is comprised.
The aim of the analysis was to confirm whether the texts in textbooks by way of their theme
promote certain ideological messages, as well as which social and political values are promoted and
contextualised. The texts were analysed in their relation to the National Liberation Struggle (NLS),
National Liberation Army (NLA), the head of state Josip Broz Tito, as well as other legacy of the
communist rule in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). Due to the fact that the
didactic-methodological instrumentarium of a textbook/reader makes it easier for a pupil to engage
in literary communication with the text, we were further interested in whether the tasks and
exercises in the analysed textbooks were also directed towards the promoting of social and political
values, and predominantly the promotion of the socialist and communist rule. In view of the reserch
tasks, the analysis of textbooks will also reveal their communication transparency, in other words,
how comprehensible are the messages incorporated in the text to their recepients, in this instance
lower primary school pupils.
As already mentioned, the analysis was conducted using the textbooks in literature from the first to
the fourth grade that were implemented within the school system of SFRY in the nineteen-eighties.
This implies the final decade of educating the young in the former Socialist Republic of Croatia
before the democratic changes in the beginning of the nineteen-nineties. This decade was marked
by the dissolution of Yugoslavia which lead to the founding of the independent Republic of Croatia.
In the subheadings of the analysed textbooks there is no mention of language, only the form for
which the textbook is intended. This means that the subheadings do not include a single variant of
the common nonexistent language: Croato-Serbian, Croatian and Serbian, Croatian or Serbian
language. Mirko Peti notes that Croatian or Serbian or Croato-Serbian/Serbo-Croatian is an
abstract language form which within itself enables a required use of individual concrete languages
of specific socio-cultural environments (Peti, in: Babići 1990). In this case the analysed textbooks
were in Croatian, in Roman script, accompanied by an occasional text in Cyrillics aimed at the
Croatian socio-cultural environment.
In the analysed first form beginner Dobro jutro [Good Morning] (Vajnaht 1981) out of the total of
66 offered texts, five of them (7, 57 %) are thematically bound to Comrade Tito, partisans who
fought in the National Liberation Army and pioneers who in their own way contributed to the unity
of all Yugoslav peoples and nationalities.67 In the other analysed first form reader Dobro jutro
[Good Morning] (Bendelja − Vajnaht 1981) out of the total number of texts (47) 6 (12,76 %) are
ideologically bound.68 In the second grade reader Sunčeva ljuljačka [Sun Swing] (Bendelja −
Vajnaht 1986) out of the total of 81 offered texts, 11 (13,58 %) deal with the head of state, the
heroic undertakings of partisans in World War II, Tito’s pioneers and Tito’s Youth.69 In the third
67
The titles of ideologically bound texts in the beginner Dobro jutro[Good Morning] (Vajnaht 1981) are as follows:
Vodič [Leader], Ime druga Tita [Comrade Tito's Name], Hvala Ti [Thank You], Boro na straži [Boro on Guard], Doñi,
djede, da mi pričaš! [Grandpa, Tell Me a Story!]. The texts in the analysed beginner do not reference the name of the
writer/author, but one can assume that they were created by the author of the beginner.
68
The titles of the ideologically bound texts in the first form reader Dobro jutro [Good Morning] (Bendelja − Vajnaht
1981) are the following: Jasna pozdravlja domovinu [Jasna Greets Her Homeland] (Dragan Lukić), Partizanska bluza
[The Partisan Shirt] (Danko Oblak), Kolo druga Tita [Comrade Tito's Kolo] (folk song), Velika žrtva [A Great
Sacrifice] (Tone Seliškar), Pionirski praznik [Pioneer Holiday] (Gustav Krklec), Armijo, smjela [Oh, Bold Army]
(Radovan Mikić).
69
The titles of the ideologically bound texts in the second form reader Sunčeva ljuljačka [Sun Swing] (Bendelja -
Vajnaht 1986) are as follows: Pastrve [Trout] (Zvonimir Štaubringer and Miloje Popović), Da i Ne [Yes and No]
(Grigor Vitez), Spomenik heroju [Monument to a Hero] (Miljenko Milanković), Kurir Dragan i njegovo konjče
[Courier Dragan and His Horsey] (Anñelka Martić), Na visokom hrastu [On the Tall Oak] (Danko Oblak), Eto ide
omladina [There Goes the Youth] (folk), Svaka pjesma iz srca je slita [Every Song From the Heart Floweth] (folk),
Armija naša mlada [Our Young Army] (Branko Ćopić), Uoči Dana Republike [Before the Republic Day] (Grigor
Vitez), Sretan roñendan [Happy Birthday] (Gustav Krklec), Svi zajedno [All Together] Josip Pavičić).
27
Lidija Bakota
form reader Radosti druženja [The Joys of Friendship] (Bendelja – Brajenović 1985) the total of
offered texts is 78, out of which 9 texts (11,54 %) promote the Yugoslav political regime.70 It is
important to note that out of the total number of texts 24 of them (30,77 %) were written in the
Cyrillic script, and not Roman script as the official Croatian script.71 The communication
(un)transparency of the analysed texts in textbooks of the nineteen-eighties is supported by the texts
written in the Cyrillic script which was officially, but not in practice, of the same status as the
Roman script in the Socialist Republic of Croatia.72 The Cyrillic script was, among other, supposed
to contribute to the implementation of the conclusions of the 1954 Novi Sad Agreement when the
two scripts were proclaimed to be equally represented, as well as the establishment of the
“people’s” and standard language of Srbs, Croats and Montenegrins as the “joint language” with
two accents (points 1. and 4.) which are to have equal status, and with two scripts (Auburger 2009).
In the fourth grade reader Dječak u sjeni vrbe [The Boy in the Willow Shade] (Bukša − Antoš 1984)
there is a total of 50 texts, of which 11 (22 %) are in Cyrillic script73 and 8 texts (16 %) praising the
accomplishments of World War II and SFRY.74
70
The titles of the ideaologically bound texts in the third form reader Radosti druženja [The Joys of Friendship]
(Bendelja − Brajenović 1985) are as follows: Prvi dan u školi [The First Day of School] (Milivoj Matošec), Rajka
(Anñelka Martić), Heroj Rade [Rade the Hero] (anonymous), Titovi mornari [Tito's Sailors] (partisan folk), Kurir pete
čete [Courier of the Fifth Troop] (Branko Ćopić), Očinska briga za borce [Fatherly Care for the Fighters] (Miroljub
Jevtović), Republici [To the Republic] (folk), Dvije ptice [Two Birds] (Petar Preradović), Armija naša [Our Army]
(Nikola Miličević). The poem by Petar Preradović Dvije ptice [Two Birds] speaks of man's universal love for his
country and the longing for the life of freedom. Yet, the poem is in the listed reader positioned next to the poem by
Nikola Miličević Armija naša [Our Army] and is interpreted in the context of love towards Yugoslavia and all its
peoples and nationalities.
71
The Cyrillic texts begin to appear only in the third form because then, along with the acquired Roman script, began
the learning of the Cyrillic. The Cyrillic texts in the third grade textbook Radosti druženja [The Joys of Friendship]
(Bendelja − Brajenović 1985) are the following: Gaša (Jovan Jovanović Zmaj), Breza [Birch-tree] (Vidoe Podgorec),
Očinska briga za borce [Fatherly Care for the Fighters] (Miroljub Jevtović), Republici [To the Republic] (folk), Vašar
u topoli [Fair in the Poplar] (Dobrica Erić), Zimska zagonetka [Winter Riddle] (Stanislav Femenić), Nedovršeno pismo
[Unfinished Letter] (Ratko Zvrko), Ogledalce [Mirror] (Grigor Vitez), Latica (Dubravka Ugrešić), Zagonetke [Riddles]
(folk, Šimo Ešić), Kornjača i zec [The Tortoise and the Hare] (folk), Vuk i janje [The Wolf and the Lamb] (folk),
Magarac u lavljoj koži [The Ass in the Lion's Skin] (according to Dositej Obradović), Nije vjera tvrña u jačega [No
Strong Faith for the Mighty] (folk), Plavi zec [Blue Hare] (Dušan Radović), Blesan i tulipan [The Fool and the Tulip]
(Kašuća Babić i Goran Babić), Ludi dan [Crazy Day] (Gustav Krklec), Čardak ni na nebu ni na zemlji [Castles In the
Air] (folk), Al je lep ovaj svet [It's a Beautiful World] (Jovan Jovanović Zmaj), Jedan dan [One Day] (Radovan Mikić),
Zagonetka [Riddle] (Ivica Vanja Rorić), Leptir [Butterfly] (Luko Paljetak), Veselo, veselije, najveselije [Happy,
Happier, the Happiest] (Sunčana Škrinjarić), Noćno sunce [Night Sun] (Vladimir Nazor).
72
In the Socialist Republic of Croatia in those times there were officially two orthographies, without any certainty which
one of them was mandatory and under which conditions. The federal Constitution of the republics and provinces in
Yugoslavia guaranteed everyone the right to use either of these scripts – Roman or Cyrillic (Škiljan 1988).
73
The Cyrillic texts in the fourth form reader Dječak u sjeni vrbe [The Boy in the Willow Shade] (Bukša − Antoš 1984)
are the following: Napušteni autobus [The Deserted Bus] (Drago Ivanišević), A zašto ne bi [And Why Not] (Dušan
Radonić), Prvi dan na moru [First Day at the Seaside] (Vesna Parun), Čardak ni na nebu ni na zemlji [Castles In the
Air] (folk), Titova vojska [Tito's Army] (anonymous), Prijelaz preko Neretve [Crossing Neretva] (Vladimir Čerkez),
Svraka i svračići [The Magpie and Its Young] (anonymous), U cirkusu [At the Circus] (Sergej M. Bjelajev), Morski
konjic [Sea Horse] (Miško Kišpatić), Šegrt Hlapić [Hlapić the Apprentice] (Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić), Prvi put [The First
Time] (Felix Salten). It is interesting that fourth form pupils in those times read the segment from the novel The Brave
Adventures of Hlapić the Apprentice by Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić in their textbooks in Cyrillic script. It is important to
mention that Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić did not write her works in the Cyrillic script nor did she publish the aforementioned
novel in that script in 1913. As an esteemed writer she was nominated twice for the Nobel Prize in literature in 1931 and
1938, supported by the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts. In the year 1937 she was admitted into the Academy
as a corresponding member and the first woman since the founding of the Academy. The works of Ivana Brlić-
Mažuranić have been translated into all major world languages, as well as Begali, Hindi, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese
and Persian. Because of her reputation as a literary virtuoso she was often called Croatian Andersen and Tolkien, also
due to the magical and mystical world of mythology about which she wrote.
74
The titles of the ideologically bound texts in the foruth form reader Dječak u sjeni vrbe [The Boy in the Willow Shade]
(Bukša − Antoš 1984) are as follows: Pas Polak [Dog Polak] (France Bevk), Smrt bana Derenčina [The Death of
28
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Among the texts that promote the ideological values of socialism, communism, brotherhood and
unity, in other words those that foremostly mirror the ideological political discourse of
Yugoslavism, we highlight the following:
“When the sun on Croats shine,
Serbs are likewise in its shrine;
When it blooms for brother Serb,
So the Croat feels its verve.“75
Among the anticipated tasks and goals of this research were equally those by means of which it was
planned to confirm whether the tasks and exercises in the analysed textbooks were also directed at
promoting social and political values of the socialist communist reign, or whether the didactic-
methodological instrumentarium was focused on literary communication with a literary work of art,
its perception, observation and evaluation of literary, aesthetic values of a literary work of art
devoid of any ideological scrutiny or connotations. The analysis of the didactic-methodological
instrumentarium of texts which were used to promote the principles and ideology of former
Yugoslavia revealed that the data obtained via the didactic-methodological instrumentarium of
textbooks can be used to categorise them as types of historical, war and political children’s
enyclopaedias of knowledge76 on the topic of World War II, the National Liberation Struggle, the
role and accomplishments of partisans in it, the historical role of comrade Tito and folk heroes, the
contributions of the great leader Lenin, etc. The confirmation of the political and ideological
function of the didactic-methodological instrumentarium in the analysed textbooks for the prupose
of promoting the SFRY politics whose fundamental political orientation of socialism and self-
governing was derived from the achievements of NLS, is evident in the following examples of tasks
and exercises:
“The five-pointed star is the sign of a freedom fighter... In which war did the young man – the
partisan - fall? Against whom did partisans fight? Why is this young man a hero?“ (Bendelja −
Vajnaht 1986: 67).
“Comrade Tito loved children. In all parts of Yugoslavia he gladly encountered children and spoke
to them. Read carefully these words of Comrade Tito: Love and the purest friendship should bind
children of all our nations“ (Bendelja − Vajnaht 1986: 15).
“The author Anñelka Martić told us a true story about her encounters with a girl from Zagreb, Rajka
Lončar, later a partisan soldier. Rajka never lived to see freedom, she died in the summer of 1944 in
the battle for Virovitica“ (Bendelja − Brajenović 1985: 16).
“You must have heard of the war hero Rade Končar. He was born in Lika. Before the war he fought
as a communist for the rights of workers, and in 1941 he was the instigator of the folk uprising in
Croatia. He was shot by Italian fascists in Šibenik on May 22nd, 1942“ (Bendelja − Brajenović
1985: 36).
“In your town or village try to find a memorial or a monument dedicated to the National Liberation
Struggle fighters. Copy the text accompanying the memorial or monument. Talk about it in class“
(Bendelja − Brajenović 1985: 36).
“On September 10th, 1942, the Yugoslav Navy was founded. Every year on September 10th we
celebrate the Navy Day“ (Bendelja − Brajenović 1985: 39).
Governer Derenčin] (folk), Za slobodu smo se digli [We Rose Up for Freedom] (August Šenoa), Ložač vlaka broj 71
[The Stoker of Train Number 71] (Aleksandar T. Kopnov), Titova vojska [Tito's Army] (anonymous), Partizanski leuti
[The Partisan Leuts] (Josip Barković), Prijelaz preko Neretve [Crossing Neretva] (Vladimir Čerkez), Tinček i Tonček
[Tinček and Tonček] (Milica Bartenjev).
75
The verses of the poem O bratstvu i jedinstvu [On Brotherhood and Unity] by the poet Jovan Jovanović Zmaj which
is included in the fourth form reader Dječak u sjeni vrbe [The Boy in the Willow Shade] (Bukša − Antoš 1984: 94). It
was written in Cyrillic script.
76
In this context we reference the example from the fourth form reader Dječak u sjeni vrbe [The Boy in the Willow
Shade] (Bukša − Antoš 1984: 73) where the didactic-methodological instrumentarium contains a task instructing a pupil
to read the article The Great October Socialist Revolution in the Encyclopedia The World Around Us.
29
Lidija Bakota
“Ask a fighter from your local community to recount the fights for freedom in your area, of young
partisans, couriers and other fighters“ (Bendelja − Brajenović 1985: 43).
“In the valley of Sutjeska River and on the sorrounding mountains in 1943 one of the greatest
battles of NLS was fought. In this valley our fighters, against all odds, scored a tremendous victory
over the enemy much greater in number and weaponry. This battle went down in history as the fifth
offensive.“ (Bendelja − Brajenović 1985: 44).
“On which day was our Republic born? Who created the Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia? When
was Yugoslav Army founded? Why is it called People’s Army?“ (Bendelja − Brajenović 1985: 46,
48).
“Why is the League of Communists particularly interested in the strengthening of brotherhood and
unity of all peoples of Yugoslavia?“ (Bukša − Antoš 1984: 94)
“Comrade Tito’s thought: 'Brotherhood and unity is the legacy of our revolution'“ (Bukša − Antoš
1984: 94)
“In the year 1917 the rule of the Russian Tsardom was brought to an end. The temporary
government did not rely on workers and peasants, but rich citizens instead. That is why workers,
dissatisfied with their miserable existence, organised a revolution. They were lead by Lenin. The
temporary government sent the army against the rebelling workers and ordered for Lenin to be
arrested and locked up. With the help of workers, Lenin escaped to Finland in July 1917. In October
1917 he returned and lead his people into battle: thus began the Great October Socialist Revolution“
(Bukša − Antoš 1984: 73)
“The fight against Ustaše was lead by the Croatian partisan Kalnik brigade and Matija Gubec
brigade. Kalnik (Kalnik Mountains) is a mountain range on which many battles were fought, and
the Kalnik brigade was composed mostly of partisans born in the Kalnik area. The Matija Gubec
brigade was named after the great leader of the Croatian-Slovenian peasant revolt in 16th century“
(Bukša − Antoš 1984: 89).
The didactic-methodological instrumentarium of textbooks often includes certain ideological

slogans which promote and celebrate NLS, YPA, SFRY, Comrade Tito, and in line with that, the
marking of many state holidays such as Yugoslav People’s Army Day and the Republic Day. Many
state holidays in former Yugoslavia were characterised by set ideologies, although they need not be
perceived as such because part of such holidays are recognised and celebrated in many European
countries which are not associated with communism and socialism. By this we mean foremostly the
commemoration of May 1st (maj) – Labour Day and the celebration of Women’s Day on March 8th
(mart). We hereby offer a selection of observed slogans and state holidays and observances which
are mentioned in the didactic-methodological instrumentarium of the analysed textbooks:
“For everything we thank you, Tito!“ (Vajnaht 1981: 36)
“Republic, thank you from the bottom of our hearts!“ (Bendelja − Brajenović 1985: 17)
“Our dear Republic, may you forever be joyful and strong!“ (Bendelja − Vajnaht 1981: 37)
“Comrade Tito’s thought: 'Brotherhood and unity is the legacy of our revolution'“ (Bukša - Antoš
1984: 94)
“Long live our fierce Army!“ (Bendelja − Vajnaht 1981: 37)
“Long live May Day! Long live freedom! Long live peace!“ (Bendelja − Vajnaht 1981: 39)
“Why is May First a solemn and joyous day? Who celebrates May Day? This day is also called
Labour Day. Tell everyone how Labour Day is celebrated where you live“ (Bendelja − Vajnaht
1986: 137)
“What holiday is celebrated on the first day of May?“ (Bendelja − Brajenović 1985: 139)
“Tell everyone how you prepared for the celebration of Women’s Day“ (Bendelja − Vajnaht 1986:
135).
Instead of the the Croatised name of the fifth month of the year – svibanj, the textbooks note Labour
Day under the expression of May Day (1. maj; May 1st). The expression 1. may, unlike the
30
Lidija Bakota
expression 1. svibanj, connotes mass gatherings of workers, mass parades, the specific type of food
which is eaten out in the open on that day, and empty demagogic speeches of politicians targeted at
the workers. There is, then, a connotation that is not present in the name Labour Day 1. svibnja.
Many other holidays, along with their respective dates at the time, were likewise connotatively
bound to certain ideologies. For example, the textbooks/readers remind one of the celebration of the
Republic Day on November 29th (novembar, instead of Croatian studeni), pupils learn about the
October Revolution (oktobar instead of listopad).77 Such internationalised names of months along
with public state hoidays more strongly associate one with the interconnected social and political
ongoings in this part of the world in the second half of the twentieth century. It is precisely the
aforementioned naming of state holidays that mirrors the former longing for the internationalisation
of political lexis, foremostly for ideological reasons.
The analysis of queries and tasks encompassed in the didactic-methodological instrumentarium of

the analysed textbooks in literature revealed the appearance of diverse informational texts/messages
by means of which one can monitor and interpret artistic content by means of which it is not only
possible to alleviate the reception and interpretation of literary work of art, but they are also offered
as types of ideological messages in order to promote the political values of the governing regime.
These ideological messages can be decoded either by way of historically referenced important
events for SFRY or their ideological and political propaganda is contained in the political slogans
which glorify the values of the Yugoslav communist system.
Political lexemes in texts and didactic-methodological instrumentarium of the textbooks

Textbook materials (literary, artistic or informational) can be used for the purpose of learning,
acquisition, change, confirmation, expression and transmission of a desired ideology to recepients
for which they are intended. Therefore, literary text in readers can be a part of ideological discourse
as a product of a specific social (political) group.78
In accord with the anticipated tasks of this research, the textbooks/readers were analysed for the
presence of lexemes pertaining to political discourse, in other words, lexemes as symbols of
socialist state-bound political language use. The textbooks reveal the following ideologemes
(ideologisms): republika [republic] (our young, dear), omladina [youth] (omladinac/omladinka;
distinction according to gender, Comrade Tito’s force), komunist [communist] (League of
Communists), drug/drugarica [comrade; male and female], pioniri [pioneers] (pionir/pionirka,
Tito’s pioneers, pioneer community). Along with the listed ideologemes the readers display a whole
list of words that belong to the military terminology: armija [army] (our young, mighty and strong,
people’s), vojska [army, troups] (Tito’s, National Liberation), partizani [partisans]
(partizan/partizanka, young partisans green poplars, young partisanettes slender spruces),
borac/heroj [fighter/hero] (fighter of the National Liberation War, national hero), revolucija
[revolution] (national, let us preserve the legacy of our revolution), ustanak [uprising] (national),
divizija, bataljon [division, battallion] (striking), brigada [brigade] (partisan), desetina, četa
[decimation, troop] (heroic), štab [headquarters] (brigade), desetar, komandir [corporal,
77
Only one of the names of the holidays does not have an internationalised version of its name, but its Croatian
counterpart, namely the name of the holiday Navy and Marine Day (10. rujna instead of the internationalised name 10.
septembra). The example is found in the reader Radosti druženja [The Joys of Friendship] (Bendelja − Brajenović
1985: 39).
78
On ideologemes and ideologemic structures in the examples of selected literary works of art, see: Kornelija Kuvač-
Levačić and Amanda Car. Društveni i politički ideologemi hrvatske fantastične proze (Na primjeru Desnice, Čuića i
Brešana)[Social and Political Ideologemes of Croatian Fantasy Prose (On the Examples of Desnica, Ćuić and Brešan),
Croatica et Slavica Iadertina, Zadar, 2012., str. 287−297.
31
Lidija Bakota
commander] (of a troop), kurir, fronta [courier, front] (enemy), opasač, šljem, rafal, bombe,
pištolj, topovi, puške, bombarder [belt, helmet, open fire, bombs, guns, canons, rifles, bombarder].
The fourth form primary school reader Dječak u sjeni vrbe [The Boy in the Willow Shade] (Bukša −
Antoš 1984) contains a short glossary of less known or unfamiliar words. Among other, the
glossary lists the meanings of words which refer to war and military terminology: bataljon
[battallion] – a military unit composed of 3-4 troops (i.e. 800 to 1000 soldiers); desetar [corporal]
– a soldier commanding a group of ten soldiers (such a group is called a decimation); divizija
[division] – a larger military unit composed of several smaller units or brigades which contains
more thousands of soldiers; dušman ili dušmanin [feind] (pl. dušmani) – enemy; fronta [front] –
battlefield, line of fire; garnizon [garrison] – soldiers which are continually positioned in town or
fortress or in a fortified location, military crew; mitraljez [machine gun] – a firearm used to shoot
bullets consecutively (shoots more than a thousand bullets per minute); mobiliziran [mobilised] –
drafted into the army; obarač [trigger] – the lever of the shooting (firing) mechanism of a gun:
when we pull the trigger with our finger, the gun fires; other terms; kokot, okidač, otponac, oroz;
podoficir [non-commissioned officer] – in the army: lower in rank than officer; puškomet [range] –
the maximum distance to which a gun can shoot [metnuti se]; puškomitraljez [bren-gun] – light
firearm in the shape of a gun from which one can shoot consecutively as if from a machine gun;
rafal [quick-fire] – consecutive shooting from a gun, fast fire; šinjel [trench coat] – long army coat,
rain coat.
In the aforementioned reader after the text Charge, Comrades by Joža Horvat there is a list of
meanings of unknown words which comprise a miniature glossary of warfare and military
terminology: bacač [mortar] – a type of firearm used to eject bombs and mines; desetar [corporal]
– a soldier commanding a decimation, i.e. a group of ten soldiers; eksplozija [explosion] –
dispersion with a bang, what one hears when a canon fires or a bomb desintegrates; fronta [front] –
the front side of a troop of soldiers in battle; komandir [commander] – leader of a smaller army
unit, officer of lower rank; metak [bullet] – shell, what is used to fill a rifle or a gun; mušica
[muzzle] – part of a mechanism (of a gun) used for point shooting; nišan [sight] – a contraption in a
rifle used for aiming or shooting; sastaviti nišan [align sights] – point the rifle accurately; opasač
[belt] – army leather band; rafal [quick-fire] – successive fire from a machine gun, uninterrupted
shooting; redenik [bullet belt] – a cloth ribbon with attached machine gun bullets in line; šarac – a
name for a bren-gun (a weapon carried by a soldier like a gun which can shoot bullets quick-fire
style like a machine gun); šljem [helmet] – steel head cover; tane [cannon] – ball, a part of a bullet
that is ejected from a rifle or machine gun and hits the target; teška oružja [heavy artillery] – a
common name for cannons and mine throwers.79
The integral part of lexis of pupils of younger school age in the nineteen-eighties were the following
words80 (confirmed by the lexis of texts in the analysed textbooks): armija – 1. army, 2. mil. a large
operative assembly of troops composed of corps or divisions, brigada – 1. mil. a troop of different
assemblage, often composed of two to three regiments 2. a group on a mission; gang…, četa – troop
mil. a unit composed of three platoons and approximately a hundred soldiers, divizija – 1. mil. The
largest military set of troops equipped to act independently, composed of several regiments and
brigades, drug m (drugarica f) pol. the official title of the member of the liberal party: − Stalin, −
Tito, party − 81, komandir – the one who manages a regiment, komunist – pol. 1. a supporter and
79
The listed words can be found in the fourth form primary school reader Dječak u sjeni vrbe [The Boy in the Willow
Shade] (Bukša − Antoš 1984: 89).
80
The meanings of the referenced lexemes are derived from: Jure Šonje. Rječnik hrvatskoga jezika [Croatian Language
Dictionary], Leksikografski zavod Miroslav Krleža, Školska knjiga, Zagreb 2000.
81
Croatian Language Dictionary by Vladimir Anić (2006) suggests the following meanings for the word drug
[comrade]: 1. a person bound to someone in friendship, solidarity and collegial relationship... 3. a word denoting a
member of the Communist Party or other political organistions b hist. Used to address someone in a professional
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follower of communism, 2. member of the communist party, kurir – deliverer of the official
correspondence, messenger82, partizan – 1. member of the unofficial army, fighting the enemy on
an occupied territory; guerrilla fighter 2. hist. member of the partisan troops of Yugoslavia in World
War II, pionir – 1. explorer of the unknown territory, 2. mil. member of the engineer troops, 3. hist.
member of the mass children’s organisation in communist Yugoslavia, štab – (Ger. headquarters) –
headquarters – 2. mil. command.
Perhaps the listed ideologems, among which are the words belonging the military terminology,
would not be unusual if they did not appear in textbooks for lower primary school pupils.83 If we
consider the fact that the frequency of an individual word in textbook materials can be one of the
criteria of a child’s use of the same word in spoken and written language expression, we can then
assume that the listed political lexemes and ideologemes were an integral part of the vocabulary of
lower primary school pupils. By means of a textbook and its lexical corpus in this way one could
influence the shaping of political and ideological consciousness of pupils already at the very
beginning of their institutionalised schooling.84
Viewed from the contemporary perspective, many listed ideologemes sound like they belong to the
times past and bygone. In Croatian language practice they are associated with the languages of the
neighbouring peoples and are, therefore, considered less Croatian by Croatian speakers (Gnjidić
2000). Nowadays those words are subjected to different connotational labelling, mostly pejorative
in nature. For example, the word oficir [officer] during the Homeland War in 1991 in the Republic
of Croatia was assigned a pejorative connotation and refered foremostly to soldiers of YA (Grčević
2002: 521).85 Speakers of the Croatian language linguistically differentitated oficir of YA from
časnik of the Croatian Army (both meaning officer). The word borac [fighter] was commonly
associated with fighters, members of the Yugoslav People’s Army, whereas members of the CA
were called dragovoljci [volunteers] and later veterani [veterans] of the Homeland War. In the
nineteen-nineties there was also the tendency to avoid the internationalism fronta [front], the most
frequently pejoratively marked in the phrase National Liberation Front, instead of which there was
an intense usage of the word bojište or bojišnica [battlefield, battleground]. Grčević (2002) notes
that the same fate was met by the word omladina [youth] (in the textbooks often used within the
phrase Tito’s Youth) which is replaced in the nineteen-nineties by the word mlaadež of the same
meaning, and the internationalism armija [army] (in textbooks Tito’s army, Yugoslav People’s
Army) was replaced by the word vojska of the same meaning.
The abovementioned ideologemes analysed in the textbooks from the nineteen-eighties often
explicitly point to direct political discourse. Our intent was not to critically analyse their ideological
setting, especially in education since World War II up until 1990 [druže učitelju; druže direktore] [comrade teacher;
comrade headmaster].
82
The illustration of the importance of couriers in the National Liberation Struggle is the example of the text in the
second form reader Sunčeva ljuljačka [Sun Swing] (Bendelja − Vajnaht 1986: 69-72) titled Kurir Dragan i njegovo
konjče [Courier Dragan and His Horsey] by the author Anñelka Martić and the illustration that depicts an eight-year-
old boy – a courier with a rifle in his hand, after which the didactic-methodological instrumentarium of the textbook
delivers the following queries and tasks: What were the duties of a courier?Among partisan couriers there were
children of your age. Imagine being a partisan courier. Tell everyone where you're going, what you are carrying, where
you are travelling, how you keep yourself hidden from the enemy. (Bendelja − Vajnaht 1986: 72)
83
It is interesting to note that in the beginners such as Dobro jutro [Good Morning] (Vajnaht 1981) language activities
such as reading or writing were considered pioneer duties. In other words, whoever learned to read and write after the
first form of primary school managed to fulfill their pioneer oath.
84
For example, a textbook can be an encouragement or an obstacle to the lexical development of a pupil. If a child can
interpret the meaning of a word in their own way, then that word can be a part of a textbook. As opposed to that, if a
child has no way of determining or assuming the meaning of a word, that word should not be included in textbooks. For
more information, see: Radić-Kuvač, Kraljević-Mihaljević (2010).
85
A similar pejorative meaning in the Croatian language is assigned to the word kasarna [army barracks/quarters] as
denoting YA, as opposed to vojarna today.
33
Lidija Bakota
(non)validity, but to point to specific textbook segments in which there is an extremely recognisable
ideological tendency to affect political and social consciousness of a young reader and to detect and
select ideologemes as integral parts of the lexical corpus of pupils of lower primary school age at
the time.
Audiovisual devices in textbooks as promotors of the governing regime

When teaching literature there are many visual devices included that encourage the reception,
understanding and interpretation of a work of literature, and contribute to a better understanding of
literary and historical phenomena and theoretical issues (Rosandić 2005: 147). The aforementioned
audiovisual devices can introduce young readers to the general mood of a work of literature, the
atmosphere of the period to which the work belongs, as they intensify the reception of a text on an
emotional, imaginative and intellectual plane (Rosandić 2005: 148).
In the analysed textbooks from the nineteen-eighties we selected the illustrations, drawings, photos,
reproductions and sculptures whose basic visual purpose is not assistance in receiving and
understanding literary works of art, but foremostly and/or exclusively the visual support to the
ideologically oriented textual discourse. Thematically, ideologically and politically laiden literary
content is illustratively transposed into artistic expression. In this way by means of observing visual
arts portraits, photographs, reproductions and sculptures which thematise the Yugoslav ideology of
brotherhood and unity of all peoples and nationalities of SFRY, the great leader Comrade Tito, the
role of partisans and couriers in NLS, the ideology of pioneers and Tito’s youth, pupils are
encouraged to comment orally and/or in writing on the observed image (Appendix 1).
Audio devices, such as audio readers, were not integral parts of textbook sets for teaching literature
in the nineteen-eighties. Yet, in the didactic-methodological instrumentarium of the analysed
textbooks there is very obvious invitation to students to sing in order to contribute to the literary
experience of a literary work of art or a lyric poem, which was also a way of influencing the transfer
of ideological political messages and the shaping of an awareness of the values of the Yugoslav
socialist regime86 (Appendix 2).
Conclusion
The analysis of the textbooks for lower primary school pupils, used in the nineteen-eighties during
the time that marked the ten year anniversary of the death of chief of state Josip Broz Tito and the
break-up of former Yugoslavia, revealed that they contained certain ideologoical messages that
promoted the political values (foremostly of communism, socialism, brotherhood and unity) of the
ruling regime at the time. The textbooks often point to the marking of historically important events
for SFRY, the legacy and accomplishemnts of National Liberation Struggle (and/or War), as well as
the role of partisans in it. Furthermore, along with the texts that thematise the governing state
apparatus, there are many slogans presented for the purpose of ideological and political propaganda.
This means that the textbooks do not solely function as vehicles fostering the reception of a literary
work of art, but often function in line with acquisition, shaping and expression of the desired
86
Referring to the following songs: Mi smo Titovi, Tito je naš [We Are Tito's, Tito Is Ours] (Sunčeva ljuljačka [Sun
Swing] Bendelja − Vajnaht 1986: 78), Pionirski zavjet [Pioneer Oath] (Radosti druženja [The Joys of Friendship]
Bendelja − Brajenović 1985: 46), Pioniri maleni [Little Pioneers] (Sunčeva ljuljačka [Sun Swing] Bendelja − Vajnaht
1986: 77), Crveni makovi [The Red Poppies] (Radosti druženja [The Joys of Friendship] Bendelja − Brajenović 1985:
139), Po šumama i gorama [Through the Forests and the Hills] (Radosti druženja [The Joys of Friendship] Bendelja −
Brajenović 1985: 43).
34
Lidija Bakota
ideology to those recepients for which they were intended. It is at this point that a literary text in
readers becomes a part of ideological discourse as a product of a specific social (political) group.
Let us also point out that the thematically, ideologically and politically tinged literary content is
illustratively transposed into artistic and/or music expression as its sensory support.
Figures 1 and 2. Examples of illustrations in lower primary school readers from the nineteen-
eighties.
35
Lidija Bakota
Figure 3. Crossing Neretva by Vladimir Čerkez
Figure 4. Comrade Tito and his granddaughter Saša. Saša is saying Happy Birthday to her
grandfather.
Texts of popular partisan songs and marching songs which were also used to educate young
generations in the nineteen-eighties:
Crveni makovi
Opet su jutros procvali

u žitu makovi sneni,
sve su nam njive ovili
cvjetovi njihovi crveni!
"Znaš li majko, majčice,
36
Lidija Bakota
kakvi su ono cvjetovi",

po onim tamo njivama
takovi divni - crveni?
Gorki su, sinko, plodovi,
čemer je ono procvao.
Umjesto zlatne pšenice
- korov je tamo niknuo!
Seljak je polja stvarao,
hajduk je svijetom harao:
Oteo kmetu zemljicu,
gazio njegovu pravicu!
Baruni, grofovi vladali,
španovi pravdu krojili,
rabotat kmeta gonili,
krvcu mu poljem sijali!
Mnogo je kapi kapnulo,
njegove krvi i znoja,
ljeta ga duga mučile
batine teške bez broja!
Prokleo seljak zemljicu
vražjih gospodara,
niknuli crven-cvjetovi
umjesto božjeg dara!
Krvlju su kmetskom sijani,
kletvama, bunom miješani
suzama, znojem pojeni
zato su tako crveni...
[Red Poppies
Morning they blossomed yet again

in wheat the poppies a-dreamin’,
on all our fields the flower shed
the beautiful colour - red!
“Mother, mother, do you know,
what those flowers want to show”,
that grow on fields and boldly spread
the beautiful colour - red!
Bitter fruits they are, my son,
wormwood blossomed yonder.
Instead of golden wheat crops
-weeds sprouted no wonder.
Peasants plowed relentlessly
brigands worlds pillaged fiercefully:
Seized the serf his only land
Rights be taken from his hand!
Barons and counts reigned steadily,
officers handed out justice readily,
serf’s labour prosecuted endlessly,
his blood sowed brutally!
37
Lidija Bakota
Many drops were lightly shed,

of his blood and of his sweat,
long summer heat was torturous
heavy beatings many met!
Cursed the peasant this whole land,
of the wretched devil’s lords,
the red flower sprang to life
in place of god’s rewards!
They were sowed with serf’s own blood,
curses and uprisings in their mud,
with tears and sweat their soil abound
so beautifully red all around…]
Po šumama i gorama
Po šumama i gorama
naše zemlje ponosne
idu čete partizana,
Slavu borbe pronose!
Neka znade dušman kleti

da će kod nas slomit vrat,
Prije ćemo mi umrijeti
Nego svoje zemlje dat'!
Crne horde nas ne plaše,

Krv herojska u nam vri,
Mi ne damo zemlje naše
Da je gaze fašisti!
Zgazit ćemo izdajice,

i prihvatit ljuti boj,
spasit kuće, oranice,
oslobodit narod svoj.
[Through the Forests and the Hills

Through the forests and the hills
Of our noble country
March the troops of Partisans,
Spreading struggle's glory!
Let the curséd foe be wary

That our fight will snap his back,
We would rather lose our lives
Than hand over our own land!
Those dark hordes are nothing to us,

Heroic blood boils in our veins,
38
Lidija Bakota
We shall not give up our country,

Be abused by Fascist reign!
We will punish all the traitors,

And accept a fierce combat,
Save our houses and our ploughland,
Free our people from the death.]
Pionirski zavjet
Mi smo mali pioniori

i svjesni smo rada svog,
smjelo naprijed mi stupamo,
pomažemo narod svoj.
Mi volimo druga Tita

i naš narod, cijeli svijet -
izgraditi našu zemlju,
to je nama zavjet svet.
Na učenje, pioniri,
polazimo svi u stroj,
sa knjigama u rukama
na neznanje hajd u boj!
[Pioneer Oath
We are little pioneers

aware of our own work,
boldly we march forward,
we support our folk.
We love Comrade Tito

our people, the whole world –
to build our country,
is our sacred oath.
Go learn, pioneers,
all stand in one line,
with books in our hands
we fight ignorance, now is the time!]
Pioniri maleni
Pioniri maleni,
mi smo vojska prava.
39
Lidija Bakota
Svakog dana rastemo,

k'o zelena trava.
Smrt fašizmu,
a sloboda narodu.
I mene će moja mati
pionirom zvati.
[Little Pioneers
Little bitsy pioneers,

we are quite an army.
Every day we spring and grow
like green trees and barley.
Death to fascists,
freedom to the people.
My own mother she will call me
little pioneer, dear.]
References
1. Anić, Vladimir (2006) Rječnik hrvatskoga jezika. Zagreb: Novi Liber, Europapress holding.
2. Auburger, Leopold (2009) Hrvatski jezik i serbokroatizam. Rijeka: Maveda.
3. Babić, Stjepan (1990) Hrvatski jezik u političkom vrtlogu. Zagreb: Institut za hrvatski jezik i
jezikoslovlje.
4. Babić, Stjepan (1995) Hrvatski jučer i danas. Zagreb: Školske novine.
5. Babić, Stjepan (2004) Hrvanja hrvatskoga. Hrvatski u koštacu sa srpskim i u klinču s
engleskim. Zagreb: Polska knjiga.
6. Brozović, Dalibor (2008) Povijest hrvatskoga književnog i standardnog jezika. Zagreb:
Školska knjiga.
7. Gnjidić, Maja (2000) Stav govornika hrvatskog standardnog jezika prema oživljenicama,
Govor, XVII, br. 2, str. 155−162.
8. Grčević, Mario (2002) O hrvatskim jezičnim promjenama devedesetih godina, Forum, god.
XXXXI., knj. LXXIII, Zagreb, str. 515−552.
9. Kuvač-Levačić, Kornelija; Car, Amanda (2012) Društveni i politički ideologemi hrvatske
fantastične proze (Na primjeru Desnice, Čuića i Brešana), Croatica et Slavica Iadertina,
Zadar, 2012., str. 287−297.
10. Moguš, Milan (2009) Povijest hrvatskoga književnoga jezika. Treće, prošireno hrvatsko
izdanje. Zagreb: Nakladni zavod Globus.
11. Peti, Mirko (1990) Koliko jezika, u: Stjepan Babić. Hrvatski jezik u političkom vrtlogu.
Zagreb, 1990, str. 291−298.
12. Peti, Mirko (1990) Protiv utopijskoga jedinstva, u: Stjepan Babić. Hrvatski jezik u
političkom vrtlogu. Zagreb, 1990, str. 308−311.
13. Radić, Željana; Kuvač Kraljević, Jelena; Kovačević, Melita (2010) Udžbenik kao poticaj ili
prepreka leksičkomu razvoju, LAHOR, 9 str. 43−59.
14. Rosandić, Dragutin (2005) Metodika književnog odgoja. Temeljci metodičkoknjiževne
enciklopedije. Zagreb: Školska knjiga.
15. Samardžija, Marko (2002) Nekoć i nedavno. Odabrane teme iz leksikologije i novije
povijesti hrvatskoga standardnoga jezika. Rijeka: Izdavački centar.
40
Lidija Bakota
16. Škiljan, Dubravko (1988) Jezična politika. Zagreb: Naprijed.

17. Škiljan, Dubravko (2000) Javni jezik. Zagreb: Izdanja antibarbarus.
18. Šonje, Jure (2000) Rječnik hrvatskoga jezika. Zagreb: Leksikografski zavod Miroslav
Krleža, Školska knjiga.
19. Tafra, Branka (2013) Prinosi povijesti hrvatskoga jezikoslovlja. Zagreb: Hrvatski studiji
Sveučilišta u Zagrebu.
20. Žanić, Ivo (2007) Hrvatski na uvjetnoj slobodi. Jezik, identitet i politika izmeñu Jugoslavije
i Europe. Zagreb: Fakultet političkih znanosti Sveučilišta u Zagrebu.
21. Wright, Sue (2010) Jezična politika i jezično planiranje. Od nacionalizacije do globalizacije.
Zagreb: Fakultet političkih znanosti Sveučilišta u Zagrebu.
Primary sources
1. Bendelja, Neda − Vajnaht, Edo (1981) Dobro jutro 3, čitanka za 1. razred osnovne škole.
2. Bendelja, Neda – Brajenović, Branko (1985) Radosti druženja. Čitanka iz književnosti,
scenske i filmske umjetnosti za III razred osnovne škole, 2. neizmijenjeno izdanje. Zagreb:
Školska knjiga.
3. Bendelja, Neda − Vajnaht, Edo (1986) Sunčeva ljuljačka. Čitanka za II razred osnovne
škole, IV neizmijenjeno izdanje. Zagreb: Školska knjiga.
4. Bukša, Juraj − Antoš, Antica (1984) Dječak u sjeni vrbe. Čitanka za četvrti razred osnovne
škole, XIII neizmijenjeno izdanje. Zagreb: Školska knjiga.
5. Vajnaht, Edo (1981) Dobro jutro 2, početnica za 1. razred osnovne škole. Zagreb: Školska
knjiga.
6. Hrvatski jezični portal (2016). Retrieved from:
http://hjp.novi-liber.hr/index.php?show=search (Accessed on January 10, 2015)
Sažetak
SOCIOLINGVISTIČKI POGLED NA JEZIK ČITANAKA
U OSAMDESETIM GODINAMA 20. STOLJEĆA
Lidija Bakota, Fakultet za odgojne i obrazovne znanosti, Osijek
Jezik je bitna odrednica identiteta nekoga naroda. U jeziku, ponajprije u njegovu leksičkome sloju,
zrcale se društveno-povijesne promjene jednoga naroda.To znači da se jezik razvija prateći
povijesna i društvena zbivanja odreñenoga vremena. Drugu je polovicu 20. stoljeća u
južnoslavenskoj filologiji obilježio proces serbokroatizma, tj. težnja za stvaranjem jednoga
srpskohrvatskoga jezika. Politički je leksik počeo snažno prodirati u područje javne uporabe jezika,
što se odrazilo i na njegovu pojavnost u udžbeničkim tekstovima, postajući njegov sastavni,
nezaobilazni dio. Predmet je ovoga rada analiza ideološki uvjetovanog leksika u čitankama za
mlañu školsku dob, koje su bile u uporabi u 80-im godinama 20. stoljeća. U radu su se kvantitativno
i kvalitativno analizirali udžbenici/čitanke kako bi se dobili odgovori na pitanja: promiču li tekstovi
u analiziranim čitankama vrijednosti političkoga sustava SFRJ, jesu li u njima zastupljeni leksemi
političkoga diskursa, tzv. ideologemi te koje su mogućnosti ilustrativnoga prijenosa ideološkoga
literarnog sadržaja u likovni izraz. Udžbenik/čitanka kao važan izvor znanja može pridonijeti
promidžbi držvanopolitičkih vrijednosti vladajućega režima, u ovome slučaju promidžbi
jugoslavenske komunističke vlasti.
Ključne riječi: analiza udžbenika, serbokroatizam, politički leksemi – ideologemi
41
Emina Berbić Kolar, Klara Bilić Meštrić
UDK 811.163.42'282:314.7
Emina Berbić Kolar (Croatia)

Klara Bilić Meštrić (Croatia)

University of Zagreb
Centre for Croatian Studies
INFLUENCE OF BOSNIAN DIALECTS ON YOUTH SPEECH IN SLAVONSKI BROD
Abstract
The aim of the paper is to present research on language and identity of the youth in Slavonski Brod,
the town on the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, which, due to its geographical location, has
been under a significant influence of the neighbouring Bosnian dialects. This is a town
characterized by great immigration processes during 1990s, in the times of Croatian War for
Independence and the disintegration of Yugoslavia. Throughout history, Bosnian Sava basin was
inhabited mostly by Croats. After the occupation of this part of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the
Serbs during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s, Croats were forced to leave the area
and they inhabited Slavonski Brod in great numbers. Today, twenty or so years after the occupation
of Bosnian Sava basin, a great number of young people can be heard using elements of Bosnian
lexicon as well as syntactic structures typical for the parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina where a
considerable flow of refugees came from. Considering the representation of this language variety
among the young, the authors raise the question if the Bosnian dialect of the Croatian language
exists as a separate kind of youth speech. This paper will present a pilot research with the pupils
from Primary school “Vladimir Nazor“in Slavonski Brod and outline the draft for further research.
Keywords: youth speech, Bosnian dialects, Shtokavian vernacular, Slavonski Brod, identity
1. Research context
Youth speech is still an insufficiently analysed field in the Republic of Croatia (Skelin Horvat
2009), therefore, the aim of this paper is to deepen the topic, particularly considering Slavonia and
the influence of Bosnian dialects of Shtokavian vernacular on the youth speech. It is our goal to
present the results of the pilot survey with the young from Slavonski Brod conducted in 2015, as
well as outline the draft for further research on transformation of youth identity related to language
varieties in Slavonski Brod.
Different language varieties regarding broad and narrow community are particularly interesting for
analysis in Slavonski Brod. On the one hand, this is a town on the border with Bosnia and
Herzegovina, and due to its geographical location, it is under the greater influence of foreign idioms
42
than the inland towns. On the other hand, this is a town labelled by significant immigration
processes from the same country caused by different historical events, particularly by the war that
left mark on the whole region. According to the last Census (2011) the town of Slavonski Brod has
59 141 inhabitants, out of which 16 958 inhabitants are from abroad, and the total share of the
population from Bosnia and Herzegovina is 12 220. There are 20 575 people from Bosnia and
Herzegovina in the county, and the total county population is 158 575 people. But, considering
migration processes in these areas, it can freely be assumed that the share of people of Bosnian and
Herzegovinian origin is significantly larger.
Through observation method (teachers’ statements and own experiences of this paper’s authors), as
well as with the help of demographic data, it is assumed that the increasing number of young people
uses prosody, lexis, as well as syntactic structures typical for Bosnian-Herzegovinian dialects.
Considering the representation of this variety among the young people of Slavonski Brod, the
authors raise the question if Bosnian dialects of Shtokavian vernacular represent the foundation of
the youth jargon, in other words a part of the identity distinguishing the young as a separate group
in relation to those not using it. Also, another question is raised: Are these exclusively hereditary
speakers (children born in the 90s in refugee families) or is it a trend among the young and a code
representing certain resistance against the standard, traditionally the elite language?
2. Bosnian dialects of the Croatian language Shtokavian vernacular
Three dialects are spoken in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina:

● NewShtokavian Ikavian (so called West-Bosnian)
● Šćakavian-Ikavian (so called East-Bosnian dialect), spoken by Bosnians and Croats
● NewShtokavian Ijekavian (so called East-Herzegovinian)
It is our assumption that the youth speech of Slavonski Brod is largely influenced by Šćakavian-
Ijekavian or East-Bosnian dialect spoken in the territory of Bosnian Sava basin, where the greatest
number of people fled from during the war and settled in Slavonski Brod. It is a dialect spoken
exclusively by Croats and Bosnians that continued to be used in Slavonian Sava basin as well.
3. Youth speech
Skelin Horvat in her theoretical overview of German and Swedish literature gives the following
definition of youth speech:
Jugendsprache is a language used by young people. It is an unconventional language style

with some regional and social features. It is primarily a specific speech of young people, but
also writing used for creative reasons with the striving for linguistic profiling and searching
for identity
(Lewandowski 1994:502 in Skelin Horvat 2009: 11).
Linguistic circles see youth speech as a specific heterogeneous sociolect whose use depends on a
range of factors, like usage context, gender, as well as social and educational status of an individual
(Neuland 2008; Janeš 2011; Huzjak 2013).
Context is considered to be one of the crucial factors in language use. The young, as this research
will also show, will not speak in the same way at school or in the street, or in the community where
a specific speech is used. The speech changes depend on whether the young speak in their families,
among their friends or with teachers at school. The same speakers will adapt their speech depending
43
on the social context. These differences were traditionally called registers (see Trudgill 1995: 84),
but in recent times the increasing number of authors uses the term discourse. In this manner Gee
(2012: 2) claims the following for language in context:
In order to understand language in social context we must focus not on the language, but on
the phenomenon that I will call “Discourses”, with a capital D.
In order to explain his statement, Gee resorts to an example of a conversation in an English pub for
motorcyclists (known as ‘bikers’) and analyses what in this context presents a legitimate language,
i.e. discourse, and how the usual can be considered legitimate language, for example, the standard
in this context is not valid, e.g. if the standard is used in such a situation, the discourse deteriorates
and the communication is unsuccessful. Furthermore Gee gives an illustrative example where a
person in such a pub is looking for matches using the request “May I ask you for a lighter?”.
Pragmatically, this sentence does not function since it will cause astonishment and ridicule. The
discourse allows here “Do you have fire?” and similar expressions. Similarly we can imagine how
certain expressions are acceptable among the young in certain circumstances, while the others
would cause ridicule just like the previous sentences.
Social status also plays an important role in language use and is interrelated with educational status
(Škiljan 2002: 12). Gee (2013: 83-86) highlights two educational models, developed by Annette
Lareau, in literacy development correlating with social status and the education of household
members. In the first “cultivating model”, parents are the ones who plan children’s time, enrol them
in different activities, take care of their linguistic expression, and those children and young people
are very early able to discuss certain topics using ‘literary language’. The other model is the so
called “natural development model” where the parents for existential reasons do not have time to
interact with children in this manner, and these children do not like to be exposed as experts in
certain fields as children from the cultivating model do, even when they know a lot about the topic
in question. Statistically seen, those children, whose linguistic repertoire is weaker compared to
children from the first model, do not achieve equally good educational results, and their future
vocations are less prestigious compared to those of children raised according to the model of natural
development.
Gender is also considered one of the important factors influencing the decisions on language use.
Bourdieu (1992) regarded women as those more intensely insisting on the standard since it is a
symbolic capital used by women to confirm their status in the society. Labov (2001) also claims
that women more frequently use standard forms than non-standard, but at the same time they are the
group more readily accepting language novelties. Older research explained this phenomenon
through the creation of images where more standard forms were more related to the creation of
images of the desirable, e.g. non-promiscuous form of sexual behaviour (Gordon in Trudgill 1995:
72). Coulmas (2013) considers this tendency a sort of a consequence of the maternal role and
raising children related to the viewpoint that the standard language will result in a better social
status of the descendants, which is again related to the earlier presented models of raising children.
Trudgill (1995: 72) points out that the domination of more standard forms in women’s speech is the
most systematic pattern in sociolinguistics. Although these studies do not say anything about the
youth, but rather focus on the general gender differences in speech, it can be assumed that these
tendencies also refer to the young. Nevertheless, due to the increasing influence of popular culture
these practices change. Apart from the change in the habits, due to critical thinking, the research
reducing gender identities to binary norms is questioned. The consequence of post-modern critique
in sociolinguistics is considering speeches a form of local practice in a much wider generic range
(Coulmas 2013: 47).
44
When we mention youth speech, although, on the one hand, it could be a variety of a particular
group (slang), there is always a possibility of a stronger, i.e. of a more temporal influence on the
speech of a certain milieu (Thorne 2015). Kafić, bus or slobodnjak are some of the words cited in
the Croatian Encyclopaedia of Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography (2015) as those that
originated as a part of a jargon and with time found their place in the standard language. The same
source also states that dialectalisms have a tendency of becoming slang, and gives the verb feštati as
an example. The influence of dialects on youth speech was also elaborated by Radtke (in Skelin
2009: 75) who also mentions variedness in relation to the adult speech, as well as the usage due to
its informal nature.
The peculiarity of the youth speech is also demonstrating affiliation, i.e. a certain identity that
distinguishes them from other groups. This is particularly emphasized since the processes of
identity building among the young take central place. As stated by Thorne (2015) the trends among
the young are not only comical, provocative or innovative, but also sort of social laboratories where
it is experimented with new ways of thinking and behaviour.87 Speech possesses an emphasized
social function, since it determines the boundaries of the community, and when it comes to youth
speech the use of jargon comes to the fore (Spolsky 2015: 36).
4. Research outline
This paper is the result of the cooperation of two authors employed in educational system for many
years and both have had a chance to work with the young in Slavonski Brod for longer periods (16
years and 3 years). Based on personal experience they noticed that the Bosnian dialect is
increasingly being present among the young, so they decided to conduct a research on this
phenomenon. This paper will present the pilot survey conducted with the help of a questionnaire
among the pupils of a school in Slavonski Brod indicating the need to conduct a more
comprehensive research of youth speech in Slavonski Brod, therefore we will, apart from the
questionnaire and data from the pilot survey, offer a preliminary interpretation of the data as well as
the recommendations for further research.
5. Research methods and instruments
A questionnaire, co-created also by former students of the Faculty of Education in Slavonski Brod,
was made at the beginning. This piece of information is relevant since this was the way in which the
young, through their comments, could offer their remarks that could be used in the questionnaire.
The questionnaire consisted of two basic parts. The first part contained eight general questions
related to socio-demographic characteristics and geographical origin of the examinees. The second
part of the questionnaire consisted of 15 statements related to language use and attitudes about
language in three different social contexts (within family, at school and with friends). The
statements themselves were measured in Likert type scales with values from 1 to 5, where 1 was
strongly disagree with the statement, 2 disagree with the statement, 3 don’t know, 4 agree, and 5
strongly agree. At the end of each of the statements an explanation was required. At the very end of
the questionnaire there were 2 open-ended questions related to the context used. The questionnaire
was distributed via Google forms and each of the students could choose the time and the place to fill
it in. This paper will, apart from socio-demographic data, cover 11 questions due to the restrictions
in paper length and the fact that some of the questions considered the same topic.
87
For a theoretical analysis of the differences among slang, jargon, argo and similar linguistic phenomena in English,
German, Swedish, Italian and French see clear overview by Skelin Horvat 2009.
45
6. Participants in the research
Seventeen seventh and eighth grade pupils from the Primary school “Vladimir Nazor” in Slavonski
Brod participated in the research (born in 2000 and 2001). Primary school “Vladimir Nazor“ was
selected for several reasons for the pilot survey. Namely, the school encompasses a very wide
enrolment area in the town of Slavonski Brod and covers the parts of town where there is a great
number of immigrants from Bosnian Posavina, and apart from the town part, five satellite schools
also belong to the school, in villages: Gornja Vrba, Ruščica, Gornja Bebrina, Klakar and Donja
Bebrina. Those are the villages eastern from Slavonski Brod along the river Sava and they are the
places, particularly Gornja Vrba, the immigrants from Bosnian Posavina have become majority
population in. Such a pupil sample was important for the pilot survey that will be the basis for
further more elaborate and more comprehensive research dealing with these issues.
The majority of pupils come from the families where parents completed secondary level of
education. Eleven of them listed high school education for their fathers and eight for mothers. Five
of them listed joint family income less than 4,000 kunas, while the same number of children listed
joint family income between 4,000 and 6,000 kunas. Only a small number of children (two in each
category) listed joint family income between 10,000 and 12,000 and 12,000 and 14,000 kunas. Out
of the seventeen students, six of them, i.e. more than one third, stated that their origin is from
Bosnia and Herzegovina (or that they or one of their parents were born there).
7. Data
The first statement referred to self-evaluation of household members’ speech. The statement was:
“The members of my household speak very similarly as it is spoken in the area in Bosnia and
Herzegovina where they came from.” On the scale from 1 to 5, the biggest number of the young
(seven of them) stated that they neither agree nor disagree with the statement, four of them stated
that they strongly disagree, two disagree, and three of them agree with the statement. Qualitative
data (Table 1.88) show the stability of such a speech in households, but also bring about critical
remarks.
Table 1. Comments on the statement “Members of my household speak similarly as is spoken

in the area in Bosnia and Herzegovina where they came from”
1. MEMBERS OF MY HOUSEHOLD AND ME SPEAK NOT EXACTLY CORRECT

SPEECH SINCE WE LIVE NEAR BORDER BUT THAT IS NEGLIGIBLE, ONLY A
FEW WORDS.
2. My parents did not come from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
3. -
4. Members of my household do not speak even similarly as is spoken in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, and also they do not come from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
5. -
6. We speak many Bosnian-Herzegovinian words in the family, but also many Croatian.
And many words are pretty similar.
7. Yes.
8. My parents come from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
9. -
10. My mum, who is from Bosnia and Herzegovina, before she came to Croatia spoke
normal Croatian language that I hear every day in the town, in the street, etc.
88
Original utterances of participants.
46
11. They use words and expressions spoken by inhabitants of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
12. Members of my household speak very similarly as is spoken in the area where they
came from in Bosnia and Herzegovina because that is the way they spoke before and they
are used to speaking that way.
13. -
14. -
15. My parents speak the language of the state they came from, sometimes they are
difficult to understand.
16. -
17. Sometimes they do use some words, but not very often.
The next statement referred to the attitude of household members towards the dialects from Bosnia
and Herzegovina related to their cultivation. The statement was: “The members of my household
encourage me to speak that way.” Almost all the participants state that they are not encouraged in
their home to speak that way, and 14 of them, on the scale of agreement with the statement marked
value one, two of the participants listed neutral attitude towards the statement (value 3) and there
was one who agreed with the statement (value four). Qualitative data additionally indicate the
negative attitude of the young towards this statement (Table 2.).
Table 2. Comments on the statement “Members of my household encourage me to speak that

way.”
1. MEMBERS OF MY HOUSEHOLD CORRECT ME.

2. Members of my household encourage me to speak as much standard language as
possible.
3. -
4. Members of my household don’t speak that way. Therefore, they don’t encourage
me to speak that way either.
5. -
6. Not really.
7. Members of my household do not encourage me to speak that way.
8.
9. -
10. Nobody encourages me to speak in any way, I speak the same way I speak at school.
11. Sometimes at home and in the family and in my company I will use some Bosnian
words to express myself.
12. Members of my household don’t encourage me to speak that way because I am from
Croatia and they want me to speak as correctly as possible.
13. -
14. -
15. No, I was never told to speak that way, but while I was growing up I was used to
speaking that way.
16. -
17. They encourage me to speak differently and use standard language as much as
possible
Most of the participants, disagree, i.e. five of them strongly disagree, and five of them agree, with
the statement “Members of my household correct me when I use Bosnian speech.” One of the
participants was neutral, and one of them agrees, while one of them strongly agrees with the
statement. Comments on the statement are in Table 3.
47
Table 3. Comments on the statement “Members of my household correct me when I use

Bosnian speech.”
1. THEY CORRECT ME.

2. -
3. -
4. They don’t correct me because I don’t use Bosnian and Herzegovinian speech in front of
the members of my household.
5. -
6. -
7. They correct me.
8. -
9. -
10. I rarely use it, and if I use it I use only some words they don’t correct me.
11. Mum sometimes, as a joke.
12. Members of my household sometimes correct me because they want me to speak as
correctly as possible.
13. -
14. -
15. No, everybody in the house speaks like that, and it has become normal and we
understand each other better
16. -
17. If they really hear it they correct me
Self-evaluation of their own speech was the topic of the next statement. With the statement “I use
Bosnian expressions / accents in my speech” only three participants strongly disagree, six of them
disagree, five of them don’t know, and two of them agree and one participant strongly agrees with
the statement. Qualitative responses in Table 4. more clearly illustrate the agreement with the
statement.
Table 4. Comments on the statement “I use Bosnian expressions / accents in my speech.”
1. MAYBE ONLY SOMETIMES BUT NEGLIGIBLE.

2. I don’t.
3. -
4. I use such expressions sometimes.
5. -
6. The expressions I pick up from my parents become a habit for me.
7. I use them sometimes, but mostly not.
8. -
9. -
10. I use them sometimes.
11. I sometimes express like that.
12. I use Bosnian expressions / accents in my speech because the majority of my friends
speak that way and then I get used to speaking that way.
13. -
14. -
15. Often when speaking I use Bosnian expressions I heard from my grandma, parents and
other members of the household
48
16. -
17. Mostly when with friends
The next statement referred only to self-evaluation of such speech at school. “At school during
breaks I use some Bosnian expressions / accents.” The majority of the young has a neutral
attitude towards this statement, in total six of them. Two of them strongly disagree, while three of
them disagree with the statement. Four of the young people agree, while two of them strongly agree
with the statement. Qualitative data in Table 5. match the values.
Table 5. Comments of the statement “At school during breaks I use some Bosnian expressions
/ accents.”
1. NOT REALLY BECAUSE I DON’T CARE.

2. Maybe I sometimes use Bosnian expressions when I’m relaxed with my friends.
3. -
4. -
5. Sometimes.
6. -
7. -
8. Sometimes.
9. -
10. -
11. I always speak the same, I don’t distinguish classes from breaks or home, shops, etc.
12. As I said, I will speak this way with my friends sometimes, just like the rest of my
friends.
13. At school during breaks I use some Bosnian expressions / accents because the majority
of my friends speak that way.
14. -
15. Yes, just as at home.
16. -
17. When I’m with friends.
The next statement referred to the evaluation of the speech of others. The majority of the young
agreed with the statement “The majority of the young uses Bosnian expressions /accents.” Four
of them strongly agree with the statement, and five of them agree. Six student share a neutral
attitude towards the statement, and two of them disagree (one disagrees and one strongly disagrees)
with the statement. Qualitative data, shown in Table 6. are dominated by the responses confirming
the statement.
Table 6. Comments on the statement “The majority of the young use Bosnian expressions /
accents.”
1. MAJORITY BUT THAT IS SAD.

2. Because they don’t think about the way they speak.
3.
4. I agree with this that the majority uses Bosnian accents.
5.
49
6.
7. The majority yes.
8.
9.
10. One third.
11. I agree.
12. Yes, the majority of the young use Bosnian accents / expressions.
13.
14.
15. I known many young people who use Bosnian expression, but I think it’s equal
16.
17. They use them
“I think it is cool to use Bosnian expressions / accents.” was the next statement. The majority of
the young, nine of them, strongly disagree with the statement, while three of them disagree. Two of
the participants are of neutral attitude, and three of them agree. None of the participants strongly
agree. The explanations of the values are in the comments in Table 7.
Table 7. Comments on the statement “I think it is cool to use Bosnian expressions / accents.”
1. NO I THINK IF YOU GO TO CROATIAN SCHOOLS YOU SHOULD USE

CROATIAN LANGUAGE.
2. I don’t think so. Because it would be good if I spoke Croatian language.
3. -
4. I don’t think it’s cool to use Bosnian expressions.
5. -
6. -
7. No.
8. -
9. -
10. It’s more “cool” to use German or English expressions, personally to me.
11. Yes, why not. It is sometimes funny, but the words are interesting.
12. I don’t think it’s cool to use Bosnian expressions / accents because it is a normal
language just as any other.
13. -
14. -
15. Well I like to listen to people speaking standard language more because I think I
can always hear a new word which I can use also in my free time
16. -
17. I think it’s normal.
One of the questions related to the evaluation of speech referred to corrections. For the statement
“Other students correct me when I use Bosnian expressions / accents.”, almost all of them, i.e.
sixteen of them, said that no one mocks them for their speech. Only one of the participants has a
neutral attitude when it comes to this statement. Qualitative data shown in Table 8. also indicated
the fact that there is no judgement for the speech used.
50
Table 8: Comments on the statement “Other students correct me when I use Bosnian
expressions / accents.”
1. THEY DON’T MOCK ME BECAUSE I NEVER SPEAK THAT WAY.

2. They don’t really mock me because the majority of children use this accent, most of them
have Bosnian descendants and it is similar to everybody.
3. -
4. They don’t mock me.
5. -
6. -
7. No.
8. -
9. -
10. I don’t use them, but if someone else does, I don’t mock them, it is a language similar to
Croatian
11. They speak the same way I do.
12. Other students don’t mock me if I use Bosnian accents / expressions because the other
students at school mostly speak that way.
13. -
14. -
15. -
16. -
17. Nobody mocks me.
The question related to the evaluation of teachers’ attitudes when it comes to cultivation of home
language shows variety of attitudes. Five of the participants agree with the statement “We are
encouraged at school to cultivate our speech”, three of them strongly agree. Four of the
participants don’t know, while five of them strongly agree with the statement. Qualitative data for
this statement are extremely poor (Table 9.):
Table 9. Comments on the statement “We are encouraged at school to cultivate our own
speech.”
1. THEY DON’T ENCOURAGE US TO CAST OUT OUR SPEECH.

2. They don’t really encourage us some teachers are bothered by our speech.
3. -
4. They encourage us.
5. -
6. -
7. Yes.
8. -
9. -
10. I’m not sure.
11. I don’t understand this.
12. -
13. -
14. -
15. -
51
16. -
17. It depends on how we speak.
The last two questions were open-ended and referred to the situations where standard language is
used in combination with Bosnian expressions and accents. The questions in which situation
participants tried to use standard language, were answered with ‘at school’ by all of them (Table
10.).
Table 10. Answers to the question “Can you list the situations when you try to use the
standard language?”
1. WHEN I’M AT SCHOOL, AT HOME, ETC.

2. Mostly at school because I care about that. When I describe something.
3. AT SCHOOL, WHEN TALKING TO TEACHERS. IN THE FAMILY... WHEN
TALKING TO UNKNOWN PEOPLE...
4. When I talk to people, in classes and when I talk to officials.
5. -
6. In official institutions, in public places and when talking to unknown people.
7. I try to speak standard language at school, but also at home.
8. School, public place.
9. -
10. I speak the standard.
11. I tend to use it at school mostly, when I address older than me, in institutions
12. At school, hospital and other cultural institutions.
13. At school
14. When I talk to teachers
15. At school and with people who talk that way
16. -
17. Mostly at school
The last question showed that frequent use of Bosnian expressions and accents by the young of
Slavonski Brod is mostly related to their company of friends and informal situations. (Table 11.).
Table 11. Answers to the question “Can you list the situations when you try to use Bosnian
expressions / accents?”
1. I DON’T REALLY
2. I TRY TO USE SUCH EXPRESSIONS AND ACCENTS.
3. When something is urgent to me. When I speak quickly I say as a joke.
4. NOOOO…BUT I WILL USE IT WHEN TOGETHER WITH PEOPLE..I know
well?
5. When I’m with my friends it usually happens that I use Bosnian expressions, but
not intentionally accidentally. Otherwise I try not to use Bosnian expressions.
6. -
7. I don’t try to use them, but I often speak that way when I’m with my friends and
family.
52
8. Almost never.
9. I don’t try.
10. -
11. No.
12. Only among friends and family
13. At home, with friends, in the street and alike.
14. -
15. When I talk to a new unknown person.
16. When I’m with my friends I don’t even pay attention to the language I speak
because the young nowadays use many foreign words, and I’m one of them
17. -
18. I don’t try, but I use them when with friends
8. Interpretation
When interpreting the data from this paper it is important to keep in mind that this is a pilot survey
and that the analysis was based on a limited number of participants, and therefore it can only point
at a certain direction that future research should take, and not in any case at final and complete
conclusions on the relation of language and identity in the youth speech of Slavonski Brod.
The data retrieved from this limited sample, but also through the observation by the authors
themselves, confirm the use of Bosnian dialect among the young people. This is particularly evident
in the evaluation of the speech of others in the statement “Majority of the young people use Bosnian
expressions / accents.”, where as many as nine participants agree with the statement. Other answers
also point at the preliminary conclusion that this kind of speech is particularly spread among young
people. The answers to the open-ended question “Can you list the situations where you try to use
Bosnian expressions / accents?” show that all the participants use Bosnian expressions, particularly
when among friends. These results match with the research by Skelin Horvat (2009:218) which
shows that the young use slang, colloquial and dialectal variants in the situations involving mutual
communication in their free time, during the breaks at school, etc.
Nevertheless, when evaluating own speech the values are much lower. As many as nine young
people strongly agree or agree with the statement “I use Bosnian expressions / accents in my
speech.”, while three of them strongly disagree or disagree with the statement. This disproportion
of values between the evaluation of own speech and the speech of others can be attributed to value
prejudice that the young possess towards Bosnian dialect, i.e. the thing Blommaert calls orders of
indexicalilty (Blommaert 2012: 37). The use of Bosnian expressions or accents has lower
hierarchical values in society and is considered a different way of speaking when compared to the
standard Shtokavian vernacular. Negative value judgement is obvious in qualitative data as well as
part of the comments on the presence of Bosnian dialects in the speech of others. Statements like
“Majority, but that is sad” and “Because they don’t think about how they speak.” are examples of
such attitudes.
Pilot survey also indicated the presence of Bosnian dialects among hereditary speakers. The young
who answered on scales more positively against the presence of Bosnian dialects in own speech, but
also the speech of the environment, were mostly born in Bosnia and Herzegovina or their parents
come from the area. The statements related to family language indicate further positive attitude
towards Bosnian dialects: “In the family we use a great deal of Bosnian-Herzegovinian words, but
also many Croatian. But also, many words are quite similar.”, “They use words and expressions
spoken by the inhabitants of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, “Members of my household speak very
similarly as it is spoken in the area they came from in Bosnia and Herzegovina because that is the
53
way they spoke before and they are used to speaking that way.“, ”My parents speak the language of
the country they came from, it is sometimes difficult to understand them.” Answers like “Whatever
I pick up from my parents, becomes a habit of mine.”, “Sometimes I use.”; “Sometimes I express
myself that ways.”, “I use Bosnian expressions / accents in my speech because most of my friends
speak that way, so I get used to speaking that way.”, “Often when I speak with someone I use
Bosnian expression I heard from my grandma, my parents and other members of my household.”
can also be found in the evaluation of their own speech. Unlike before mentioned research on the
general youth population in the Republic of Croatia (Skelin Horvat research from 2009) where
slang is separated from family language, we could say that the language of the young overlaps with
home language in cases of hereditary speakers.
All the issues related to the standard language indicate its high status among the young. This is
particularly evident in the statement that it is cool to use Bosnian expressions. Several participants
list Croatian, but also standard Croatian as counterbalance to this statement. This is confirmed by
the following examples: “No, I think that if you go to Croatian schools you should use Croatian
language.” And “I don’t think so. Because it would be good to speak Croatian language.”
Considering the limited sample it was not possible to determine correlations related to gender, and
social and educational status of individuals, therefore those questions remain available for the next
research phase.
9. Conclusions and recommendations for further research
In spite of low values when self-evaluating, values in the evaluation of others’ speech (peers)
indicate the presence of Bosnian dialects among the young who are not exclusively hereditary
speakers, as well as the need for more detailed and more comprehensive research on the presence of
the dialects in Slavonski Brod and its surroundings.
In order to conduct a deep analysis, it is important, in further research stages, to include a bigger
number of examinees in research, record youth speech, as well as interview experts in order to get
insight into real speech practices of the young in Slavonski Brod and its surroundings. In our
opinion, it is necessary to conduct a detailed quantitative and qualitative analysis of speech
recordings, as well as to interview young people and their teachers in order to create new language
map of Slavonski Brod and its surroundings. Apart from structural analysis, the aim of further
research is to also do a discourse analysis in order to determine critical dimensions of this
phenomenon.
In conclusion, we hope that this paper will indicate the need to conduct a more detailed research on
this topic and determine the direction which this research should take.
10. References
1. DSZ. (1994) Popis stanovništva, domaćinstva, stanova i poljoprivrednih gospodarstava 31.

ožujak 1991. Stanovništvo prema vjeroispovijedi i materinskom jeziku po naseljima. Zagreb:
Republika Hrvatska, Državni zavod za statistiku.
2. DSZ. (2013) Popis stanovništva, kućanstva i stanova za 2011. Zagreb: Državni zavod za
statistiku Republike Hrvatske.
3. Bourdieu, P. (1992) Što znači govoriti. Zagreb: IK Naprijed.
4. Coulmas, F. (2013) Sociolinguistics, The Study of Speaker's Choices. UK: Cambridge
University Press. University Printing House, Cambridge CB2 8BS.
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5. Enciklopedija Hrvatskog leksikografskog zavoda Miroslav Krleža (2015) Natuknica žargon.

Dostupno na: http://www.enciklopedija.hr/Natuknica.aspx?ID=67641, (pristupljeno 9. kolovoza
2015.)
6. Gee, J.P. (2012) Social Linguistics and Literacies, Ideology in Discourses. UK: Routledge,
Oxon.
7. Huzjak, L. (2013) Jugendsprache in neuen Medien: Merkmale der kroatischen und deutschen
Jugendsprache in Internetforen, Diplomarbeit. Zagreb: Filozofski fakultet u Zagreb, Sveučilište
u Zagrebu.
8. Janeš, F. (2012) Die Verwendung von Jugendsprache im Daf-Unterricht, Zagreber
Germanistische Beiträge 21(2012), 329–341, Zagreb.
9. Lewandowski, T. (1994): Linguistisches Wörterbuch, 1,2 i 3. Heidelberg-Wiesbaden: Quelle &
Meyer.
10. Labov, W. (2001) Principles of Linguistic Change; Volume 2: Social Factors. Oxford: Blackwel
Publishers.
11. Moguš, M. (2009) Povijest hrvatskoga književnoga jezika. Zagreb: Nakladni zavod Globus.
12. Neuland, E. (2015) Jugendsprache: Eine Einführung. Stuttgart: UTB.
13. Radtke, E. (2003) ‘Varietà giovanili’, U: Berrutto, G., Bettoni, C., Francescato, G., Giacalone
Ramat, A., Grassi, C., Radtke, E., Sanga, G., Sobrero, A. A., Telmon, T.,Introduzione
all´italiano contemporaneo, La variazione e gli usi, Guis. Laterza & Figli, Roma-Bari, 191-235.
14. Skelin Horvat, A. (2009) Hrvatski sleng kao odraz identiteta mladih, Doktorska disertacija,
Filozofski fakultet u Zagreb, Sveučilište u Zagrebu.
15. Spolsky, B. (2015) Sociolinguistics. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
16. Škiljan, D. (2002) Govor nacije. Jezik, nacija, Hrvati. Zagreb: Golden Marketing.
17. Thorne, T. (2015) The Latest Youth Slang – extracts from the Archive, © Tony Thorne/King’s
College 2007. Dostupno na:
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/elc/resources/tonythorne/youthslang.doc, (pristupljeno 10.
kolovoza 2015.)
18. Trudgill, P. (1995) Sociolinguistics: an introduction to language and society. UK: Penguin.
Sažetak
UTJECAJ BOSANSKIH DIJALEKATA ŠTOKAVSKOGA NARJEČJA NA GOVOR

MLADIH U SLAVONSKOM BRODU
Emina Berbić Kolar, Fakultet za odgojne i obrazovne znanosti, Osijek

Klara Bilić Meštrić, Hrvatski studiji, Zagreb
Cilj je ovog rada proučiti jezične varijetete mladih u Slavonskom Brodu, gradu na granici s Bosnom
i Hercegovinom, koji je kao takav zbog svog geografskog položaja podložan većem utjecaju stranog
idioma. Meñutim, riječ je i o gradu kojeg su obilježili imigracijski procesi tijekom devedesetih
godina 20.st. Sve je veći broj mladih koji koriste leksik, ali i sintaktičke strukture tipične za dijelove
Bosne od kud je znatan priljev izjeglica.
S obzirom na zastupljenost ovog varijeteta meñu mladima, autorice postavljaju pitanje predstavlja li
ovaj bosanski dijalekt hrvatskog jezika žargon mladih ili se radi o nasljednim govornicima (djeci
roñenoj devedesetih u izbjegličkim obiteljima). Kroz analizu snimki govora, ali i polustrukturirane
intervjue s mladima (14-18 godina) i njihovim nastavnicima cilj je odgovoriti na ova pitanja te
zabilježiti jezičnu sliku Slavonskoga Broda.
Ključne riječi: Slavonski Brod, bosanski dijalekt, žargon, mladi
55
Kinga Siewior
UDK 930.85(497.1)

Jageillonian University, Poland
UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE, LOCAL EXPERIENCE - TRANSNATIONAL

NEGOTIATIONS
Abstract
The paper addresses the texts – in the Croatian, Serbian and Bosnian language – reated to the
memory of World War II and Shoah from the perspective of the second generation of artists. Local
strategies of returning to the past and their function (foremostly in the context of the war 1991-1995
and the subsequent transition) will be dealt with based on the concept of Multidirectional Memory
by M. Rothberg and trauma mirrorings by S. Creps. The universalised idiom Shoah, as related to its
uncomforable counterpart, provides an impulse for reflecting on national traumas, painful histories,
as well as the attempts to diagnose contemporary illnesses, and the conditions of memory / identity.
This research will isolate similarities and differences, elaborate on the use of accents in national
negotiations of the memory of Shoah / war in the area (post-Yugoslav), and further inquire whether
they are described or given attention (if so, in which way) within the space of the wider Central
European trend of Post-Memory literature.
Keywords: cultural memory, negotiations of memory, Multidirectional Memory, Drndić, Basara,
Štiks, Holocaust, transition, Post-Memory, former Yugoslavia
A Universal Language of Memory?

Approaching the phenomenon of cultural memory from the standpoint of universalism may at first
seem methodologically unproductive, as it is based on a certain contradiction that results from
juxtaposing the notions considered mutually exclusive within the framework of traditional research.
The most important research of the so-called memory boom period (Winter, 2000) clearly
distinguishes history— that, in principle, objectifies reality—from collective and cultural memory:
representations communally constructed and shared (reproduced) within concrete social groups.
Memory—understood as cultural practice—used to be primarily analysed within a specific social
framework: in reference to a certain point in time as well as geopolitical reality in which its
inhabitants were found (Halwsbachs, 1992). Following Pierre Nora’s monumental project, Lieux de
mémoire (Nora, [1984-92] (1996-8)), it is the nation that denotes a mnemonic community, and,
since the 1980s, such a conception has been discussed most. However, as of the year 2000, there
has emerged an ever-increasing critique of the research stemming from the national paradigm. In
the introduction to Memory in a Global Age, Aleida Assmann and Sebastian Conrad contend that
the nation ceased to function as a “natural container of memory debates” and declare a need for an
examination of the phenomena that challenge traditional conceptions of cultural memory (Assmann,
Conrad, 2000, 6). All the inadequacies of the previous theoretical framework are a result of issues
56
Kinga Siewior
such as globalization and migrations, both of which have considerably changed the spatial positions
of partakers in local mnemonic communities, atomizing them and developing new memory
configurations connected with the change of cultural contexts. Undoubtedly, migrations—which
should be understood as both spatial relocations of individuals and geographical, economic,
political and cultural transfers of traditions and/or habitus—break the continuity of the project
proposed by Nora (Erll, 2011). Another crucial factor that has shaped the current situation is the
rapid advancement of new media and technology that makes possible the circulation of memories
on a global scale together with their virtual multiplications. Not only does such advancement cause
movement in space, but also in time. More and more frequently we observe the phenomenon of
taking over “someone else’s memories” and identifying with second-hand experiences mediated
through various representations. Marianne Hirsch puts forward the concept of post-memory
(Hirsch, 1997) to describe such experiences, whereas Allison Landsberg emphasizes the
significance of the so-called prosthetic memory (Landsberg, 2004).
All the phenomena described above, on the one hand, prove that cultural memory circulates beyond
family, ethnic and national constraints. On the other hand, a question arises whether—in the era of
such dispersion and pluralization of memory—it is possible to delineate a coherent framework for a
new memory community that would be transgenerational, trans-ethnic and transnational. What
could constitute its common denominator? Aleida Assmann in The Holocaust – a Global Memory?
Extensions and Limits of a New Memory Community considers such a project plausible. For the past
decade, we have witnessed the birth of global memory, which the scholar defines as a migration of
recognizable motifs and “peculiar discursive spaces where memories are located” across diverse
local cultures and memory communities (Assmann, 2010). Assmann’s argument is oriented towards
the most prominent recurring icon, which, undoubtedly, is the Holocaust. Due to its complexity (as
an event and experience), radical ideology, geography and bureaucratic “perfectionism,” the
Holocaust is transnational in character, and nowadays it constitutes a paradigmatic model of
genocide in the world, both universal (rupture of civilization) and particular (limited primarily to
the Jewish community). The fact that the Holocaust crosses national borders is determined by its
spatiality and subsequent migrations of its partakers. The very migration of the witnesses and their
descendants, however, is not necessarily a direct impulse to generate global memory in this context,
Assmann contends. It is rather an array of international institutional activities initiated by the
societies that consider themselves partakers in the memory of the Holocaust that is crucial. One
such example is the initiative “The International Task Force on Holocaust Education, Remembrance
and Research” founded in 1998. Historical memory results from a direct relation between a specific
historical event and the memory of it. Hence partakers in the Holocaust memory community are:
Israel and the Jewish diaspora as well as the Allies of World War II fighting the Third Reich and
giving shelter to the survivors. Also, all the other European countries where the events contributing
to the Shoah took place as well as the nations under Nazi occupation together with the Nazi
Germany and its collaborators have to be taken into account. Such political initiatives are meant to
negotiate a common narration about the past by creating a network of cooperative institutions and
providing sufficient financial support. In this way educational programs, remembrance exhibitions
as well as national heritage programs and memory archives could be consolidated and unified
(Assmann, 2010, 101-105).
Another process, parallel to the abovementioned, which sketches the contours of global memory
understood as separated from historical memory, as Assmann states, is the phenomenon of
Holocaust globalization, which manifests itself mainly in dissemination of Holocaust images across
popular culture. Such icons available in nearly every part of the world are interiorized in a similar
way by the spectators with radically different experiences. Assmann refers to Daniel Levy and
Nathaniel Sznaider’s conception presented in The Holocaust and Memory in the Global Age. Levy
and Sznaider emphasize various mechanisms of disseminating Shoah images in the media and point
to the significance of this dissemination: its empathetic potential and performative community-
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consolidating power. According to the authors, Holocaust memory, exemplary of collective trauma,
can be internalized by other oppressed groups, who “recognize their own suffering in the fate of
Jewish victims” (Levy and Sznaider 2001, 56). Thus, this memory gets transformed into “the model
of national self-criticism, spreading human rights as the legitimizing principle of global society and
helping to affirm difference” (Levy and Sznaider 2001, 232). In other words, Holocaust memory, as
a kind of regulator or an ethical axis determining a new democratic ethos, could be perceived as a
guarantee of human rights—a normative value that broadens the perspective of (self)-reflection on
both the individual and collective experience of other forms of violence. As a reference point,
Holocaust memory fosters a sense of critical examination: “while traditional and exemplary
narratives deploy historical events to promote foundational myth, the critical narrative emphasizes
events that focus on past injustices of one’s own nation. Cosmopolitan memory thus implies some
recognition of the history (and the memories) of the ‘Other’ ” (Levy and Sznaider, 2002, 103).
Assmann, however, distances herself from understanding the global in the context of both historical
memory and moral norm, proposing instead a slightly different status of the Holocaust in the
transnational discourse that corresponds with them—that of an icon and symbol. The former is
described as “an ultimate reduction and condensation of the memory that, in spite of its
fragmentation, nevertheless retains something of its affective quality for which it is used and re-
mediated in ever-new contexts. The icon expresses the truth about the Holocaust in its most
abridged and condensed form” (Assmann, 2010, 109). Condensation and abridgment in this context
may, on the one hand, connote a threat of oversimplification; on the other hand, such reduction
intensifies the image and lays bare its essence. In this way, the Holocaust icon becomes a metaphor
for the ultimate evil. The symbolization process develops in several stages: de-contextualization,
symbolic extension, emotional identification and analogy. Assmann, perceiving both icon and
symbol as rhetorical tropes, points to their usefulness in narrating other traumas and acts of mass
violence. As textual figures, such “references to the Holocaust are increasingly being used to call
attention to other traumas and atrocities. In this metaphoric extension, the Holocaust has become a
free-floating signifier that is readily associated with all kinds of manifestations of moral evil, and
which today can invariably be applied to any pain, destruction, trauma or disaster (such as in
‘bombing holocaust’, ‘nuclear holocaust’ and so on)” (Assmann, 2010, 114). One could thus risk a
hypothesis that the Shoah discourse, “as part of a political agenda, as a cosmopolitan reference, a
universal norm or a global icon” (Assmann, 2010, 112), constitutes a kind of transnational code that
encourages reflection not only on historical memory but also, depending on the context, on other
local narrations. By becoming an (un)comfortable parallel, the Shoah furthers rumination on
national traumas and other acts of violence. It also creates a vantage point from which to examine
the (identarian) condition of social groups other than those directly affected during World War II.
What has been established above constitutes a point of departure for further reflection on the
presence of the Holocaust motif in the newest literature produced in the countries of former
Yugoslavia. Even though post-Yugoslav societies participate in the European Shoah memory
community and therefore such a vantage point is not only justified but also quite necessary, I have
chosen the works which do not directly refer to the Holocaust; instead, I have focused on the texts
in which the Holocaust functions as the abovementioned icon, throwing new light on the plots
concentrated on the Yugoslav Wars following the breakup of the country and the transition period.
By juxtaposing the three texts—Bosnian (Elijahova Stolica by Igor Štiks), Serbian (Mein Kampf by
Svetislav Basara) and Croatian (Totenwande by Daša Drndić)—and with a certain deal of
arbitrariness, I shall point to the local strategies of returning to the past as well as elaborate on the
gesture of employing the Holocaust icon in the context of particular national experiences.
Furthermore, I would like to reflect on the possible functions, aims and ethical significance of such
a gesture.
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Local Experience
We shall go back to the question of historical memory for a while. South Slavs directly participated
in the events of World War II, and their territories became an arena for the atrocities of the conflict.
Thus the Holocaust is also their internal problem, a collective experience they are accountable for
and have to cope with.
The peculiarity of the situation in which the nations remaining within the borders of Yugoslavia
until 1991 found themselves consists in the fact that during World War II they all adopted radically
different ideological and political positions, which determined a somewhat asymmetrical character
of individual ethnic groups’ collective memory for the next several decades. The frame of reference
for Croatian collective memory can be found in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), fascist in
character, and the Ustaše regime (Croatian Revolutionary Movement) (1941-45) — considered by
some a sign of political independence, but de facto putting the Croatian nation in the position of
perpetrators. Serbian, Bosnian and Herzegovinian collective memory oscillates between the victim
category and the martyrology of resistance. Moreover, ideological differences, determined and
sustained by ethnic identification, for nearly half a century remained in the shadow of the myth of
the anti-fascist partisans that constituted a binding force for mutually exclusive local manifestations
of memory work in the Yugoslav historical discourse. The communist regime, implicitly
international, effectively blocked any possibility of coping with the national traumas of World War
II within public discourse. The situation described above is typical of the societies remaining under
the influence of totalitarian ideologies after World War II, mainly those of Central and Eastern
Europe.
A specific character of memory work in post-Yugoslav societies is evident mainly in the fact that
when the process of coping with the traumas of World War II in Greater Europe, catalysed by a
series of political transformations brought about by the fall of the Berlin Wall, entered its final
phase, Yugoslavs faced new massacres and collective traumas of the Yugoslav Wars (1991-1995).
The ethnic conflict definitely cast a shadow on a more distant past, blocking any possibility of
critical reflection on it. However, specific acts of memory work transgressing the constraints of the
communist discourse did happen in war circumstances, when the emerging nations (Croatian and
Serbian) remained in jeopardy and their public discourse was dominated by nationalist disputes. At
the same time, numerous distortions of the memory of World War II were perpetuated, especially
by the infamous Ustasha and Chetnik movements. Such nationalist abuse of Holocaust imagery in
the official narrations of the 1990s was an abomination that only attested to the instrumental use of
history for political gains.
In the process of such abuse perpetrator-victim relations are always disturbed—it is sufficient to
mention the so-called “numbers game” at Jasenovac or the interpretation of the Bleiburg events as
“the Croatian Holocaust.” The politics of memory based on the Holocaust icon from the radical
nationalist period of the 1990s in Serbia and Croatia is exhausted by David Macdonald in his book
Balkan holocausts? Serbian and Croatian victim-centred propaganda and the war in Yugoslavia
(Macdonald, 2003). What needs to be stressed in this essay, however, is that in the case of the post-
Yugoslav region, the abuse of the Holocaust icon was so blatant that it constituted a convenient
point of reference for the narrations subjugated by compensatory propaganda.
I have signalled this historical context (public discourse and the nationalist ideologies of the 1990s),
which stands in opposition to the universalized rhetoric of the moral norm, because it throws new
light on the texts I am interested in. Their authors seem to take a firm stand against such a
framework for local “uses” of the Holocaust memory.
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(Un)comfortable Parallels
Published in 2006, Elijahova Stolica (Elijah's Chair) is a truly epic multi-layered novel, “a new
version of the Oedipus story,” an attempt—as the author Igor Štiks himself claims—to answer what
seems a Kundera-esque question about the human condition and the poetry that inhabits it (Pintarić,
2006). The novel tells a story of Richard Richter, an Austrian writer and journalist, who, in his
sixtieth year accidentally discovers that his identity has been built on lies. Orphaned by both his
mother, who died in childbirth in 1942, and his father, who committed suicide shortly after he had
returned from “that War,” Richard, raised by his aunt, has to cope with the dark past of his nation.
Rebelling against his parents’ generation, he seems to be a typical representative of the first
Austrian post-war “lost” generation. One day he finds an old coffer with his mother’s letters in it.
From the letters he learns that he is a son of a Sarajevan Jew, who was a communist activist arrested
in Vienna and sent to a concentration camp in the fateful year 1942. Richard accepts a position of
war correspondent and travels to the besieged city of Sarajevo to find the addressee of the letters.
Wandering through the streets of the city, he establishes plenty of mysterious contacts and meets the
last love of his life. Eventually, he does find his father and learns the story of his life.
Simultaneously, Richard starts an incestuous relationship with Alma, an actress engaged in a
theatrical adaptation of Max Frisch’s Homo Faber.
Subversive use of the flâneur topos and a number of intertextual references to the canonical works
of European modernism are not the only devices employed by Štiks. The writer also clearly refers
to the poetics of testimony and confession, thematizing a problem of “taking off one’s mind a load
that Charon will not let aboard his boat” (Štiks 2006, 15), “reworking rotten matter into a novel,”
and “trying to restore order, make sense, organize” memories (Štiks 2006, 14). Tropes such as
compulsive writing down of experience and problematizing memory work characterize a genre
which Birgit Neumann calls “fictions of memory” (Neumann, 2009). Štiks effortlessly navigates the
poetics of memory. Sketching complicated genealogies of his characters, he contends that one’s
identity and background have a profound impact on one’s actions. However, there arises a question
about the purpose of taking the protagonist to Sarajevo. For the structure of the foundational
experience to be preserved, the hero’s father could be a Jew from any other place in Eastern Europe.
The story, however, takes place in the City, the besieged Sarajevo and the chronicler of events is not
Richard, but Ivor, Richard’s companion, a native of Sarajevo who finds the protagonist’s notes. It
turns out that this story within a story, mise en abyme, is told not by a World War II survivor but by
a young Bosnian from the besieged city. In this way, a parallel between the two events—World War
II and the Bosnian War—is built. As Štiks states, he wanted to pay homage to the place he grew up
in and whose tragedy he witnessed. Parallel stories of forbidden love of the father and son bring out
the story of violence happening in the background. The choice of Sarajevo is deliberate, because it
was in Bosnia where the only act of genocide in Europe after 1945 took place. The life of the
protagonist comes full circle—his repeated birth during a different war constitutes a suggestive
allusion to the tragedy of the besieged City (and Holocaust).
Štiks chooses a fairly simple narrative strategy, rooted in realism and mimetism, which means that
there is a direct correspondence of events in the text (World War II—Bosnian War)—in concern
with the definition of an iconic signifier. The problem of reference is much more complicated in
Svetislav Basara’s novel (2011), which already in its provocative title, Mein Kampf, signals a more
confusing field of metonymic references. The novel does not deal with a specific historical event,
but rather with an overall atmosphere in Serbia in the last twenty five years and the identarian
condition of its people. Neither a World War II survivor nor any direct references to a more distant
past can be found in the plot. In other words, there is no structural link between the present and the
past. By introducing a protagonist who is waiting to undergo neurological surgery, the author locks
the story within the irrational discourse of disease and delirium. The title page reads, “the whole
world is one big hospital; only those who can understand it in time have a chance to stay healthy.”
Mein Kampf is a paranoid-grotesque work sprinkled with irony that tells a story of an attempt to
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stay healthy and independent in a world submerged by nationalist madness. The only way to do it is
to retreat from it into a disease. The narrator makes the following diagnosis of reality: “After all
these years, SFRY burst like a balloon it had always been, and it’s now fully controlled by the neo-
Nazis. Let them say what they want, but this whole mess of the late eighties had nothing to do with
democracy. It was a most straightforward version of nazification” (Basara, 2001, 45). In his
monologue, the narrator creates a pamphlet: he criticizes the society of the transition period,
employing the national socialist idiom. Real-life characters appear in the story, although they are
provocatively camouflaged. Thus “Veliki Sotona” is Dobrica Ćosić, “doktor Mengele pravnih
znanosti” is Vojislav Koštunica, “gauleiter of the Serbian Weimar Republic” is Boris Tadić, troops
patrolling the cities make up “Serbian Wermacht,” and the ruling party is “Nacionalsocijalistička
partija Srbije”. The narrator talks about a fight against “the Nazi manipulation of the idea of the
nation,” and about an attempt to reach “the depths of the collective unconscious.” By stressing the
intimate dimension of his text and its anti-fascist character, Basara radically alters the meanings of
his historical antecedent. Grotesque carnivalization of the world, Rabelais-like in its character, ergo
a critique of “paradajz-fasizm”, consists in provocative instrumentalization of the memory of World
War II—a negative parallel. It would seem that such a literary device could cause disgust or even
moral objection in the reader. However, the disease/insanity framework employed by Basara
mitigates such a tone. According to Assmann’s classification, in its relation to the Holocaust, the
disease could be classified as an, somewhat paradoxical, analogy. The Holocaust is a rhetorical
trope in the novel. It legitimizes the status of the “local” problem, accentuating the image of
“unethical activities.” At the same time, it serves as a peculiar instigator, provoking the reader to
ask him/herself a question whether there is something to be concerned about, and if it all is only
grotesque, is it meant as a warning?
The third example of a work that references World War II is the novel Totenwande (2000) by Daša
Drndić, which is a part of Drdnić’s elaborate project that brings together some of the features of
Štiks’ and Basara’s novels described above. On the one hand, Totenwande refers to historical
memory and the legacy of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH); on the other hand, it constitutes
a reflection on the human condition in general, largely impacted by the unarticulated traumas of the
20th century. Drndić’s works, thematically and structurally, develop into a remarkable opus
magnum. A hint at Totenwande can already be found on page 61 of her earlier novel, Canzone di
guerra (1998), whose ending reads “it’s not over yet” (Drdnić, 1998, 61). Totenwande, with its “to-
be-continued” ending (Drndić, 2000, 47) is a prelude to her later novels (Leica format,
Doppelgänger and Belladonna). In all of these novels we find a recurring motif of History (its
universal mechanisms as well as specific historical events), which serves as a starting point for a
deeper analysis of the nature of totalitarianism and the experience of World War II as well as their
repercussions. All of these tragedies marked the survivors, their descendants—and the entire
humankind—for life.
The story that the novel retells in newer and newer configurations, exposes the cycle of
interdependence that extends far beyond family bonds and a sense of nationhood. The characters
move from the pages of one novel to the next (especially the Koše family whose members, each in
turn, discover their Jewish roots), reenacting certain patterns of behaviour, as if these patterns were
dictated by the past. The narrative strategy, however, seems unchanged over the course of all the
texts—it consists in the real autobiographical “I” constantly permeating the fictional “I” with the
equal participation of other voices coming from various registers of reality. The stories told by the
protagonists are placed side by side with dramatic monologues, phantasmagoric messages from
Hitler and Stalin, quotes from the classics, quasi-documents in the form of letters or family trees, as
well as authentic documents, such as biographical notes and extracts from the Yad Vashem Archive
and encyclopaedias. The reader is thus faced with a multiplication of iconic representations and
metonymic Shoah figures, and their juxtapositional arrangement.
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Totenwande is an example of such poetics. The story is narrated by Konrad Koše, born in Zagreb in
1939 to a Croatian father (an outstanding chess player and Ustaša, who flees the country) and
Jewish mother. During the war Konrad’s mother conceals her identity and works for the occupant.
Only after many years does Konrad, like the protagonist of Elijahova Stolica, discover his identity,
which seems at odds with clear-cut distinctions between the guilty and the victims, and rather
consists in negation and denial (the figure of the mother). Konrad initiates a family investigation
and writes down his “confession,” in which the voices articulating the greatest tragedies of the 20th
century, wars, concentration camps and acts of violence are intertwined. As the investigation
develops, the history of his family turns out to follow dangerous “universal” patterns, and so do his
actions. The investigation clearly shows how developing an awareness of the past disrupts the
established order and brings about mental discomfort. The uncomfortable legacy Konrad has long
been in denial about is manifest in both Konrad’s biography and in the story of his lover Jacqueline,
a woman “rotten to the core,” who turns out to be the daughter of Doctor Kurt Heissmayer
responsible for medical experiments on children in concentration camps. On a more universal level,
Drdnić mentions such abominations as profit-seeking cooperation with the fascist authorities of
such companies as Bayer or Porsche, or the immigration politics of “neutral” Canada that offered
quiet and comfort to many German war criminals. The author thus exposes numerous layers of the
“hidden legacy” of the Holocaust. By making those uncomfortable parallels, she warns us against
widespread totalitarian practices of modern societies, in which fascism, nationalism and xenophobia
are still present. These pathologies, disguised as local stories of violence, are manifested in the
novel in the story of M.K., a Serbian friend of Konrad’s, who is deported from Pristina in a manner
resembling World War II deportation practices.
Drdnić’s ventures into the past are meant to describe the present. “Identity, tradition, memory,
forgetting—they all recall the past, interpret the present and anticipate the future,” Ewa Rewers
aptly notices (Rewers, 2000, 111). In the context of Drdnić’s project, one can risk a statement that
looking back is not a regressive gesture; quite conversely, it makes possible looking ahead. Her
writing can be interpreted as an attempt at diagnosing the present as well as a warning sign for the
future. The Holocaust in her prose occurs at the level of historical memory (Konrad as a descendant
of a survivor; the motif is also present in the biographies of other characters), as an icon signalling
other acts of violence (the Kosovo War or the Balkan War of 1991-1995). It also stands for the
moral norm. Although Drdnić’s novels are immersed in the context of her biography, ethnicity and
nation, her writing is universal in that—through a wide spectrum of references—it never ceases to
reflect on the human condition in general, beyond the Balkans’ history.
*
In my interpretation of the three novels, I hoped to point to a plausible network of problems which
should be further discussed with the help of a much broader set of cultural texts produced after 1991
in the countries of former Yugoslavia, other cultural contexts and a more complex analysis of the
recent theories emerging from the burgeoning field of memory studies. What should be further
elaborated on is the relation of the texts not only to the past but also to the literary fields in which
they function. The reading of memory work can be a point of departure for a much broader,
comparative and interdisciplinary, project of examining the newest literature from the former
Yugoslav region in the new anthropological light.
References
Assmann A. (2010) ‘The Holocaust – a Global Memory? Extensions and Limits of a New Memory
Community’, in A. Assmann and S. Conrad (eds), Memory in a Global Age: Discourses, Practices
and Trajectories. Houndmills, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 97–117.
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Assmann A., Conrad S. (2010) ‘Introduction’, in A. Assmann and S. Conrad (eds), Memory in a
Global Age: Discourses, Practices and Trajectories. Houndmills, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 1–16.
Basara S. (2011) Mein Kampf. Beograd: Laguna.
Drndić D. (2000) Totenwande. Zidovi smrti. Zagreb: Meandar.
Erll A. (2011) Travelling Memory, Parallax, Vol. 17, pp.4-18.
Halbwachs M. (1992) On Collective Memory, ed. and trans. L. A. Coser. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press.
Hirsch M. (1997) Family Frames: Photography, Narrative, and Postmemory. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press.
Landsberg A. (2004) Prosthetic Memory: The Transformation of American Remembrance in the
Age of Mass Culture. New York: Columbia University Press.
Levy D., Sznaider N. (2001) Erinnerung im globalen Zeitalter: Der Holocaust. Frankfurt am Main:
Suhrkamp.
Levy D., Sznaider N. (2002) Memory Unbound. The Holocaust and the Formation of Cosmopolitan
Memory, European Journal of Social Theory, Vol. 5(1), pp. 87–106.
MacDonald D.B. (2003) Balkan Holocausts? Serbian and Croatian victim centred propaganda and
the war in Yugoslavia. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Nora P. [1984–92] (1996–8) Realms of Memory: Rethinking the French Past, ed. L. D. Kritzman,
trans. A. Goldhammer. 3 vols. New York: Columbia University Press.
Rewers E. (2000) Niepewny urok tożsamości, in. Kostyro T., Zgółka T., Kultura wobec kręgów
tożsamości, Poznań, Wrocław, Wielkopolskie Tow. Kulturalne.
Štiks I. (2009) Krzesło Eliasza, trans. D. Cirlić-Straszyńska. Warszawa: WAB.
Winter J. (2000) The Generation of Memory: Refections on the “Memory Boom” in Contemporary
Historical Studies’, Bulletin of the German Historical Institute, Vol. 27, pp. 69–92.
Zlatar A. (2004) Smrt pojedinca/ pobjeda povijesti (novija proza Daše Drndić), in Zlatar A., Tekst,
tijelo, Trauma. Ogledi o suvremenoj ženskoj književnosti. Zagreb: Naklada Ljevak.
Sažetak
UNIVERZALNI JEZIK; LOKALNO ISKUSTVO – TRANSNACIONALNI PREGOVORI

Kinga Siewior, Jageillonian University, Poland
Rad se odnosi na tekstove – hrvatskog, srpskog i bosanskog jezika – vezane uz sjećanje na Drugi
svjetski rat i Shoah iz kruga druge generacije umjetnika. Istaknut ću lokalne strategije povratka u
prošlost i njihove funkcije (prvenstveno u kontekstu rata 1991-1995 i tranzicije) temeljene na
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koncepciji višesmjernog sjećanja M. Rothberga i traumatskih zrcaljenja S. Crepsa. Univerzalizirani

idiom Shoah, kao rod nelagodne paralele, daje impuls refleksiji narodnim traumama, teškim
prošlostima, pokušava dijagnosticirati suvremene bolesti, te stanja pamćenja / identiteta. Sažetak će
izdvojiti sličnosti i razlike, pojašnjenje naglasaka u narodnim pregovorima sjećanja Shoaha / rata u
području (postjugoslavenskom), potom postaviti pitanje opisuju li se ili ističu (ako da, kako) na
prostoru šireg, srednjeeuropskog trenda postsjećajne književnosti.
Ključne riječi: kultura sjećanja, pregovori pamćenja, višesmjerno sjećanje, Drndić, Basara, Štiks,
Holokaust, tranzicija, postsjećanje, bivša Jugoslavija
64
Dubravka Smajić, Irena Vodopija
UDK 811.163.42:371.3
Dubravka Smajić
Irena Vodopija
GREETINGS AND FAREWELLS AS ELEMENTARY PRAGMEMES OF LANGUAGE

ETIQUETTE
Abstract
Greetings are one of the oldest forms of human communication. They can be verbal, verbal/non-
verbal and non-verbal communication acts. Greetings are used in direct communication dialogues.
This communication usually consists of two components: invocation as a greeting and revocation as
a farewell. Together they are commonly referred to as greetings. First and foremost, greetings
belong to the category of linguistics and communication. However, they are social and ideological
acts, too, thus the acquisition of their accurate and appropriate use is required with respect to
communication partners and situation specificity. At different levels of education, higher education
institutions included, and particularly those responsible for training of future pre-school and
primary teachers, the mission includes promotion of linguistic appropriateness and, subsequently,
linguistic politeness. Hence, greeting and farewell as pragmemes of language etiquette are amatter
of theoretical and practical interest in the study of linguistic appropriateness.
Keywords: greetings and farewells, pragmemes of language etiquette, language culture in higher-
education institutions
1. Introduction
Each instance of well-mannered conversation anywhere in the world begins with a greeting. There
are written and unwritten rules of human communication. The latter has existed, it is assumed, from
time immemorial. The act of greeting itself has always produced rules on greetings that defined
verbal and non-verbal behaviour of the participants in communication, the so called communicators.
Many of those are prescribed in books of different titles, contents and style nowadays, handling
civilized behaviour and communication. The rules on greetings are an unavoidable part of language
etiquette, and greeting phrases are its elementary pragmemes.
Croatian ethnologists first understood greeting as a custom explaining that it was “the simplest
custom used to express friendship, loyalty, respect“ (Balenović 194 in Pintarić 2002:122). Neda
Pintarić (2002) states that greetings belong to cultural pragmemes1, i.e. those used in civil
interaction – in rules of civilized behaviour, which makes them an important constituent of
language etiquette. “A greeting can be defined as a cultural verbal/non-verbal ritualized dialogue
65
pragmeme in temporary communicational situations of encounters and leave-taking. “ (Pintarić

2001:303) The same author, besides cultural, adds also sociological foundation to the definitions in
2002, stressing thereby the affective relationship in the mentioned communicational situation
between two or more people. Maja Bratanić defines greetings as “the most typical standardized
communication situations with ritual functions and a pre-assigned form, considered universals in
language use“ (Bratanić 1999:103).
A greeting possesses a demarcative function since a greeting starts, and a farewell ends a speech
act. Pintarić distinguishes three different units in human communication “representing units of
expression: the smallest is the speech act, the middle is the speech event and the biggest is the
speech situation.“ (Pintarić 2001:298) Greetings and farewells are speech acts realized as verbal,
verbal/non-verbal and non-verbal communication. Namely, understanding a greeting as a
pragmeme, i.e., “a general multi-level sign containing, implicitly or explicitly, all non-verbal
elements“ (Pintarić 2002:42), implies that it, apart from its lexical structure, includes also non-
linguistic elements, therefore we can also understand greetings as “gesture-letters“. Interlocutors
usually supplement a greeting with a gesture: waving hands, fingers, blowing a kiss – mainly by
women; raising a hat, touching its rim or raising a hand to the head – by men. If the distance is too
big for a verbal greeting, it comes down to non-verbal, to waving. Only verbal greetings appear in
radio and television shows and during classic phone and mobile phone communication. There are,
however, everyday examples, that we are witnesses of (or we take part in), when during telephone
conversation, apart from verbal, there also non-verbal communication, although people are aware
that the latter is not visible to the interlocutor.
In everyday direct communication a speech situation is framed by greetings when arriving and
departing. Pintarić claims that “speech genres at the beginning of communication are called
invocation (introduction), and those at the end revocation (departure).” (Pintarić 2001:207) Also,
she adds that greeting is a dialogue act consisting of arrival and departure phrases (Pintarić
2001:303). In invocation “a communicator draws attention to him-/herself in order to communicate
with other people” (Pintarić 2002.:122) by using a greeting. It should be stressed that “greetings
implicitly imply, for example, politeness of those using them, their education, social views, social
status, etc.” (Deželjin, Mildner 2009:287).
“As a sociolinguistic unit, a greeting is under different social, cultural and political influences and
changes. Therefore, a greeting can express a welcome, a wish for health, welcoming, long life and
respect for others, and social status taken into account we can distinguish religious, political and age
greetings.”“ (Pintarić 2001:297) The author later on adds some other types of greetings – time
period greetings, health greetings, life greetings, welcoming greetings, respect and youth greetings
(Pintarić 2002.:123). Greetings and farewells have their own special language forms – greeting
phrases. When meeting someone, frequently the same lexeme can be used as a greeting phrase both
when arriving and departing, for example, npr. bog – bog, zdravo – zdravo etc.
Democratization of Croatian society and changes in social and political fields havealso reflected
onthe ways of greeting. It is visible in changes in the use of greeting and farewell phrases. In the
1990s, the greeting zdravo (be healthy) vanishes completely. Although being a greeting, wishing
someone health, and also being a part of an everyday prayer, with time it has become burdened with
a connotative meaning. Namely, for many years in the second part of the 20th century there were
attempts to reduce Croatian greeting phraseology to only one ideologically acceptable greeting –
zdravo. “Single-mindedness aspires to simplify everything – even greetings. Zdravo was supposed
to be used on all public and private occasions.“ (Težak 1995:84) Only the greetings with temporal
category survived: dobro jutro (good morning), dobar dan (good day) and dobra večer (good
evening). But, the last has been called into question. In Croatian language the noun večer is either
feminine or masculine, and when declined the greeting it is either dobra večer or dobar večer.
Nevertheless, a greeting phrase dobro veče has been imposed. Such a greeting contains the neutral
noun veče, and therefore, the mentioned phrase does not belong to the Croatian greeting corpus.
66
As a farewell zdravo was also used as a universal greeting, but there were also doviñenja (till we
see each other) and laku noć (good night). Pintarić says that the politicization of greetings is a
common phenomenon in Croatian society and “greeting zdravo has become, after the fall of
socialism, negatively connoted since it was imposed to all the structures in socialist times (…) with
the creation of new Croatia this greeting was considered to be negative (…) regardless of its
meaning and wishes for good health (...) After the changes in 2000, this greeting started to be used
again, but less frequently. It got its place as a greeting among friends, not any more when children
greeted their seniors.“ (Pintarić 2001:301) Politicization of greetings in socialism has made some
greetings ill-suited, primarily the religious ones. But, they have not disappeared, they have just
withdrawn to the frames of family greetings, being regular in smaller and rural areas, as well as
among the elderly.
It has already been said that some greeting phrases remained intact even during socialism because
they are timeless and because they appeared in different geographical and national territories, and
have been politically neutral. There existed also regional greetings ćao1, and adio2 (where originally
religious greeting could not be recognized), and bok3, which with such a spelling did not sound as a
religious greeting. “The greeting bog first appeared in kajkavian records and speech as bok, because
the communists were sensitive to religious greetings. Greeting phrase was not treated as an empty
word, it was attributed religious meaning. In order to function as a greeting, it was graphically
turned into a semantically empty word bok. This greeting was only used among friends. It has
spread, its etymology has been revived (spelled bog, but frequently not capitalized) and it could be
said that it has taken the place of the greeting zdravo considering frequency and prevalence.“
(Pintarić 2001:301) From regional and urban (Zagreb) greeting it has turned into a generally
accepted Croatian greeting. It is nowadays used alongside standard, conventional greetings dobar
dan, dobro jutro, dobra večer, as well as farewells doviñenja, ugodan dan (pleasant day), laku noć.
These are usually used to greet people of different ages or different social statuses. Religious
greetings coexist as well, mostly in smaller milieus.
But, it is known that unconventional greetings are also in use, those that frequently come to being
by play-like language changes of conventional greetings, for example, doviñenja and dobar dan
turn into the ellipses ñenja and dan through clipping, there are also diminutives ñenjce, bogić. And
zdravo turns into vozdra when rotating syllables, and it is nowadays maybe even more frequent than
the greeting it originated from.
In the Croatian language there are numerous greeting phrases, their repertoire is exceptionally wide,
but they (still) should be known how to be used properly, therefore this research attempted to
determine which greeting and farewell pragmemes are being used at the time, and whether their
selection is in accordance with social and situational context. Special attention was paid to the
frequency of the popular greeting pragmeme bog/bok as a part of students’ greeting phrases.
Research method
The research encompassed 207 students (N=207) of the Faculty of Education in Osijek, mainly of
female population (there were only 12 or 5.7% male participants), coming from rural and urban
areas. A set of six questions served as a research instrument. Questions were answered by students
voluntarily and anonymously in the period of time that was not strictly limited. Five questions were
open-ended, and one was a multiple-choice question. The purpose of the research was to get insight
into the repertoire of greeting and farewell phrases among students, future teachers. Namely, the
aim of the paper was to find out which greetings and farewells are most common among peers,
which greetings and farewells are most commonly used by students in communication with adults,
which in communication with children, with members of their households, as well as which
greeting and farewell phrases are used by students in official and public institutions. Also, we
wanted to find out if the students are familiar with the greetings and farewells that used to be used.
67
We particularly wanted to examine which greeting form is used by students in written version –
Bog, bog or bok, and if they know its etymology.
2. Results
The majority of students, in accordance to our assumptions, greet with bok and Bog, being the most
common peer greeting and farewell pragmeme. Also exclamations appear among the greetings:
Eee!, Eiii!, Eeej!, Ej!, Haj!, Hej! Whole exclamation sentences are used as greetings as well: O, vidi
ti njih! (Oh, look at them!), Gdje si? (Where are you?), Što ima? (What’s up?). Reduced forms of
conventional greetings are also found: jutro (morning), dan (day), ñenja (bye), noć (night), syllable
rotated greeting vozdra from zdravo and the pragmemes of reduced and multiplied sounds: doba
daaan.
When communicating with adults, i.e. their seniors, and when officially greeting, the most
commonly listed are conventional greetings Dobar dan, dobro jutro, dobra večer and the farewell
doviñenja. These are etiquette pragmemes of neutral meaning. Only individually we find bok/bog,
ñenja, svako dobro, ćao, serving this function, but these are more appropriate to peer and informal
communication.
The question that required examinees to list greetings and farewells they heard from members of
their households and from locals produced religious greetings as answers: Hvaljen Isus (Praised be
Jesus), Hvaljen Isus i Marija (Praised be Jesus and Mary), Hvaljen Bog (Praised be God!), i.e.
Zbogom (With God), Bog s tobom (God be with you), Bog s vama (God be with you), Uvijek hvaljen
(Praised forever), Uvijeke (Forever), Bog daj (Give us God). As an old greeting we find Dobri den,
which probably indicates Slovakian origin of communicators. Apart from that whole sentences were
listed as greetings and farewells: Jesi dobar? (Are you good?), Gdje si, prijatelju? (Where are you,
my friend?), Ooo, kolega! (Oooo, colleague!), Pozdrav svitu! (Greetings to the world!), Kako je
(How is it going?)? Kako smo? (How are we?), intended for the peer population, of course.
The most common student greeting in everyday communication is bok, i.e. significantly less
frequent Bog/bog. Since according to the frequency they greatly go beyond all the other greetings,
the collected data was statistically processed in order to find out which are the most common
written forms and also students’ knowledge of etymology of this most frequent greeting (figure 1.)
Figure 1. Percentage of greeting bok/bog in the total sample of greetings and farewells, with their
separate percentages within common sub-sample
Out of the total number of all individual assertions of greeting pragmemes (n=3800) 927
participants (24.4%) refer to the use of greeting forms bok (852; 91.9%) and bog (75; 8.09%). This
difference in the number is statistically significant, χ2(1, N = 927) = 651,27, p < ,001, which
indicates a statistically significant higher frequency of pragmemes in written form bok. Namely, the
68
participants should have circled one of the suggested written/spelling forms of those frequent
pragmemes and they circled bok, bog, Bog, in this order, 179 (87.4%), 16 (7.8%) and 10 (4.9%),
including two missing answers. This means that, in spontaneous written answers, the research
participants most commonly use the greeting pragmeme written with a small letter, i.e. in the
written form bok., i which is also confirmed explicitly by the choice of this particular written form.
In spite of the frequency of the use of all the three forms of this greeting pragmeme, being a part of
one fourth of all the greetings, including conventional greetings like Dobar dan (etc.), in spoken
and written communication in different social situations and status relations, the etymology was,
when the participants should have given the explanation for the greeting, stated by defining (9; 4.35
%) or by determining the meaning (76; 36.7 %), known to only a bit more than the third of the
participants (i.e. 85/207; 41.06 %). As the explanations of the etymology of this greeting the
participants most frequently list clipping of traditional Christian greetings referring to God (71/85;
83.53 %). The other participants, slightly less than two thirds (122/207; 58.94 %), do not know the
meaning of the greeting they most preferably use.
Conventional greetings with temporal category follow thereafter, as well as the greeting ćao.
One third of participants answered the question if they have given any thought to the meaning of the
mentioned greeting by saying they did not think about it, one third had given it some thought, but
did not know the answer, and the others tried to explain it. The majority of the students who tried to
give an explanation recognize a fundamentally religious greeting, even when written with a small
letter bog or bok. There is also an explanation that the name of God should not be mentioned in vain
and therefore the sound of bok appears. Two students’ explanation related bok to Bog, which
evidently, was read by some students. Namely, there is also an explanation that German/Austrian
greeting phrase Mein Buecken (my bow), used by Zagreb traders to address customers, was clipped
only to Bokn (bow), which eventually was reduced to bok. But, there are also statements by the
same source that completely disallow this statement.
Students also give an explanation that bok is a part of human body(!?).
3. Discussion
Although the research has shown a very diverse range of greetings and farewells coexisting among
student population, it is evident that they can be grouped in two big groups. The first consists of
conventional ways of greeting (most commonly with temporal category), for example dobro jutro,
dobar dan, dobra večer, doviñenja, intended for senior interlocutors or people on formal occasions.
The other group are less conventional, non-stereotyped, even completely unconventional greeting-
farewell phrases, intended for their peers, close people and family members. The research affirmed
(and confirmed) that the dominant greeting is bok/Bog, bog (in all three written forms).
The research results are on the trail of former scientific elaborations (Bratanić 1999; Kuna 2009)
and observations by P. Pavličić: “Something happened to greetings. And it is clear what happened:
their number reduced a lot and came down to a single syllable, which can be used to greet a senior
and a younger than yourself, as well as a richer and a poorer, and the one who tailors your hat and
the one you tailor it for. Greetings have been dying out, one by one as exotic birds, and now barely
a few remained, apart from the omnipresent Bog (...) Bog escalated and took bigger and bigger
geographical and social spaces. There were attempts to replace traditional greetings with Zdravo,
and now the multi-purpose greeting has voluntarily been acquired.” (Pavličić 2012.) Originally a
religious greeting phrase Bog s tobom (God be with you), Bog ti pomogao (God help you), S Bogom
(With God) etc. became a monosyllabic word, “one syllable” that is, and in addition to that, has
been semantically emptied through devoicing. Nevertheless, whatever we might think about that,
particularly this form bok is the most common greeting today. On the one hand, it can be noticed
that numerous conventional greeting phrases have been reduced to that “one syllable”, in all its
69
three written variants, and on the other hand unconventional expressions appear as results of
phonological reductions, ellipsis, syllable rotation, diminutivization, taking place of conventional
greetings and farewells. But, they are not in accordance with language etiquette.
Students’ ignorance of the most common greeting that they themselves frequently use, making it a
semantically completely empty word, seems unusual.
4. Closing word
The research has resulted in an insight into the repertoire of students’ greeting pragmemes in
different communicational situations and in relation with their different social roles. It is for certain
that greeting phrases have changed. Pavličić lists possible reasons for the modern way of greeting.
He says that the democratization lead to bringing down differences among social levels, and that the
pace of modern life requires practicality, and hence the shortness of greetings (instant politeness).
Also, a greeting does not express respect, but desire for intimacy (Pavličić 2012) “It seems that the
time of more intimate addressing has arrived, and the recent neutrality of the mentioned
(conventional greetings, remark D.S.) expressions seems to be a sign of emotionally cooler
relationships or of a high level of hierarchy” (Kuna 2009:89).
All the listed reasons seem acceptable since the times and circumstances change greetings as well.
Finally the questions arise: Do we have the knowledge of greeting? Are the greetings in use
nowadays acceptable on any occasion? Are we supposed to be taught how to greet? Greeting is
taught from early childhood in the family, it is taught at school. It subsumes strong speech models.
Due to the facts mentioned and in order to achieve a better greeting culture we should plead for
language etiquette. Therefore, it is not unimportant to nourish greeting in educational context.
Though we cannot be satisfied with “instant politeness”, let it be the first step towards greeting
culture.
5. References
Bratanić M. (1999) „Bok, gospoño profesor!“ (O nesigurnosti u porabi pozdravnih formula u

suvremenom hrvatskom jeziku), U: Badurina L. i sur. (ur.), Teorija i mogućnosti primjene
pragmalingvistike, HDPL, Zagreb – Rijeka, str. 103-114.
Deželjin V., Mildner V. (2009) Komunikacijska struktura u hrvatskom i talijanskom: pozdravi, U:
Granić J. (ur.), Jezična politika i jezična stvarnost, HDPL, Zagreb, str. 287-298.
Hrvatski enciklopedijski rječnik (2002). Zagreb: Novi liber.
Klaić B. (1985) Rječnik stranih riječi. Zagreb: Nakladni zavod Matice hrvatske.
Kuna B. (2009) Uljudnost i njezini učinci u komunikaciji, Lingua Montenegrina 1, Vol. 3, str. 81-
93.
Lipljin T. (2002) Rječnik varaždinskoga kajkavskog govora. Varaždin: Garestin.
Pavličić P. (2002) Pozdrav. Dostupno na: http://www.matica.hr/vijenac/212/Pozdrav/ (Pristupljeno:
20. 3. 2015.)
Pintarić N. (2001) Sociokulturni elementi jezičnoga bontona: Struktura i funkcija eksvokacije, U:
Słowiańszczyzna w kontekście przemian Europy końca XX wieku, Język-Tradycja-Kultura,
Katowice, str. 297-305.
Pintarić N. (2002) Pragmemi u komunikaciji. Zagreb: Zavod za lingvistiku Filozofskoga fakulteta.
70
Sabljak T. (2001) Rječnik hrvatskoga žargona. Zagreb: Lexica.

Težak S. (1995). Hrvatski naš osebujni. Zagreb: Školske novine.
Sažetak
POZDRAV I ODZDRAV KAO ELEMENTARNI PRAGMEMI JEZIČNOGA BONTONA

Dubravka Smajić, Fakultet za odgojne i obrazovne znanosti, Osijek
Irena Vodopija, Fakultet za odgojne i obrazovne znanosti, Osijek
Pozdravljanje pripada u najstarije oblike ljudske komunikacije. Ostvaruje se kao verbalna,

verbalno-neverbalna i neverbalna komunikacija. U izravnoj se komunikaciji pozdravljanje javlja u
dijaloškom obliku. Takav oblik komunikacije ima dva dijela: invokaciju kao pozdrav i eksvokaciju
kao odzdrav. Često se objedinjeni imenuju pozdravljanjem. Ono je ponajprije
jezičnokomunikacijska kategorija. No, kako je istodobno i socijalnoideološka kategorija, treba
usvojiti ne samo pravilno nego i pozdravljanje primjereno osobama i situacijskom kontekstu. Sve
jedinice odgojno-obrazovnoga sustava pa tako i visokoškolske ustanove, posebice one u kojima se
školuju budući odgojitelji i učitelji, imaju misiju promicanja jezične kulture, dakle i jezičnoga
bontona. Pozdrav i odzdrav kao pragmemi jezičnoga bontona stoga su nužno i predmetom interesa
jezične kulture na teorijskoj i praktičnoj razini.
Ključne riječi: pozdrav i odzdrav jezični bonton jezična kultura u visokoškolskoj izobrazbi
71
PRELIMINARY COMMUNICATIONS
PRETHODNA PRIOPĆENJA
Valentina Majdenić, Andrea Vučetić (Croatia)

Czech humour as timeless anti-ideological propaganda
Nikola Milivojević (Serbia)

Relations and connections among central european people during
the Great war depicted through the fates of residents of a Bačka town
72
Valentina Majdenić, Andrea Vučetić
UDK 821.162.3”19”
Preliminary communication
Valentina Majdenić
Faculty of Education, Osijek
Andrea Vučetić
School of Economics, Požega
CZECH HUMOUR AS TIMELESS ANTI-IDEOLOGICAL PROPAGANDA
Abstract
World wars have left an indelible trace while they lasted as well as in times after them. In Czech
culture and literature one of the common ways of adapting to political regime changes is using
humour in literary works. The paper focuses on three novels by famous Czech novelists: The Good
Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek, I Served the King of England by Bohumil Hrabal and The Joke by
Milan Kundera. By using humour as dominant literary discourse, the authors created marginalised
characters, (anti)heroes who, despite living at different times, disarm the war. Nuanced irony, black
humour, sarcasm and grotesque reveal the true face of wars and restraints of (post)war ideologies –
Austrian imperialism, Nazism and socialism by treating them as absurd. Timelessness of pacifism
which these works promote makes these books appealing to readers even nowadays.
Keywords: Czech literature, ideology, humour, anti-hero, Hašek, Hrabal, Kundera
Introduction
The pages of the 20th century history are stained by bloody traces of world wars which
tailored the political map of Europe many times. Historical-political changes within one state had a
domino effect on other countries therefore it is not uncommon that the Czechs also suffered
consequences of world wars. Despite censorship imposed on the Czech people, some writers had
the courage to write about forbidden themes, regardless of the troubles they could get into.
The paper focuses on three novels by Czech authors: The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek, I
Served the King of England by Bohumil Hrabal and The Joke by Milan Kundera. Since these novels
represent a reaction to adverse circumstances already seen in the world and being aware of Czech
inclination to gentle humour, we propose the hypothesis that these authors fight against ideologies
by using humour. The aim of this paper is to examine this hypothesis by thoroughly analysing the
novels and determine the extent to which the protagonists accept or fight against a certain ideology.
It is important to mention that so far there are no papers in Croatian scientific bibliography
that analyse all three works in the same context or have an interdisciplinary approach in looking at
them as anti-ideological propaganda. Still, there are some in the Czech bibliography. In Croatia
there are a few doctoral theses which analyse single novels in some other contexts. These are Poetic
73
Interspace of Péter Esterházy between Late Modernism and Postmodernism (2010) by Tina Varga
Oswald, a thesis by Jasna Poljak Rehlicki From Myth to Irony: the Character of Warrior in
European Cultural Circle from Classical Antiquity till Today (2013) and Filip Hameršak’s Croatian
Autobiography and World War I (2013). Some papers partially related to these novels were also
written by the authors of the theses89. There are some papers that occasionally deal with Hašek’s
famous Švejk and only mention Kundera’s The Joke, but there are hardly any papers in Croatian
bibliography that analyse Hrabal’s novel. Still, Dragan Gligora discusses Hrabal’s book in the paper
How the Unlikely became Reality: Pleasure and Knowledge in Hrabal’s novel I Served the King of
England. Since such papers are scarce in Croatia, this paper is a novelty because it attempts to
systematise and complete present knowledge.
Methodology
The basic concept of the paper demands an interdisciplinary approach and various methods.
In order to examine the hypothesis that Czech authors fight ideologies by using humour, it is
necessary to systematise knowledge not only regarding literary theory, but history as well. By
combining inductive-deductive and descriptive method, the narrative worlds of the novels are to be
described within historical-political context of the 20th century and then more precisely within the
position of the Czech people as parts of different states and countries. In order to establish to which
extent the protagonists accept or fight against different ideologies, it is necessary to apply
contrastive analysis and put them in co-relation and by critically interpreting the quotes from the
novels record their similarities and differences. This analysis is closely connected to problem-
solving approach since it will raise a number of questions. Finally, a synthesis of all conclusions
will be presented as well as recommendations for future research.
Results
In order to examine the hypothesis whether humour represents the key anti-ideological
weapon of Czech writers, it was necessary to take the following steps: (1) put the novels into a
specific historical and spatial context; (2) record the characters’ (and indirectly authors’) attitude to
the regimes; (3) examine the characters’ ability to adapt to new political circumstances and their
internal motivation; (4) synthesise the influence of regimes on the characters’ social status.
When analysing the novels, we simultaneously observed which forms of humour were used.
Since there are no works which precisely list all types of humour, we found helpful Milivoj Solar’s
The Theory of Literature and The Dictionary of Foreign Terms. In the chapter on types of literary
drama types, Solar (1981) lists the terms humour, satire and grotesque, but he emphasises that they
do not refer to drama only. They are general aesthetic terms that can be used in any art form as well
as in literature. The Dictionary of Foreign Terms (Anić, Goldstein, 2004) offers explanations for all
three abovementioned terms and also for irony and sarcasm.
In order to analyse and complement cognitions by providing explanations from literature,
this paper lists a few types of humour (even though there must be more – authors’ remark). Humour
is “the ability to notice the funny side of an event or a situation” (Anić, Goldstein, 2004: 572), i.e.
the most common laugh. The next level would be irony which is similar to mockery (Anić,
Goldstein, 2004) since one means the opposite of what is being said (Solar, 1981). Sarcasm is a
type of irony, but it is poignant and a bit cruel (Anić, Goldstein, 2004), and grotesque functions
between bitterly serious and funny since it attempts to depict the distorted, unnatural, monstrous and
caricatured (Solar, 1981).
The first task was to put the narrative world of the novels into historical and spatial context.
The novels were not interpreted with regard to the year of publication, but with regard to the
chronological appearance of a certain regime in the novel, even though the regimes are not strictly
89
F. Hameršak wrote the paper From a novel to a performance – the contribution to studying Švejk’s theatrical
anabasis (2008) and J. Poljak Rehlicki and T. Varga Oswald co-authored The relationship of literature and myth in
Hašek’s The Good Soldier Švejk (2013)
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defined by years. It is important to emphasise that The Good Soldier Švejk consists of four
incomplete volumes which depict the period from June 28, 1914, when the assassination of
Archduke Franz Ferdinand occurred. Since the author of Švejk died in 1923 he did not manage to
finish the fourth volume90 so it is difficult to speculate when the narrative would finish. The plot
revolves around preparations and battles during World War I91 therefore the setting is not
rectilinearly limited, but it adapts to historical battlefields. At that time the Czech people were part
of Austro-Hungarian Monarchy92 therefore Švejk is a contemporary of Austrian imperialism. On
the contrary, in Hrabal’s novel the protagonist Jan Dítě’s point of view is formed shortly before93,
during94 and after Nazism and in socialism95. The narrative is set in Czech region. Kundera’s
protagonist Ludvík experiences the last regime and the time after the decline of socialism, also
within borders of Czech regions.
It is evident that these regimes and the protagonists could not coexist without establishing
some kind of relation. The question is what that relation was like and whether one can indirectly
interpret it from Hašek’s, Hrabal’s and Kundera’s narratives? In order to answer this question we
have to consider protagonists’ characterization since the events in the novels are not only influenced
by political factors that the protagonists could not control, but also by the ways in which some
people can(not) adapt to their times. This means that when attempting to describe the relations
between the characters and regime, at the same time the question will be answered whether the
characters succeeded in adapting to the situation and its effects.
Comparing Švejk, Dítě and Ludvík, we can conclude that Švejk definitely is the most
cunning of them all regardless of the fact that in his surroundings he is deemed to be a person with a
lower IQ. Hašek’s characterization of his protagonist’s appearance results in good-natured humour
and readers’ sympathy. A seemingly clumsy and dim-witted man got a recognisable facial
expression in the illustrated as well as in the movie interpretation. This naïve, good-natured dog
trader selling allegedly purebred dogs finds himself in the maelstrom of World War I. His
90
Since the 4th volume was not finished, the translator of this edition from 1996 noted that the novel was completed by
journalist Karel Vaněk, but more recent Czech critical editions were mainly published without that part (Hašek, 1996)
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The Great War questioned spiritual and cultural values of all nations. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the
world functioned on the basis of Newton’s cognitions, but Einstein’s theory of relativity undermined stability and
unjustly cast doubt on all human values and absolute terms: good and evil and similar (Johnson, 2007)
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Despite the fact that the Czechs had been only one part of Austro-Hungarian Monarchy since late Middle Ages,
bibliography emphasises that the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I was the golden age for the Czechs. The foundations
for technology and economic growth were laid, and previously flourishing culture got added value. Even though the
Czechs did not have their own state, their rights were protected to a certain extent due to Austro-Hungarian
Compromise. Still, problems arose since the Czechs lived with other nations that believed their rights were affected by
the Czechs. Those were primarily the Germans who had lived in Czech regions for years, but Hungarians as well who
believed they should enjoy more rights than the Czechs. It is clear that the ruler’s wish to indulge people and grant
rights to subordinate nations and to protect Austrian interests at the same time inevitably brought about tense
relationships. Their relations were even more strained shortly before World War I. (The History of the Czech Republic,
2014)
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A great threat was Germany that was rapidly recovering after the loss in the Great War and this was especially
apparent during Adolf Hitler’s reign and the period of more aggressive German politics. After a number of actions
undertaken against other European countries, Hitler turned against the Czechoslovakia since it presented an obstacle to
his secret wishes to conquer regions in the east. In 1938 he publically stated that the issue of 10 million Sudeten
Germans, permanently living in Czechoslovak region, could only be settled if this part was united with his Reich.
Czechoslovak defence forces were becoming weaker which was also influenced by other countries’ attitudes that were
giving in to Germany’s increasing demands. Finally, Czechoslovakia was forced to give up its border regions. (The
History of the Czech Republic, 2014)
94
The period from 1939-1945 marked some of the most dramatic times in recent history of the world. “The world is
affected by a war hurricane of so far unseen proportions and in a short period of time a political map and the relations
between superpowers were changed a few times”. (The History of the Czech Republic, 2014)
95
In post-war period the extreme left-wing party ruled the country so it was forbidden to establish any kind of right-
wing parties. The aim of the newly formed political regime was to unite the nation and improve personal relationships,
but during their government people again experienced what it meant to be politically unfit and persecuted.
Consequently, the Germans were the ones who suffered most and had to bear the blame for their defeated countrymen
in World War II. (The History of the Czech Republic, 2014)
75
optimism, loyalty and desire to die for the Emperor and his homeland are completely opposite to the
cold bureaucracy of the Monarchy which was long ago deprived of any humanity. It is exactly this
contrast that becomes the leitmotif of this parody of the raging war. For example, after being
summoned to medical examination for the draft, Švejk, despite his rheumatism, forbids Mrs. Müller
to call the doctor: You’ll not run anywhere, Mrs Müller. Except for my legs I’m completely sound
cannon-fodder, and at a time when things are going badly for Austria every cripple must be at his
post. (Hašek, 1996: 78)
This novel shows Hašek as a master of grotesque. One of the most striking examples is
when Švejk asks Mrs. Müller to borrow a wheelchair from an acquaintance and get him an army
cap and to personally take him to medical examination. His innocent face wins him sympathy of
crowds and he becomes a sensation in the article in Prague Official News with the headline: A
CRIPPLE’S PATRIOTISM (1) (translated by C. Parrot).
(1)
Yesterday afternoon the passers-by in the main streets of Prague were witnesses of a scene which
was an eloquent testimony to the fact that in these great and solemn hours the sons of our nation
can furnish the finest examples of loyalty and devotion to the throne of the aged monarch. We might
well have been back in the times of the ancient Greeks and Romans, when Mucius Scaevola had
himself led off to the battle, regardless of his burnt arm. The most sacred feelings and sympathies
were nobly demonstrated yesterday by a cripple on crutches who was pushed in an invalid chair by
his aged mother. This son of the Czech people, spontaneously and regardless of his infirmity, had
himself driven off to war to sacrifice his life and possessions for his emperor. And if his call: ‘To
Belgrade!’ found such a lively echo on the streets of Prague, it only goes to prove what model
examples of love for the fatherland and the Imperial House are proffered by the people of Prague.
(Hašek, 1996: 81-82)
In order to better understand the contrast between Švejk’s good nature and maliciousness of
Austrian bureaucracy, it is essential to record phrases which Hašek used to illustrate the Austrian
empire: police state where trust does not exist so spies follow people (2); cold bureaucracy whose
aim is to meet the requirements without critically questioning causes and consequences (3); military
discipline that attempts to turn common subordinates into mighty killing machines (4); exaggerated
war propaganda that, among other things, lures people into war by offering candies (5);
unconditional loyalty to the state regardless of the imposed obligation to fight for other people’s
country 6).
(2)
In every military unit Austria had her snoopers who spied on their comrades, sleeping on
the same bunks with them and sharing their bread on the march. (Hašek, 1996: 106)
(3)
Here all logic mostly disappeared and the legal codes triumphed. The legal code strangled,
went mad, fumed, laughed, threatened, murdered and gave no quarter. The magistrates were
jugglers with the law, high priests of its letter, devourers of the accused, tigers of the
Austrian jungle, who measured their spring on the accused by the number of clauses.
(Hašek, 1996: 42)
(4)
Our Lieutenant Makovec always used to say: “There’s got to be discipline, you bloody fools,
otherwise you’d be climbing about on the trees like monkeys, but the army’s going to make
human beings of you, you god-forsaken idiots.” (Hašek, 1996: 25)
(5)
Baroness von Botzenheim visited Švejk in military hospital in garrison prison in order to
give him a treat for his loyalty to the monarchy. A dozen roast chickens wrapped up in pink
silk paper and tied with a yellow and black96 silk ribbon, two bottles of a war liqueur with
the label: ‘Gott strafe England’ (God punish England). On the back of the label was a
96
“Emperor garrisons and king troops and a yellow flag with a black eagle in Czech rural parts, Galicia, Hungary and
Croatia were a dramatic sign of emperor’s presence even to the most indifferent nations.” (Johnston, 1993)
76
picture of Franz Joseph and Wilhelm clasping hands as though they were going to play the
nursery game: ‘Bunny sat alone in his hole. Poor little bunny, what’s wrong with you that
you can’t hop!’ Then she took out of the hamper three bottles of wine for the convalescent
and two boxes of cigarettes. She set out everything elegantly on the empty bed next to
Švejk’s, where she also put a beautifully bound book, “Stories from the Life of our
Monarch”, which had been written by the present meritorious chief editor of our official
“Czechoslovak Republic” who doted on old Franz. Packets of chocolate with the same
inscription, ‘Gott strafe England’, and again with pictures of Austrian and German
emperors, found their way to the bed. On the chocolate they were no longer clasping hands;
each was acting on his own and turning his back to the other, there was a beautiful
toothbrush with two rows of bristles and the inscription “Viribus unitis” (Joint forces), so
that anyone who cleaned his teeth should remember Austria. An elegant and extremely
useful little gift for the front and the trenches was a manicure set. On the case was a picture
showing shrapnel bursting and a man in a steel helmet rushing forward with fixed bayonet,
and underneath it was written: Für Gott, Kaiser und Vaterland (For God, Emperor and
homeland). (Hašek, 1996: 96 – 97)
(6)
Švejk remembers Doctor Joseph Vojna’s heroism and loyalty. That one was in
Galicia with the 7th garrison of Polish hunters, and when they reached for bayonets, he got
a bullet in his head and while they were carrying him to the Dressing station he yelled at the
ones carrying him that he wouldn’t let them treat him for such a trifle. And immediately he
wanted to go to the battle with a new troop, but a grenade cut off his ankle. Again they
wanted to take him away, but he limped to the battle with a cane and used the cane to fend
off enemies, but then another grenade came and cut off his arm. He put the cane in the other
hand and yelled that he wouldn’t forgive them this and God knows what would be of him if a
shrapnel didn’t finally kill him. If they hadn’t beaten the life out of him, maybe he would be
decorated with a silver medal for bravery. And when a grenade cut off his head, and when
the head was still rolling on the ground, it was still yelling: “Let the duty to the homeland be
unsurpassed even if you die a terrible death.” (Hašek, 1996: 25 – 26)
Despite clearly described cruelty and ruthlessness of Austrian imperialism, from the
beginning to the end of the novel Švejk emphasises his loyalty to the Monarchy in a humorous,
sarcastic and grotesque way. Clerks in state institutions (courtrooms, prisons, military garrisons,
asylum, etc.) present him with a number of challenges to question his national enthusiasm and
childish happiness because he can die for the emperor. One of the examples is the absurd situation
when a board of medical experts had already decided that he was insane, but they still ask him pro
forma questions:
(7)
The absurd questions are: Is radium heavier than lead? Do you believe in the end of the
world? Would you know how to calculate the diameter of the globe? His answer to the last
one is also a question. No, I’m afraid I wouldn’t,’ answered Švejk, ‘but I’d like to ask you a
riddle myself, gentlemen. Take a three-storied house, with eight windows on each floor. On
the roof there are two dormer windows and two chimneys. On every floor there are two
tenants. And now, tell me, gentlemen, in which year the house-porter’s grandmother died?
(…) After Švejk had left, the doctors agreed that Švejk was a patent imbecile and idiot
according to all the natural laws invented by luminaries of psychiatry. (Hašek, 1996: 48)
This quote is a clear proof of Švejk’s ingenuity and triumph over the absurdity of the system
in which he lives. We may say that parts of Hašek’s novel irresistibly remind us of the absurdity of
Kafka’s Process, but unlike Josef K. who did not manage to fight the trap in which he finds himself,
Švejk uses humour to break the absurd by adapting to it and feigning loyalty, warmth and belief in
77
people who were made into numbers by the system and became cannon-fodder in the battle for
other people’s ideals. Besides, Švejk manages to protect his interests in all situations.
Hrabal is perhaps most detailed when characterising his protagonist’s physical appearance
since his humour is primarily based on the main character’s looks. Jan Dítě is unhappy because he
is short, pale and emaciated and his life is dominated by his inferiority complex. He is introduced at
the beginning of the novel as an unpromising waiter who, by having inner monologues (which the
whole novel is based on), shows signs of intellectual disability97. Still, already in the first chapter
one can conclude that this apprentice waiter, like Švejk, is very resourceful in all situations. He
proves this when he sells hot dogs to passengers in the railway station (8) (translated by P. Wilson):
(8)
And soon it was all I wanted to do too, walk up and down the platform several times a day
selling hot frankfurters for one crown eighty a piece. Sometimes the passenger would only
have a twenty-crown note, sometimes a fifty, and I'd never have the change, so I'd pocket his
note and go on selling until finally the customer got on the train, worked his way to a
window, and reached out his hand. Then I'd put down the caddy of hot frankfurters and
fumble about in my pocket for the change, and the fellow would yell at me to forget the coins
and just give him the notes. Very slowly I'd start patting my pockets, and the dispatcher
would blow his whistle, and very slowly I'd ease the notes out of my pocket, and the train
would start moving, and I'd trot alongside it, and when the train had picked up speed I'd
reach out so that the notes would just barely brush the tips of the fellow's fingers, and
sometimes he'd be leaning out so far that someone inside would have to hang on to his legs,
and one of my customers even beaned himself on a signal post. But then the fingers would be
out of reach and I'd stand there panting, the money still in my outstretched hand, and it was
all mine. They almost never came back for their change, and that's how I started having
money of my own, a couple of hundred a month, and once I even got handed a thousand-
crown note. (Hrabal, 2002: 5 – 6)
He cures his inferiority complex by cunningly saving money since his priority is to become a
millionaire and buy a hotel, and in this way earn the respect of others who find him invisible. Since
everything in his life allegedly happened by accident, he also faces Nazism in the same way. He
starts learning German by chance and going to movies to watch German films shortly before the
beginning of World War II and when he saves a German teacher he becomes one of them for a short
time. He creates his identity by comparing himself to blond haired Aryans and German state official
since this is the first time when he thinks that people respect him.
(9)
It felt wonderful to be a part of this occasion, to be among captains and colonels and young
people with eyes as blue and hair as blond as mine, and though my German wasn't up to
much, I felt German… (Hrabal, 2002: 97)
Even though he apparently feels good among Nazis, wondering why his Czech countrymen
avoid him, Hrabal’s irony towards totalitarian regime is noticeable in a grotesque scene when
doctors check whether Jan’s sperm is Aryan enough so that he can “fertilise” his wife and conceive
“a new man”. Hrabal’s caricature is also apparent in the measures undertaken by Líse so that their
child would have Aryan mentality from birth (10).
(10)
When we came back from our honeymoon to that small town above Dëcîn where I was a
waiter, Lise wanted us to have children. But like any true Slav, I was a creature of moods. I
could do anything in the emotion of the moment, but when Lise told me to get ready because
that night she was set to conceive the New Man, the founder of the New Europe, I felt
97
In this way one can get insight into the mental state of the character and directly experience what the character really
thinks, regardless of the chaotic way in which this is realised. (Peleš, 1999)
78
exactly the way I had when the Reichsdoktor, acting on the Nuremberg Laws, asked me to
bring him a bit of my sperm on a piece of white paper. For a week she'd been playing
Wagner on the record player, Lohengrin and Siegfried, and she'd already decided that if it
was a boy she'd call it Siegfried Ditie, and all week long she'd walked around gazing at
those scenes in relief along the covered walkways and colonnades. She would stand there in
the late afternoons with German kings and emperors and Teutonic heroes and demigods
rising against the blue sky… (Hrabal, 2002: 111 – 112)
As the narrative progresses, we follow waiter’s inner development. His alleged carefree
spirit falters under the influence of warfare, but his craving for money is still present. He uses
bloody money that belonged to Jewish people to finally build an exotic hotel, which arouses envy in
all other hotel owners. When he realises that he can no longer benefit from Nazis, he distances
himself from them and attempts to become close with communists who rule the country. Yet, in the
process of nationalisations he loses his property worth millions. In the moments when he lost
everything and when he feeds pigeons, he experiences catharsis (11).
(11)
I was a god of life. And I looked back on my life and saw myself now, surrounded by these
divine messengers, these pigeons, as though I were a saint, and meanwhile I could hear the
laughter and the shouts and snide remarks of the millionaires, and suddenly the message of
the pigeons hit me, and the unbelievable came true again, because even if I'd had ten million
crowns and three hotels it wouldn't have mattered, no, this kissing of tiny beaks was sent by
heaven itself, just as I'd seen on the altar panels and the stations of the cross that we walked
past to get to our cells. And even though I had seen nothing and heard nothing, wanting to
be what I had never been able to be, a millionaire, despite my two million, I became a
millionaire, a multimillionaire, only now, when I saw for the first time that these pigeons
were my friends, that they were the parable of a mission I had yet to accomplish, and that
what was happening to me now was what happened to Saul when he fell off his horse and
God appeared to him… (Hrabal, 2002: 149)
This is also a biographical element because Hrabal liked pigeons and some speculate that he
died when he fell through the window while feeding pigeons.
While these two novels are characterised by humour, irony, sarcasm and grotesque in
creating characters, their relationships and points of view, Kundera’s novel is realized on the basis
of black humour and the protagonist’s innocent joke. At the beginning, we are introduced to
Ludvík, a promising student and a young Party member respected in his community. In order to
make his friend laugh, a girl he knows from college, he writes a joke about optimism on a postcard:
Optimism is the opium of the people! A healthy atmosphere stinks of stupidity! Long live Trotsky!
(Kundera, 2000: 41)
Yet, unlike jokes in the first two novels this one results in more serious consequences. The author’s
style also reveals his attitude to socialist regime (12) (translated by M. H. Heim).
(12)
I had all kinds of answers ready for the commissions that called me in and asked me what
had made me become a Communist, but what had attracted me to the movement more than
anything, dazzled me, you might say, was the feeling (real or apparent) of standing near the
“wheel of history”. (…) The elation we experienced is commonly known as the intoxication
of power, but (taking a more benevolent stance) I would suggest something milder: we let
history bewitch us; we were drunk with the thought of jumping on its back and feeling it
beneath us, and if, more often than not, the result was an ugly lust for power, still (given that
all human affairs are ambiguous) an idealistic illusion remained (especially, perhaps, in us,
the young), the illusion that we were the ones to inaugurate the era in which man (all men)
79
would no longer stand “outside” history, no longer cringe “under its heel”, but direct and
create it. (Kundera, 2000: 87)
Since the novel is set in post-war period when they tried to create a positive attitude and
widespread enthusiasm for Stalin’s regime, Ludvík was denounced as a traitor of the Party, expelled
from college and drafted to work brigades to work in mines. Resentful because of such reactions of
his former best friends, he turns to his inner monotony, hatred and craves revenge that later on
determines all his actions. His friend Kostka also notices that (13).
(13)
They expelled you from the Party, from the university, put you in among the politicals for
your military service, then kept you down in the mines for another two or three years. And
you? You gnashed your teeth in resentment, convinced of the great injustice done to you.
That sense of injustice still determines every step you take. (…) A man devoted to his faith is
humble and must humbly bear the most unjust of punishments. The humiliated shall be
raised up. The repentant shall be purified. They who are wronged are thereby given the
chance to test their fidelity. If the only reason you turned bitter towards your fellow men was
that they placed too great a burden on your shoulders, then your faith was weak and you
failed the test. (Kundera, 2002: 285)
Even after a few years when he manages to graduate and find a job, Ludvík still wants to
revenge and punish Zemánek because he finds him responsible for all the troubles he went through.
In order to hurt him, he has intercourse with his wife, but then he finds out that they are about to get
divorced. The most absurd part of his revenge is noticeable at the end when he meets Zemánek after
all these years. Once a zealous communist, Zemánek has abandoned his youth beliefs and adapted
to a post-modern society by showing us that every time requires a different approach. In this tragic
and grotesque way, Ludvík realises the futility of hatred and revenge that marked his life and turned
it into the funniest joke.
These quotes are just a part of an extensive corpus that could be used to illustrate the level of
forms of humour in works of Czech novelists. They are also great indicators of presence of all types
of humour (even black humour) that writers use to fight different ideologies, which supports the
affirmative hypothesis. The next part contains the discussion on the observations recorded during
the analysis of all three novels.
Discussion
The introductory part of the paper states that Czech novels have rarely been the subject of
research in Croatian scientific bibliography and that they were only partially mentioned in three
doctoral theses as well as in few papers. Since these novels have not been mentioned in the context
of humour as a means of fighting against ideologies, this is the first paper that analyses them in this
way using interdisciplinary approach.
The proposed hypothesis has been confirmed by a number of representative quotes which
indicate the presence of humour, irony, sarcasm and grotesque making fun of the absurdities of war.
When creating the characters, all three authors chose common, average and imperfect people since
this is how readers can identify with their destinies more easily. It is a fact that the authors actually
talk about political regimes, personally and indirectly through their characters. No matter whether
they talk about Austrian imperialism, Nazism or socialism, a man is only a number in the war,
someone who can easily be exchanged and someone who is not regarded as an individual, but part
of the mass. Censorship is one of the ways to control the masses therefore it is not unusual that the
novels were published some time later. Still, they discuss issues of their times.
Even though a person is shown as a mere puppet in a political morass, ironically the novels
prove that there are always the ones who will manage to satisfy their needs, even in such
circumstances (Švejk and Jan to a certain extent). On the other hand, there are individuals whose
80
remaining life will be filled with bitterness and hatred because of a simple joke (Ludvík). All three
novels are a cry of ordinary people, not only the characters, but the authors’ protest against
ideologies as well. A recognised and powerful anti-ideological message is only a small contribution
to research on rebellion of ordinary people against (post)war situations and it can inspire future
research.
Conclusion
World wars are permanently engraved in the collective consciousness of people as a

traumatic experience. In order to face the chains of history, and their present as well, three Czech
writers (Hašek, Hrabal and Kundera) wrote novels in which they use humour to fight against
ideologies.
Whether using simple or black humour, irony, sarcasm or grotesque, their marginalised
(anti)heroes prove that all ideologies are the same regardless of the fundamental convictions.
Although Švejk shows inventiveness and ingenuity in inhumane war conditions by skilfully
avoiding dangerous situations, imperialism proved to be insensitive to an ordinary man unless he
was one of them. Jan Dítě is probably called Dítě on purpose (Czech for a child) because he
childishly and naively goes through the horrors of war. The same as Švejk, with his grotesque
actions, he successfully avoids the tragic destiny of the majority of his countrymen. However,
Kundera’s Ludvík suffers consequences of his joke that later on consumes him with hatred.
When comparing these three characters, it can be noticed that Švejk and Jan Dítě were not
ideologically characterised like Ludvík. Maybe it was this dissociation that helped them in their
effective resistance and adaptation to situations that were disastrous for others. But Ludvík believed
in the regime on whose foundations he had been brought up and which ostracised him later only
because of an innocent joke. Unlike the first two novels in which the characters approach life
ironically, in the last novel life treats Ludvík ironically. Kundera laughs at the absurd of being part
of ideology that rejects and punishes its people because of a trifle.
These works with their powerful anti-ideological message and humour are equally relevant
even after (more than) a half of century and the distance from bloody totalitarian times provides
them with a more impartial presentation of futility of suffering.
References
Hašek, J. (1996): Doživljaji dobrog vojnika Švejka za svjetskog rata (I, II, III, IV), Konzor, Zagreb
Hrabal, B. (2002): Dvorio sam engleskoga kralja, Hena com, Zagreb
Kundera, M. (2000): Šala, Meandar, Zagreb
Anić, V. – Goldstein, I. (2004): Rječnik stranih riječi, Novi liber, Zagreb
Johnson, P. (2007): Moderna vremena, Golden marketing – Tehnička knjiga, Zagreb
Johnston, W. (1993): Austrijski duh, Globus, Zagreb
Peleš, G. (1999): Tumačenje romana, ArTresor, Zagreb
Group of authors (2014): Povijest Češke: od seobe Slavena do suvremenog doba, Sandorf, Zagreb
Solar, M. (1981): Teorija književnosti, Školska knjiga, Zagreb
Sažetak
ČEŠKI HUMOR KAO ANTIIDEOLOŠKA PROPAGANDA ZA VRIJEME I NAKON

SVJETSKIH RATOVA
Valentina Majdenić, Faculty of Education, Osijek
Andrea Vučetić, School of Economics, Požega
81
Svjetski su ratovi ostavili neizbrisiv trag ne samo za svog trajanja nego i kasnije. Jedan je od čeških
načina prilagodbe čestim smjenama političkih režima upravo humor u književnosti. U središtu su
ovog rada tri romana, proizašla iz pera poznatih čeških prozaika: Doživljaji dobrog vojnika Švejka
u svjetskom ratu Jaroslava Hašeka, Dvorio sam engleskoga kralja Bohumila Hrabala i Šala Milana
Kundere. Koristeći humor kao dominantan književni diskurs, pisci formiraju lik marginaliziranih
(anti)junaka koji, usprkos egzistenciji u različitim povijesnim vremenima, slično razmišljaju.
Nijansiranim će postupcima ironije, sarkazma i groteske razoružati rat i okove (poslije)ratnih
ideologija – carskog militarizma, (neo)nacizma i socijalističke utopije, svodeći ih pod apsurd. Cilj je
rada prepoznati sličnosti i razlike glavnih junaka, s obzirom na način suprotstavljanja odreñenoj
ideologiji.
Ključne riječi: ideologija, humor, antijunak
82
Nikola Milivojević
Relations and connections among Central European people during the Great War depicted through the fates of
residents of a Bačka town
UDK 94(497)”1914/1918”
Preliminary communication

University of Novi Sad
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
RELATIONS AND CONNECTIONS AMONG CENTRAL EUROPEAN PEOPLE DURING

THE GREAT WAR DEPICTED THROUGH THE FATES OF RESIDENTS OF A BAČKA
TOWN
Abstract
The main focus of this paper are the fates of the residents of three Palanka municipalities (Old, New
and Bačka Palanka): Serbs, Germans, Hungarians, Jews and Slovaks, participants of the Great War
1914-1918. Relying on scarce sources and on the available literature, the author of this paper tries to
explore the correlations between citizens of Palanka, as well as their relations and connections with
other Central European people, before, during and after the Great War; observed through their
participation in the combined forces of Austro-Hungary and revolutionary movements from 1917 to
1919. The author also depicts the role of the citizens of Palanka in the shaping of the Central
European post war creations of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians and the First
Czechoslovak Republic, as Serbian volunteers, members of the Czechoslovak Legion and as
peoples’ representatives at the Great National Assembly of Serbs, Bunjevci and other Slavs in Novi
Sad on the 25th November 1918.
Keywords: The Great War, Bačka Palanka, Central European people
The territory of the town of Bačka Palanka, at the beginning of the 20th century spread
across Bács-Bodrog County (Bács-Bodrog vármegye) within the Hungarian part of Austro-
Hungarian Monarchy. Three sister municipalities: Stara (Old, Alt, Ó Palanka) Palanka, Nova (New,
Neu, Új Palanka) and Nemačka (German, Deutsch, Német, Palanka) were inhabited by different
Central European and Balkan people: Germans, Serbs, Hungarians, Slovaks, Jews, Roma, etc
(Јовин, 1988, 21.). A sudden socio-economic and cultural-political strengthening of Palanka
municipalities happened at the turn of the 19th and the 20th centuries. Many factories, schools,
religious, cultural and administrative institutions were built, and Palanka municipalities got
connected with the heartland of Austro-Hungary by rail and by the river Danube. The greatest share
of industrial plants, workshops and stores was owned by Germans, a smaller share by Hungarians
and Jews. Serbs were mainly agricultural population, while Slovaks engaged in small crafts, trade
and wage employment. As holders of Central European culture and as the majority population of
Palanka, Germans left the greatest impact on their neighbours. With their work they contributed to
the general socio-economic progress, and by opening first culture institutions they also contributed
to the culture elevation of Palanka municipalities (Pap, 1988, 17, 24, 27, Janjetović, 2009, 46, 53-
55, Мilutinović, 1962, 36-46, Аntolović, 2009,183-188.). Following them, Hungarians had great
influence attempting, as a leading people of the Hungarian part of the Monarchy, to maximally
emphasize the importance of their culture in relation to non-Hungarian people through
administration and schools (run exclusively in Hungarian language from the beginning of the 20th
century), as well as through the politics of assimilation (so called “Hungarisation”) during the
83
Nikola Milivojević
second half of the 19th and the first decades of the 20th century (Rokai P., Đere Z. , Pal T., Kasaš A.,
2002, 281-284, Мikavica, 2011, 201-203.). The consequences of the politics of assimilation in
Palanka municipalities could clearly be observed in the sudden increase of the number of
Hungarians from 583, according to the 1880 census to 1561 according to the 1910 census (Јovin,
1988, 21.). Insufficiently nationally aware German and Jewish population were more intensively
subject to assimilation than highly aware Serbian and Slovak population, and the transfer to
“Hungarians” was considered a great way to keep social position. Palanka Germans and Hungarians
possessed features of bourgeois class, while only some elements of bourgeois class appeared with
Serbs in this period and with a very small percentage of Slovaks and Jews (Šosberger, 1998, 29,
Janjetović, 2009, 58, Rokai P., Đere Z. , Pal T., Kasaš A., 2002, 281-284). Serbs became a relevant
factor of culture life in Palanka municipalities after the foundation of Serbian reading room in 1875
(Pap, 1988, 27, Коsovac, 1910, 435/36.). On the other hand, a great importance was given to
Palanka Slovaks and Jews in the pre-war period by religious services, bringing people with
extraordinary education and reputation to their religious institutions – Evangelical priest Igor
Štefánik and rabbi Benjamin Fischer (Beniamin Fischer) (Pap, 1989,34, Šosberger, 1998,
44,59,199.).
In the years before the outbreak of World War I the tensions in domestic politics of Austro-
Hungarian Monarchy grew. The atmosphere towards its Slovenian subjects got fairly negative,
while the straining of foreign policy relations with the neighbouring Kingdom of Serbia led to the
deterioration of relations between Austro-Hungarian authorities and Serbian people within its
borders (Rokai P., Đere Z. , Pal T., Kasaš A., 2002, 283.). With the approaching war, national
awareness of Palanka Slovaks and Germans strengthened as well (Janjetović, 2009,
78/79, Sirácky, 1996, 10.). The visit of priest Igor Štefánik’s brother, Milan Štefánik, one of the
major patrons of the cooperation between Czechs and Slovaks with the aim of realization of
independence from Austro-Hungary, to Stara Palanka and the neighbouring village Pivnice in 1912
had a great influence on Slovaks (Kuzmanović, 2010, 40.).
The murder of Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on 26th June 1914 threw Europe and the rest of
the world into the arms of a new war of up to then unheard-of scales and consequences. The winds
of war, as well as its initial euphoria, did not affect people of Palanka, whose fates turned into a
component of the huge puzzle of war events. Palanka men fit for military service found at home,
were firstly mobilized in the summer of 1914 (Đurišić M. Dr Ratković, B. Dr Skoko S. Dr
Živojinović D., Dr Vojvodić M., 1976, 15-20, 30.). By joining Austro-Hungarian Imperial Royal
Army, they served in the same units as many other Central European people. They met some of
them for the first time, particularly those who lived in other parts of the Monarchy (Slovenes,
Romanians, Czechs, Subcarpathian Rusyns, Ukrainians, Italians, Poles, etc.). All the above
mentioned was best observed in the war diary by Borislav Uvalić. Describing the structure of the
unit he joined and the people he contacted with, he listed: Hungarians, Germans, Croats, Serbs,
Slovaks, etc. (The diary of Borislav Uvalić).
In the two-year long research 556 names and almost as many war biographies by Palanka
participants in World War I were collected. Out of the total number of the collected names, 377 are
German, 128 Serbian, 32 Hungarian, 8 Jewish, 5 Slovak, 5 Croatian and 1 Rusyns. As for military
corps, the greatest percentage involved infantry: 253, then follow cavalry 6, navy 2, aviation 3,
artillery 3, ambulance 2, and due to the lack of documentation it is not possible to determine which
corps the rest of the listed soldiers belonged to. Based on war biographies we conclude that
Germans and Hungarians in most cases joined the war as under-age volunteers or after military
training, and Slovaks, Serbs and Jews less. Families Stein, Reszely, Horváth, Cserveny, Beinstingel
etc. give interesting examples. All men fit for military service volunteered for military service
during the war. Family Stein gave 6, and family Reszely 3 soldiers, Horváth 3, Cserveny 2,
Beinstingel 3 soldiers, and some of them acquired higher officer military ranks at the end of the
war. The biggest number of register officers (32) and non-commissioned officers (12) were
Germans and Hungarians. Only two Serbian officers and one non-commissioned officer are known,
also one officer of Ruthenian origin, three Jewish officers and one non-commissioned officer of
Slovak origins (David, Koscy, Lendavy, 1942, 11-15,33 /34, 56, 58, 64, 80, 84, 86, 147, 173).
84
Nikola Milivojević
The schedule at the battlefield for Palanka people during World War I depended on the
general need for personnel, as well as on the opening of new battlefields in Austro-Hungary vis-à-
vis their enemy. During the first year of war the greatest number of Palanka people was staggered
on the Eastern Front, and less on Balkan (Serbian) Front. By opening battlefields with the Kingdom
of Italy in 1915 and the Kingdom of Romania, Palanka people could be found in military corps at
Italian and Romanian fronts, and from 1917 in artillery units at the Western Front (Đurišić M. Dr
Ratković, B. Dr Skoko S. Dr Živojinović D., Dr Vojvodić M., 1976, 49, 63, 94-103, 123, 136, 170,
175, 191, 194, 203, 255, 266, 318, 336, 349.). Even though three neighbouring municipalities
belonged to the IV Army corps headquartered in Budapest, it frequently happened that its
inhabitants served in the units of the neighbouring Army corps headquartered in: Zagreb (XIII),
Timisoara (VII) and Graz (VII) and Sarajevo (XV), such as, for example 16th Bjelovar infantry
regiment, 6th National-ustasha home-guard artillery regiment in Zagreb, 7th Imperial-Royal field-
artillery regiment in Osijek, 27th Honved infantry regiment in Sisak, 27th Imperial-Royal infantry
regiment in Graz, 7th Honved infantry regiment in Vršac, on the ship S.M.S. Szent István, etc.
(David, Koscy, Lendavy, 1942, 11-15, 33/34, 56, 58, 64, 80, 84, 86, 147, 173.). More than 50% of
the listed soldiers spent the better part of their service at the Eastern front. The biggest number of
fallen and wounded soldiers, as well as prisoners of war, was also registered at this battlefield. The
next front when it comes to the numbers of the imprisoned and killed was the Balkan front (Der
toten und lebender Kriger von Bač-Palanka, David, Koscy, Lendavy, 1942, 11-15, 33/34, 56, 58,
64, 80, 84, 86, 147, 173).
Based on soldiers’ biographies and available archival records it cannot be claimed that the
war divided the population of Palanka municipalities into “Germans and Hungarians on the one and
Serbs and Slovaks on the other side”. Three Palanka municipalities and their population continued
with normal functioning during the war, each of the municipalities as a whole, and the contacts
among their inhabitants were on everyday basis and as close as before the Great War. There is no
data on any incidents and violence of a part of Palanka population, for instance, German and
Hungarian over Slovak, Jewish, Roma or Serbian population in this period. Also, so far, there have
not been found any documents on repression against the families of war deserters, nor on the
crossing of the Danube by Palanka people to the neighbouring Srem, the then stronghold of Austro-
Hungarian deserters, the so called “green personnel” or “logoši” (Petranović, 1980, 22.). The
degradation of general inner circumstances caused by heavy war losses, growing inflation and the
corruption of bureaucracy in the Monarchy (Rokai P., Đere Z. , Pal T., Kasaš A., 2002, 525.),
affected all the people of Palankas in the same way. So, for example, Austro-Hungarian authorities
took down church bells from all Christian religious institutions, because of the lack of metal and
other raw materials to lead the war, and sent them to processing during 1916 (Bizotssági velvétetett
a cs. És kir. Hadűgyminiszterium 1916. évi aprillis 15-én, Abt. 8.HB, Nr. 3380. számurendelete
alapiján, Ópalanka 17 October 1916, Pap, 1989, 42.).
As for Serbian inhabitants of Palanka, it cannot be claimed that they behaved less loyally
than their German, Hungarian, Jewish or Slovak neighbours. Austro-Hungary, where they and their
ancestors were born, where they were growing up and starting their families, was seen as their
country, and serving the homeland during the Great War was considered to be honourable. There
are well-known examples of great heroism of Palanka Serbs during the war, as for example, heroic
behaviour of DrMilorad Zavišić during the battles around Obrenovac and Belgrade in 1914 (David,
Koscy, Lendavy, 1942,15.) or, for instance, soldier Panta Vlakov, who died after successfully
completed sabotage operation at the Eastern front. The number of Serbs killed in Austro-Hungarian
uniform, particularly during 1914 and 1915 was significant (Регистар протокола умрлих, 1850-
1930). The reprisals during World War I were felt only by the family of Igor Štefanik. Due to
“Slovakness” and their relations with the representatives of Czechoslovakian national movement
Štefanik was first sentenced to house arrest, and few months later he was exiled to Zric. Just after
his departure the treasury of Evangelic church was closed, and on the 2 July 1915 the church was
declared a mission. Igor returned to Palanka from exiles on 25th June 1916. Cultural and spiritual
life of Palanka Slovaks was revived with his return (Pap, 1989, 42/43, Kuzmanović, 2010, 40.). It is
interesting to mention that 1915 marked the beginning of the political engagement of Palanka
85
Nikola Milivojević
Slovaks in the political life of South-Hungarian Slovaks via journal Dolnozemský Slovák. During
the war the following authors published in the journal: Štefan Pribiš and Martin Čelnek, as well as
teachers Julijus Rudolf Cavar (Júlijus Rudolf Cavar) and Pavel Gallo (Kováč, 2013, 70, Ján
Sirácky, 1996, 10).
Palanka contributed to the victory of the Kingdom of Serbia in the Great War 1914-1918
and to the unification of all South Slavic people into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes by
volunteering in the Serbian Army and by sending their representatives to the Great Folk Assembly
of Serbs, Bunjevci and other Slavic People on 25th November 1918 in Novi Sad. The exact number
of volunteers from Palanka is not known due to the lack of sources. The names of 66 volunteers are
known. The biggest share of the listed on the Serbian side transferred during military operations to
the Eastern Front in the period from 1914 to 1917, and the smaller part did the same at the Balkans
front in 1914 or 1915. Out of the total of 66 volunteers the names of the four “American volunteers”
are known: Sava Milić, Stevan Janić, Joca Šijakov and Cvetka Miškova. The following text will
briefly look into the war fate of one of the 54 “European volunteers” – Sima Pešić.
When the war broke Sima Pešić was only 22 years old. He was mobilized right after the
outbreak of July Crisis, and at the beginning of the war his unit was sent to Srem, to the front line at
Sava by Šabac. Risking his life, as well as a safe return to his family after the war, Sima takes the
first chance to surrender to Serbian army. He joins Serbian volunteers only after a few months of
detailed checkout and waiting together with a group of Austro-Hungarian prisoners of war of South
Slavic origin at the turn of 1914 and 1915 in Niš. He crossed to Albania and at the end of 1915 and
the beginning of 1916 and again joined the first battle lines on Salonika front. After front
breakthrough he participated in operations for the liberation of Serbia and South Slavic region,
taking off his uniform finally at the end of 1918 (Arhiv Vojvodine, Fond 496).
Apart from volunteers, Palanka people contributed to the unification of Serbs, Croats and
Slovenes by sending their representatives to the Great Assembly of Serbs, Bunjevci and Other Slavs
in Banat, Baranya and Bačka held on 25th November 1918, just a day after the unification of Srem
with the Kingdom of Serbia and Montenegro. The number of participants at the Assembly was 757,
they were sent from 211 municipalities (Petranović, 1980, 23.). Palanka people sent five
representatives from Stara Palanka, who had high reputation among people and were highly
educated: teacher Jevrem Milošev, industrialist Ljubiša Marcikić, Stevan Vlajkov, Jaša Bozotski
and officer and physician Borislav Uvalić. After the adoption of the Resolution Banat, Bačka and
Baranya joined the Kingdom of Serbia. A few months later Igor Štefanik was elected the member of
the Temporary national branch of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, while Ljubiša
Marcikić was elected his deputy. Marcikić continues his political career after this by taking part in
the Great folk council.
The biography of one of the folk representatives from Stara Palanka, Borislav Uvalić,
deserves special attention. He was born on 26th October 1879 in Kula. He finished School of
Medicine in Innsbruck in 1904, and got his first physician position in Bačka Palanka in 1906.
During World War I he served in the 6th homeguard ustasha artillery regiment as a main medical
officer for 52 months at Balkans, Eastern and Italian fronts. He was chosen to be municipality
physician in Stara Palanka on 22nd January 1918, and he was awarded several decorations for his
war merits by Franz Joseph, with Order of the Red Cross and Officer order. The significant fact
about him was that he left an important historical source – war diary where he recorded his war path
from his mobilization on 25th August 1914 to the last resettlement to Bukovina on 28th September
1918 (Dnevnik Borislava Uvalića, Pap, 1988, 29, Немет, 2014, 62).
Palanka people, apart from Serbian volunteers, could also boast with a Czecho-Slovakian
legionary Jozef Bučka, a Slovak from the municipality of Bačka Palanka. During the first three
years of war, Bučko’s unit was stationed in the vicinity of Trent in South Tyrol. During a recounter
with Italian and allied corps, he got taken prisoner by Italians. In captivity he met Czechs and
Slovaks from the homeland, also Austro-Hungarian prisoners, through whom he was introduced to
their revolutionary ideas of the cooperation of the two peoples with the aim of creating the
independent Czechoslovak state (unpublished manuscript by Vladimír Kováč, grammar school
teacher from Bačka Palanka, the grandson of Jozef Bučko. The manuscript still does not have its
86
Nikola Milivojević
official name.) While being imprisoned, Czech and Slovak representatives struggled on diplomatic
fields to form independent Czecho-Slovakian units on Italian ground (Becherelli, 2014, 328-340).
Soon after the education of the first Czechoslovak units on the Italian ground, Jozef Bučko was
recruited by the unknown Czecho-Slovakian officer and joined Czecho-Slovakian legion. There is
insufficient information on his war activities. It is known that, after the Great War, Bučko continued
his war service in the newly formed Czecho-Slovakian army. He probably returned to Bačka
Palanka only at the end of 1919 or the beginning of 1920. He was ceremoniously handed a
revolutionary medal for his contribution to the creation of the independent Czecho-Slovakian state
in Prague on 29th January 1929 (Revoluční medali Jozefu Bučkovi, Čislo 00456.). Jozef Bučko
contributed to the unification of two Slavic peoples through his war activities, and thereby also
additionally strengthened the connections of Palanka Slovaks with the homeland (unpublished
manuscript by Vladimír Kováč).
At the end of the second decade of the 20th century, Palanka people, scattered over different
positions at the Eastern Front and along the background, on Hungarian territory, ended up in the
focus of civil wars and revolutions. Based on the available data, three participants in the
revolutionary events on the ground of Russian empire from 1917 to 1923 and Hungary in 1919 are
known: Ivan Plavšić, Jovan Jamušakov and Géza Abelsberg. Unlike war fates of other Palanka
people, participants in the Great War, the war fates of the two participants in the Russian Bolshevik
revolution, politically convenient for the authorities of socialist Yugoslavia, were preserved through
articles in the local Sunday paper of Bačka Palanka, published on the occasion of the 50th and 60th
anniversaries of October revolution in 1967 and 1977 (Šć., 1967, 1, Karanović, 1977, 6, David,
Koscy, Lendavy, 1942, 3.).
Jovan Jamušakov and Ivan Plavšić were born in Stara Palanka. After the outbreak of war and the
mobilization they were sent to military training. After the training they were sent to the Eastern
Front, where, during a close encounter with the opponent army, probably in 1915, they surrendered
to Russians and were imprisoned. It is known that Jamušakov was, via Serbian officers, transferred
to Odessa where he joined Serbian volunteer division, with which he, during 1916, left to
Dobrudža, and thereafter he returned to Russia, where he joined Bolsheviks in 1917, under the
command of general Vasilij Ivanovič Čapajev (Василий Иванович Чапаев). As a Bolshevik he
fought against counterrevolutionaries in the battles at Krakow, Kiev and at the river Don, being
promoted to a corporal. In the interview he gave to the journalist of the Sunday paper in 1967 he
affirmed that, on one occasion as a Red Army man, he was honoured to hear the speech of Vladimir
Ilič Lenin (Владимир Ильич Ульянов). Plavšić joined Bolsheviks during the autumn of 1917 and
participated in a few encounters with White Army Cossacks at the wide front from Saratov to Ural
(Шћ, 1967, 1.). Jamušakov and Plavšić returned to Palanka after the end of the war in 1918
(Karanović C. (1977): I danas pamtim Lenjinove reči, Nedeljne novine, br. 665/6, Bačka Palanka,
6, 1879-1969, 79.). During the revolution and Russian civil war they were awarded medals, and the
last medals were given to them at the 50th anniversary of October revolution in 1967 by Soviet
ambassador Ivan Benediktov (Иван Александрович Бенедиктов) in the Workers’ home „Svetozar
Marković“ in Novi Sad (Šć., 1967, 1.).
At the moment of the outbreak of the Rose Revolution in Hungary on 20th March 1919
(2002, 302/3.), Géza Abelsbergs return home was delayed due to the serious illness. After his
recovery, as an experienced war veteran – reserve lieutenant of the 20th Imperial Royal Artillery
regiment and the participant of battles at the Eastern, Romanian and Italian fronts (David, Koscy,
Lendavy,1942, 3.), like many other war veterans, he opted for one of Hungarian national fractions
lead by Gömbös Gyula. By voluntarily joining the Hungarian National Defence Association
(MOVE–Magyar orszagos vederő egylet) he became a passionate fighter for the preservation of the
heritage of thousand-year old Hungarian state from “socialist-Bolshevik danger” by Béla Kun
(Rokai P., Đere Z. , Pal T., Kasaš A., 2002, 301.). He probably returned to Palanka after the
suppression of revolution.
It can only be assumed how many more Palanka inhabitants participated in these events. At
the end of this chapter, it is important to mention that the outbreak of revolution in these two
countries influenced the return of many Palanka people who were Austro-Hungarian war prisoners
87
Nikola Milivojević
or regular soldiers. So, for example, there is the example of Lajos Reszely, imprisoned at Zborovan
in Galizia 1917, liberated in 1920 or István Horváth, who was imprisoned by Russians during the
withdrawal from Pšemisl in the direction of Lemberg 1915, and was released only in 1923. On the
other hand, there is the example of József Beinstingel and József Brenner, imprisoned after the fall
of Pšemisl 1915 and at Karpati 1914, who were freed from Russian imprisonment with the crash of
the front and the getaway from the camp, and they returned to their homes during the spring of 1918
(David, Koscy, Lendavy, 1942, 11, 73, 54, 24.).
Leaving gloomy days of the four-year long bloody war and revolutions behind them, after
returning to their homes, Palanka people got back to their normal lives. The coexistence of Central
European and Balkan peoples on the ground of Palanka municipalities during the interwar period
continued its former course. In this period socio-economic and cultural development of Palanka
municipalities continued as well. Economic connections with the interior of the country were
getting stronger, and the exchange with their old partners at the ground of the former Austro-
Hungary and German empire went on as well. A big part in the further shaping of Palanka
municipalities and in the establishing connections was played by war veterans of the Great war
(Pap, 1988, 29, Тоша Искруљев, 1937, 6, David, Koscy, Lendavy, 1942, 3.). The greatest part of
the industry was still in the hands of Danube Germans. The war left considerable consequences on
them. Fighting across huge vastness of Eastern Europe they stayed in or crossed many German
settlements realizing that German language was lingua franca of Eastern and Central Europe. This
influenced the final crystallizing of their national awareness, which led to the greater care of the
preservation of their national identity and culture during the interwar period and the organization of
Kulturbund (Janjetović, 2009, 82. ). On the other hand, there was also a considerable cultural
activity of Sokol society, in whose manifestations, apart from Serbs, also many Slovaks, Jews and
other peoples took part. The activities of Palanka Slovaks also did not lose strength, together with
their connections with the homeland, while Jews became equal with other peoples of the Kingdom
of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Šosberger, 1998, 25.). The memories of war events and the fallen
have been kept alive by each of the communities in their own way. Germans and Hungarians
remember them in memorial services and publishing tableaus with the names of war participants,
where they also listed some Slovaks, Šokci and Jews (Der toten und lebender Kriger von Bač-
Palanka), and Serbs remember them through the Association of war volunteers and by putting up
memorial board on the western wall of Serbian orthodox church in 1928 (Iskruljev, 1937, 6.)
Conclusion
Summarizing all of the above, based on fairly insufficient materials and literature related to
this narrow topic, we can conclude that, although in a fairly small area of three Palanka
municipalities there lived several different Central European and Balkans peoples, among whom,
before, during and after the Great war were good relations. Palanka municipalities and their
inhabitants were exposed to the same problems, their inhabitants served together under the same
Royal-Imperial army of Austro-Hungarian monarchy, and during the same period the strengthening
of relations with Central European and Balkans people with their homelands occurred. During the
war, some of them (Serbs and Slovaks) contributed to the creation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
and the first Czechoslovak Republic, as well as to the outcome of the revolutions at the Hungarian
and Russian grounds. In further work and research it will be attempted to add to our knowledge on
interrelations and connections of these people in the war period.
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Sažetak
ODNOSI I VEZE SREDNJOEUROPSKIH NARODA ZA VRIJEME VELIKOG RATA

PRIKAZANIH KROZ RATNE SUDBINE ŽITELJA JEDNE BAČKE VAROŠICE
Nikola Milivojević, Univerzitet u Novom Sadu, Filozofski fakultet
U centru interesa rada su ratne sudbine žitelja tri palanačke općine ( Stare, Nove i Bačke Palanke):
Srba, Nijemaca, Mañara, Židova i Slovaka, učesnika Velikog rata 1914-1918. godine. Oslanjajući
se na malobrojne sačuvane povijesne izvore i raspoloživu literaturu, autor u radu nastoji istražiti
meñusobne odnose Palančana, kao i njihove veze i odnose s drugim narodima Centralne Europe,
neposredno pred izbijanje, tokom i po okončanju Velikog rata; preko njihovog učešća u združenim
oružanim snagama Austro-Ugarske i revolucionarnim pokretima 1917-1919. godine. Autor takoñer
prikazuje ulogu Palančana u oblikovanju poslijeratnih srednjoeuropskih tvorevina Kraljevine SHS i
prve Čehoslovačke Republike, kao srpskih dobrovoljaca, učesnika Čehoslovačke Legije i narodnih
poslanika na Veliku narodnu skupštinu Srba, Bunjevaca i ostalih Slavena u Novom Sadu
25.11.1918. godine.
Ključne riječi: Veliki rat, Bačka Palanka, srednjoeuropski narodi
90
REVIEW ARTICLES
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Ana Tereza Barišić (Croatia)

Literary representation of the First World War in the context of bećarac
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91
Ana Tereza Barišić
UDK 398.8”1914/1919”
Review article

LITERARY REPRESENTATION OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR IN THE CONTEXT OF

BEĆARAC
Abstract
Bećarac is a sung record of a personal tragedy, or an authentic artefact of historical events at a

particular territory. Since many such verses have been written in Slavonia, the author has found it
important to analyse the discourse of war. The aim of this paper is to show, by using comparative
and interpretative methods of reading verses and historical facts, how local people apprehended war
events, which consequences it had on their lives and the way of thinking about the horrors of the
war, how this topic was present in the everyday coexistence of conflict and tolerance, and whether it
is possible to give a credible account of the first World War though these verses. Is it possible to
come to objective information based on these texts which were made out of pure subjectivity? The
corpus consists of the songs from the first half of the twentieth century.
Keywords: the first World War, bećarac, Slavonia
Introduction
Bećarac is a minimal traditional vocal-instrumental song or a sung record. It consists of two rhymed
decasyllables. This song structure is characteristic of the eastern part of the Republic of Croatia,
more precisely Slavonia, Baranya and Syrmia. Bećarac is a part of each situation98 in the world of
Šokci. It entertaints the recipient and informs them, e.g. it implicitly tells them about an attitude
towards something, the worldview or the facts, and it provokes information, reaction, or attitude
towards someone or something. Since the content of bećarac contains elements of documented
reality and pieces of information, because its text is built around events which are more or less
current, we may say that it is an authentic artefact of historical events
Care Karlo i carice Zita, 99
šta ratuješ, kad nemate žita.
98
During proposals, weddings, village parties, church celebrations, road patrols, traditional gatherings such as pudarenje and divani,
various jobs such as separating goose feathers (čijalo), ploughing, reaping, harvesting, digging, keeping the cattle out to pasture, as
well as in time of Christmas and Easter.
99
The author thought that it would be important to give explanations of some distichs, which does not imply that readers or
interpreters will have the same interpretation.
92
(Emperor Karl and empress Zita, Why are you in a battle, when there’s no wheat?)100
Janje moje ranjeno kraj Drine,
ranito je iz gevermašine.
(My lamb was shot near Drina, it was shot from the machine gun)
Sinoć meni dojde karta mala,
da su moga ranili bećara.
(Last night I received a card, Saying that my man was wounded. )
Bećarac reveals data on the emotional state of the speaker, time and place of the event, and the
information on history, politics, economy and current social issues. It is explicitly defined by the
fact that it is recited by someone who has been through a certain life and social experience.
Therefore it has been the object of this paper’s analysis.
Approach to the text and methodology
This paper analyses the texts with historical themes from the beginning of the 20th century by Luka
Lukić and Slavko Janković. Through interpretative and comparative methods it will analyse the war
discourse of the historical events during the World War I, particularly the direct and indirect war
participants, places of battle, imprisonments, war methods, weapons of war, and political and
economic situation. Besides that, the texts reveal emotional and physical states of women, and
through women figures differences in working class are observed.101
Very often women show the fear and uncertainty of this world disaster, the collective catastrophe
which happened on almost every continent, and started with the assassination of Austro-Hungarian
crown prince, archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sofia Chotek, duchess of Hohenberg, on June
28, 1914.
How did the local (civil) population see the First World War?
The view of local (civil) population should be divided into two stages. First, there was a general
enthusiastic acceptance of war motivated by fierce battles which served as a way to express
dissatisfaction with the border enemies102 or ruling elites.
Immediately after the beginning of the war, all governments, all Secretaries of State, without
exception, have urged people to the sacred unity, heroism, and love towards their country, and
encouraged hatred towards the enemy. […] ˙Politics of all war-affected countries focused on
creating the atmosphere of political, social and religious unity, solidarity and necessity of making
the greatest sacrifice if necessary... (Kardum 2009:88-89).
Da je dati s dikom vojevati,

100
The verses are translated literally (bećarac is written in decasyllabic verses which ryhme) [transl. note]
101
More about the changes in the working class structure, the emancipation, and women rights in Hutinec, G., Prvi svjetski rat i
poslijeratna Europa (1914.-1936.), book 16, 126
102
By the secret London agreement in April 1915, the Allied Powers promised Italy big parts of the east Adriatic coast, all the way
to cape Ploče south of Šibenik and numerous Croatian islands and Croatian hinterland territories in return for leaving Central Powers
and joining them. More in Goldstein, I., Hrvatska povijest, Book 21, 317.
93
ja bi mala s mojim vojevala.103
(If I could be in the battle next to my darling, I would, although I am small)
Pitaje me, koje j' dika vojske?
Domobranac dvadesetiosme
(They ask me what army my darling is in, he is in the Home Guard 28th Regiment)
Koji nose crvene parole,
to su same bekrije i lole.104
(Who carries red slogans, all cheerful Slavonian men)
According to the Monarchy mobilisation plans, people of Brod belonged (as a part of the common
army) to the mobilisation centre of the 78th Infantry Regiment seated in Osijek, whereas the Home
Guard members were in the 28th Home Guard Infantry Regiment, which was also seated in Osijek
(catalogue Dadoh zlato za željezo 2011: 25-30).
Šinje ječe, ajziban se kreće,
ode moje u soldate cveće.
(Rail track sound is loud, train is moving, my darling is going to the army)
Šinje zveče, ajziban se čuje,
moje lane u vojsku putuje.
(Rail track sound is loud, you can hear the train, my darling is going to the army)
Eroplane, ne leti po zraku,
ostat će mi dika u oblaku.105
(Aeroplane, don’t fly, my darling will stay in the sky)
Curo moja, ti ne roni suza,
lipo stoji domobranska bluza.106
(Hey girl, don’t cry, the Home Guard shirt looks nice)
The second phase encompasses general numbness, fatigue and war anxiety. The hope of a quick
resolution of war turmoil disappeared after launching and building of war industry and constant new
mobilisations, because the existing armies that had been prepared for Blitzkrieg were not sufficient.
This only deepened the general and continuing suffering, economic collapse, and social disaster,
103
Women were prohibited from warfare, but they would join gladly, carried by the initial enthusiasm
104
In the Austro-Hungarian army regiments had colourful slogans, i.e. a foursquare piece of cloth in the necklace. The verse speaks
of debauchery and flashiness of soldiers.
105
These lines talk about the initial enthusiasm (head in the clouds) and joy of going to the army to defend their country.
106
The soldier belongs the the 28th Home Guard Infantry Regiment with Croatian command, seated in Osijek.
94
because the new recruitments led to the lack of the labour force in the country, and there were vast
agricultural areas that were left untreated.
The long war was not expected and therefore the mobilisation stopped economic life completely
[…] Industrial and agricultural labour force poured towards the battlefields by trains, the production
and trade was stopped […] Military needs got bigger every day and they needed to be coordinated
to the needs of civilians (Kardum 2009: 109).
Care Karlo i carice Zita,
šta ratuješ, kad nemate žita.
(Emperor Karlo and empress Zita, Why are you in a battle, when there’s no wheat?)
Kapetane, pusti moje janje,

za jednoga ni više ni manje.
(Captain, let my lamb go, one more or less)
The consequences of the First World War on the lifestyle of local (civil) population
The consequences of this general, continuing destruction are innumerable; a large number of fallen
soldiers107, the disabled, the mentally ill, those suffering from typhoid fever, cholera and
influenza108, and almost every other woman wearing mourning clothes. There was a shortage of raw
materials, grain109, food, and other basic necessities for the sheer survival.
The war has left behind closed factories, fallow fields, destroyed bridges and railways. There were
shortages of fertilizers, seeds, and raw materials. […] In all parts of Europe officials and private
relief agencies sent disturbing reports about the millions of unemployed, the desperate housewives
feeding their families potatoes and cabbage soup, the starving children. […] All across the former
Austro-Hungary hospitals ran out of bandages and medicine. […] People would eat coal dust,
sawdust, sand (MacMillan 2008: 93).
Dugi dani, a komisi110 mali,

al' je teško, kog država 'rani.111
(Long days and small pieces of bread, it’s difficult to those who are fed by the government)
There was a general decrease in the quality of life and work, and the difficult country life got even
more difficult.112 Up to that time, women had had the role of wives and mothers, but due to the
great number of recruited men they became central persons in the family, taking care of the senoirs
107
MacMillan (2008) talks about some 1,290,000 Austro-Hungarian soldiers. Krile (2014) says that there is a “rough estimation of
137 thousands of Croatian soldiers who were killed in different battlefields from 1914 to 1918, and around 109 thousand of Croatian
civilians who died due to war actions, epidemics, or hunger.”
108
These events and meetings with numerous sick people were described by Ivana Brlić Mažuranić in her letters, in which she
describes “terrible appearance” of a transport of soldiers suffering from typhoid who came to Brod for treatment. More in Preslika
arhiva obitelji Brlić, box 74, cluster 7, recording DD00103101.
109
Janković (1967) says „Austro-Hungarian government has brough regulations on requisitioning of grain, especially wheat. Under
these regulations, one had to make an inventory of all grain immediately after the harvest. The minimum was left to the peasant,
according to the seeding needs and the number of household members. Everything else had to be handed over to the authorities at
low price”.
110
Military bread
111
Difficult situation in the agriculture and economy; general crisis in the state.
112
More in Lukić, L. Crtice ili zapiske iz rata 1915.-1918., E7T/19, 33, MBP.
95
and the young ones. Their inferior role was put to an end, and they took on greater responsibilities
through the reverse of the family roles.113 Therefore, in the times of the most awful battles, it was
not unusal to see women perform jobs that had been strictly male up to then. As the city and country
rumours talked about the corrupt behaviour of the governing, some women took advantage of that.
U mene su sa zlatom papuče,
moja dika na molbu kod kuće.114
(I have slippers with golden threads, my baby will be back home if I ask)
Imala sam nešto malo zlata,
pa sam dala caru za soldata.
(I had some gold and I gave it to the emperor for my soldier)
Ja ću pisat sedmorice stolu,
da mi diku ljubiti dozvolu.115
(I will write to the Table of Seven, to give me permission to kiss my darling)
The agriculture was an important part of the economy then, and apart from the lack of workforce,
bad weather also contributed to the difficult situation in agriculture. Crop yield was low, barely
sufficient for survival (Cafuta 2014: 6). (…) Year 1914 was horrible due to World War I, and very
sad in itself (…) To put it shortly, misery and disaster all around. (…) Spring (1915) was rainy, and
it was difficult to seed; more difficult with people on the battle field, all the healthy and strong were
on the battle field and in the army, and old people, children and women were at home and there was
no workforce which could do the strenuous jobs. (Biber 2003: 277).
U ratu su momci i vojnici,

svi dilberi, mladi zipcigeri.116
(Young guys and soldiers are in the war, all handsome, young zipciger soldiers)
There is a slight lack of discipline, and people find even the smallest ways to exit. There is no
bread. It should be produced in greater quantities. Richer people (according to a regulation) are let
go from the army to increase the yield (the older ones of course). They are so called reklamants.
This is an opportunity for notaries to earn a lot. Armies that had been created for decades start
falling apart, doctors help people get out, corruption becomes established, smuggling starts to
flourish, millions are made because country does not have time to ask for the price, but simply
prints money (Janković 1970: 136).
Sad se stare pobijaju banke,

moga diku ljube Talijanke.117
(The old banks fight, my darling is kissed by Italian women)
113
More in Hutinec, G., Prvi svjetski rat i poslijeratna Europa (1914.-1936.), Book 16 , 126
114
Women bribed the superiors with gold to let their parners home. These men were called ‘reklamants’.
115
In Austria-Hungary the Supreme Court was called Stol sedmorice, i.e. The Table of Seven
116
There were no young men in the villages then; zipciger is the name of soldiers of the 70th Regiment of the joint army in Austro-
Hungary
117
There was an inflation caused by the change of paper money. At that time Austrian army penetrated deep into Italy
96
Because of war the price of cattle, food, wheat, corn, and clothes started to grow rapidly. (...) People
have money, they sell the cattle with horns on high prices, and other cattle such as pigs and horses.
Countrymen sell food and the maximum price of 42 crowns per meter of wheat is not respected.
Some people sell it for 200 crowns per meter... The countrymen decide on the maximum price (...)
No one set maximum prices for shopkeepers and artisans, so they rip people off (Biber 2003: 282).
What consequences did the First World War have on the way people think about the armed
conflicts?
The horrors of war left a deep mark on the participants of the war, the civilians, and the new heir to
the throne Karl, who invested his powers, together with his wife Zita to end the war as soon as
possible, because they were not ready to tie the Monarchy destiny to German interests, or even
worse sacrifice it for its interests.
By summing up impressions from the conversation with their high-positioned guests from Germany
118
both emperor Karl and his minister of external affairs agreed that they do not share the
enthusiasm and faith of their allies about the efficiency of the new German military strategy. […]
Emperor Karl invested his energy and hope into prevention of the conflict between Germany and
the USA, and thus indirectly save his country (Kardum 2009:206).
Care Karlo, nemoj dizat buna,

nije za te ni mañarska kruna.119
(Emperor Karl, don’t call for revolution, the Hungarian crown is too much for you anyway)
Trying to find ways to contact the responsible people in the Antanta, without causing suspicion of
Germany and Hungary, Emperor Karl decided to use his family connections and contacted the
heads of Antanta through empress Zita’s brother, Prince Sixtus of Bourbon. From Karl’s letter to
Sixtus and the note of Its Highness, his empathy towards his subjects and the thriving to end the
horrors of war by a separate peace. In Kardum (2009:213) it is quoted: “In hope that this way we
would both end the suffering of millions of soldiers and their families who live in anguish and fear,
I aks you for a brotherly favour.”
Care Karlo pitaj svoje Zite,
smiju li se ženiti komite.120
(Emperor Karl, ask Zita if volunteering soldiers can get married)
Bog poživi tu caricu Zitu,

ona neda ustrelit' komitu. 121
(Long live empress Zita, she won’t let volunteering soldiers get shot)
At the beginning the soldiers were high-spirited, some of them excited, but most of them got tired
of the war duty very soon, because they took part in trench warfare. After the army supply stopped
to function, the situation got very difficult among soldiers who had already been weakened by many
118
German state Secretary of Foreign Affairs Arthur Zimmermann and the commander of German Admiralty Hötzendorf informed
emperor Karl and Czernin about the new military strategy, i.e. about the German submarine war and the need to use Trieste, Pula and
Kotor as submarine bases so that Antanta can not use Mediterranean as the detour for its Atlantic transports.
119
One of the sovereigns was Austrian emperor Karl.
120
The verses talk about mocking emperor Karl and his permissive nature and submissiveness to his wife’s influence.
121
These verses show the gratitude of Croatian people to emperor’s wife Zita and her attitude towards defectors
97
diseases and war injuries. Soldiers’ moral decreased, they were hungry, thirsty, full of fear and
disappointment, and due to aimless self-sacrifice they often resorted to self-wounding and the
rejection of obedience, i.e. rebellions, surrendering, prison, desertion122, and truce with enemies123:
War ailments, death on the battlefield and the like can be seen as a desirable sacrifice for one of the
already mentioned higher-purpose values - the ruler, the homeland, honour, nation, family,
comrades […] The everyday of many armed conflicts, actualities of war, do not consist of attacks
and counter-attacks, but of suffering from continuing fatigue, sleep deprivation, hunger,
commanders, and other ‘non-heroic’ struggles. Moreover, these struggles can be as deadly as others
[…] – for instance being exposed to long-range shelling or infectious diseases (Hameršak 2013:
391).
Zbogom, zbogom, moja diko mila,
sutra će me oterat Rusija.124
(Goodbye, goodbye, my darling, tommorow I will be chased away by Russia)
U Rusiji baš na kolodvoru,
tamo su mi zarobili lolu.
(In Russia, at the station, that's where my darling was arrested)
Jao moje nadaleko roblje,
s tobom mlada leći ću u groblje.
(Oh, my slave far away, I will lie in the grave with you, so young)
How did the subject of the First World War coexist in the everyday life of conflict and
tolerance?
It was a duty of all men to go to the war. Women, similarly to soldiers, dealt with it differently.
They sang proudly about their pain and suffering, and there are many verses of bećarac that speak
of that. Those verses talk about their feelings:
Oj soldatu, kako je u ratu?
Bome gorko bez tebe, divojko!
(Hey, soldier, what’s the war like? Well, it’s rough without you, girl)
Da j' mi doći u vojničku četu,
pružit ruku mojemu janjetu.
(If I could come to military unit, to give my darling a hand)
122
More about the appearance of volunteering army (komita) or Green staff in Slavonia and a different vision of their existence in
Georg von Trapp, To the Last Salute XIII, Zagreb, 1917., Slavko Janković, Šokačke pismice, part 2, Vinkovci, 1970, Kronika
Franjevačkog samostana u Brodu na Savi IV (1879-1932), edited by P. Egidija Stjepana Bibera, Slavonski Brod, 2003
123
More on phenomenon of spontaneous peace treaties around Christmas and Eastern in Hameršak, F., Tamna strana Marsa, 238
124
One of the rare verses which is sung by a soldier who wants to be captured in Russian attack
98
Dika mi je kod kraljeve garde,
Cara služi, a meni se tuži.125
(My darling is in the royal service, he serves the emperor and complains to me)
empathy:
Neću nosit ni srme ni zlata,
dok mi dika ne dojde iz rata.
(I will not wear embroidery nor gold, until my darling comes from the war)
Oj kako ću ja vesela biti,
a moj dragi kod cara giniti!
(Oh, how can I be happy, when my darling is going to die for the emperor)
Piše dika, da je u špitalju.
Jadan kuka, ranita mu ruka.
(My darling writes to me from the hosiptal; poor him, he cries that his arm has been wounded)
anticipation:
Da Bog dade, da se rat umiri,
da se cveće do mene došeće.
(If only God would make the war calm down, so my darling would walk towards me)
Piši diko na biloj artiji,
kako ti je u marškumpaniji.
(My darling, write to me on a white piece of paper, tell me how you are doing in the war)
Meni dika iz Rusije piše:
Janje moje, mene zarobiše.
(My darling writes to me from Russia: Dear, I have been captured)
anxiety:
Mili Bože, i ovoga rata,
oće l’ dika dojti iz soldata
(Dear God, this war; will my darling return from the army?)
Ruski care, Boga ne vidio,
125
Soldier is complaining about the non-human army conditions.
99
što si moje zlato zarobio!
(Russian emperor, be cursed for capturing my darling)
Piši, diko, meni sa jabane,
nek mi mladoj na srcu odlane.
(Write to me, my darling, from the faraway land, make my young heart feel better)
fears:
Oj komito, ja bi te klela,
Da ja nemam komitu dilbera
(Oh, volunteering army, I would curse you if my darling wasn’t a volunteering soldier)
Stra' me rata, ostat ću bez zlata
Ako pade, ja mlada ostade
(I am afraid of war, I will lose my darling; If he falls, I will stay alone young)
Saletila vrana sa jabana,
Dobila sam pismo od dragana 126
(The crow flew from far away, I got a letter from my darling)
restlessness:
Caruj care, al' nemoj zbog rata,
jer zbog rata osta neudata.
(Rule, you emperor, but not becuase of war; for the war has left me unmarried)
Drage druge, sad nije sramota,
ovog rata biti (ostat) neudata.
(Dear girlfriends, it is not a shame to be (stay) unmarried in this war)
Mili Bože, al' se bitka bije,

nema 'noga, tko zaplako nije.
(Dear God, this battle is fierce, there is noone who has not cried)
There were attempts to excite national pride of soldiers by different propaganda and press releases
to defend their country and hate the enemy. But as the war progressed, enthusiasm faded, and the
demonization of the opponent was completely or partly extinguished. As Filip Hameršak
(2013:572) says “this was not about some abstract humanism, but a version of the golden rule ‘do
126
The girl received bad news from the battlefield, because crow is a symbol of bad news, or death
100
not treat others as you would not like to be treated yourself’, based on some sort of common
interest, or quid pro quo idea - you have to help others, because one day they will help you.”
In the times of occupation of certain territories, there are records of good relationships between the
occupying army and the occupied population:
Talijanko, čuvaj moje zlato…

Kavu kuvaj, moje zlato čuvaj.
(Italian woman, take care of my darling, make him coffee, take care of my darling)
Serbian women made sure to keep our soldiers warm, because they must have had their husbands in
mind, who defended their homeland bravely and painstakingly. On many occasions did some of the
ladies cook food for tired soldiers... (Knežević 2004:128). Women across Soča were beautiful, thin,
elastic and lovely. If they were hot-blooded and good towards others, that would be one crazy fairy-
tale. They were hungry, as well as their children, so they kept their honour (Blašković 2014:50).
How reliable is the representation of the First World War in the verses?
Bećarac belongs to the oral literature. Its main feature is its minimalistic form which is apparent
both in the expression and content. Its lyricism is visible in the focus on emotions and inner
experience of the subject who uses verse to express different feelings and to give realistic
information about experience, life, relationships, and historical events, too. This is confirmed by
Užarević (2010:114): “It contains elements of historical events and life circumstances - starting
from the times of the Military Frontier and the occupation of Bosnia across the tragic battlefields of
the First World War (Serbia, Galicia, Russia) to the dissolution of Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and
farther.”
Crn se oblak priko neba vije,
moj se dragi s Talijanom bije.
(Black cloud is hanging in the sky, my darling is fighting against Italians)
Crn se oblak priko neba vuče,
sad se dika Albanijom tuče.
(Black sky is drifting across the sky, now my darling is fighting against Albania)
Diko moja, kad dojdeš do Drine,
'itaj zgode, pa mi piši, rode.
(My darling, when you come to Drina, write to me)
Galicijo, sva krvi zalita,
tamo mi je dika baš ranita.
(Galicia, all in blood, there my darling was wounded)
Italijo, pokrilo te cveće,
kud se moje janje često šeće.
(Italy, covered in flowers, there my darling walks a lot)
101
Po Srbiji povenilo cveće,
mene dika više vidit neće.
(In Serbia the flowers have withered, my darling won’t see me anymore)
Oj Rusijo, alaj si daleko,
mila diko, ko bi te doviko.
(Oh, Russia, you are so far away; my darling, who will call your name)
Trojica mi iz Srbije pišu,
da je dika zarobit u Nišu.
(Three men are writing from Serbia that my darling has been captured in Niš)
Kud se moje obasulo grožñe,
po Karpati, žalosna mu mati.
(Where my grapes have fallen? All over Karpati, poor him)
So, in the quoted verses there are lots of information on historical events of the First World War.
For example, besides the battle location127 (Russia, Albany, Italy, Galicia), we find out about the
battlefield scenery, terrors of being wounded, dying, forms of battles, i.e. war techniques (trench
warfare, capturing enemies), war machinery and artillery (bombs, machine guns, guns, bayonets,
grenades, heavy artillery), treating patients in army hospitals, (bad) weather conditions (high water
level), communication of family members or engaged couples (although correspondence was
censored, and writing and sending letters was almost impossible during cross fire, and there are not
much available data on that). Hameršak (2013:610) says: “Correspondence of families, the engaged
couples, and similar is rarely mentioned […] mostly in connection to the complications with its
delivery. […] since the correspondence was under censorship and it needed to be thematically
adapted.”
Bila bluza i zelena gomba128

moga diku ranila je bomba.
(White shirt and green pendant, my darling was wounded by a bomb)
Diku mi je pogodilo tane,
u zlo misto u obrve vrane.
(My darling was hit by a bullet, in a bad spot, into his dark eyebrows)
Italijo, krvlju zalivena,
tamo mi je dika ubijena.
(Italy, covered in blood, that’s where my darling was killed)
Kolega mi dvi karte poslao,
da je dika u Rusiji pao.
127
In the regiments in Slavonia, soldiers from Brod and the surroundings fought in the south battlefield in Serbia (battles at Cer and
Kolubara) and in Russia with occasional success, and in Galicia, Bukovina, Bessarabia and southwest battlefield of Italy with great
human losses (battles near Piava and at the river Soca); in Cafuta, I., Iza bojišnice – živjeti u Brodu na Savi 1914. – 1918., 16
128
Round decorative pendant.
102
(My colleague sent me two cards, saying that my darling fell down in Russia)
Mila mamo, ranjeno mi dere,
ranjeno je iz mašingevere.
(Dear mother, my darling was shot, shot from the machine gun)
U Rusiji i blato i suša,
tamo mi je i srce i duša.
(In Russia there is both mud and drought, my heart and soul are there, too)
Na ratištu padaje granate…
Pazi, diko, da ne padnu na te.
(The grenades are flying over the battlefield, be careful, darling, not to get hit)
Oj Rusijo, u tebi topovi,
ginu momci kano golubovi.
(Hey, Russia, in you there are cannons, young boys get killed like pigeons)
U Rusiji voda do koljena,
tamo mi je želja zarobljena.
(In Russia water is at knee level, my wish is captured there)

Rascvala se gorušica žuta,
u dekungu kraj mlada regruta.
(Yellow mustard is in blossom, in the trench next to the young soldier)
Sava nosi drvlje i kamenje,
a Morava dragana krvava.
(The Sava carries wood and stones, and the Morava my darling in blood)
Srce moje Galiciji teži,
di moj dragi u dekungu leži.
(My heart goes to Galicia, where my darling lies in the trench)
Na Rusiji jedno brdo malo,
tamo j' moje janje zakopano.
(There is a small hill in Russia where my darling has been buried)
Teče voda krvava i plava,
tu je loli odsičena glava.
(The water is running bloody and blue, This is where my darling’s head was cut off)
Dobila sam kartu s Italije,
dojt' će dika, kad urlab dobije.
(I got a postcard from Italy, my darling will come when he gets a vacation.)
103
These numerous verses are a proof that the war is a greedy monster, an ill beast, an unjustifiable act
of wounding, killing and destruction, a dangerous form of expressing dissatisfaction, and an
immoral act of reaching some goals.
Conclusion
Since the analysed form is a minimal poetic structure and it belongs to the literary-artistic genre,
which makes it lyric and subjective, it is difficult to fight the impression that content in bećarac is
historically authentic and very objective.
No literary text should be taken as a direct insight, of course; we need to be aware of its selective,
intentional or unintentional perspectivity and therefore stay sceptic methodically and if possible
compare it to what other texts say (both literary and historical or legal ones), taking into
consideration so called helping historical sciences (Žmegač 1982:81).
But the very detailed analysis of some other texts, listed in the references, such as historical
monographs, chronicles and catalogues, and autobiographical sources of war participants, show that
this poetic form is a good source, a mirror or a window to the world of the First World War events.
It can tell a lot about horrors of the war, battle locations, relationship between the comrades,
economic or political situation in the countries, political sovereigns, and at the same time we can
focus on the emotion and the inner experiences of the direct war participants, as well as the one who
waited for them at home (slightly less, we must admit). These verses are not sung by women who
listened about the war, but the ones who lived these horrors. Therefore, to understand and explain
the content of bećarac with the topic of war, this is a very important piece of information.
Sources
Janković, S. (1967) Šokačke pismice, part 1. Vinkovci: Matica hrvatska.
Janković, S. (1970): Šokačke pismice, part 2. Vinkovci: Matica hrvatska.
Lukić, L. Crtice ili zapiske iz rata 1915.-1918., E/T/19, 33, Muzej Brodskog Posavlja
Manuscript collection of Luka Lukić in the Museum of Brodsko Posavlje.
Copy of the Brlić family archive, box 74, bundle 7, recording DD00103101.
References
Biber, P. E. S. (Ed). (2003) Kronika Franjevačkog samostana u Brodu na Savi IV (1879-1932).
Slavonski Brod: Matica hrvatska Ogranak Slavonski Brod.
Blašković, P. (2014) Sa Bošnjacima u svjetskom ratu. Strmec Samoborski: Fortuna.
Cafuta I. (2014): Iza bojišnice - živjeti u Brodu na Savi 1914.-1918. Slavonski Brod: Muzej
Brodskog Posavlja.
Goldstein, I. (2008) Hrvatska povijest, knj.21. Zagreb. Biblioteka Jutarnjeg lista.
Hameršak, F. (2013) Tamna strana Marsa. Zagreb: Naklada Ljevak.
Hutinec, G. Ed. (2008). Prvi svjetski rat i poslijeratna Europa (1914.-1936.), book 16, (translation
Ana Badurina). Zagreb. Biblioteka Jutarnjega lista.
Kardum, L. (2009): Suton stare Europe, Zagreb, Golden marketing – Tehnička knjiga
Knežević, B. (2014). Gledanje u vidjeno: ratovanje u Srbiji 1914. Godine. Strmec Samoborski:
Fortuna
Krile, D. (2014) Prešućena povijest, Zašto je zaborav pokrio sve hrvatske žrtve Prvoga svjetskog
rata. Available at:
104
http://www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/Hrvatska/tabid/66/articleType/ArticleView/articleld/242698/Defa
ult.aspx. (Retrieved on March 9, 2015)
MacMillan, M. (2008) Mirotovorci. Zagreb: Naklada Ljevak.
Užarević, J. (2009) Poetika bećarca, Šokačka rič 7, (Ed. Anica Bilić), Vinkovci, Zajednica kulturno-
umjetničkih djelatnosti Vukovarsko-srijemske županije u Vinkovcima, 111-139.
Smetko, A. Ed. (2011) Dadoh zlato za željezo - Hrvatska u Prvom svjetskom ratu 1914.-1918.
Zagreb: Hrvatski povijesni muzej.
Von Trapp, G. (1917) To the Last Salute XII. Zagreb.
Žmegač, V. (1982): Književnost i zbilja. Zagreb: Školska knjiga.
Sažetak
KNJIŽEVNI PRIKAZ PRVOG SVJETSKOG RATA U KONTEKSTU BEĆARACA
Ana Tereza Barišić, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Zagreb
Bećarac je ispjevana zabilješka čije osobne tragedije ili vjerodostojni artefakt povijesnih zbivanja na
kakvom teritoriju. Kako je u Slavoniji zapisano mnogo takvih stihova, autorica je smatrala važnim
izanalizirati diskurs ratne tematike. Cilj rada je na temelju komparativne i interpretativne metode
iščitavanja stihova i povijesnih činjenica prikazati kako je na taj dogañaj, I. svjetski rat, gledalo
lokalno stanovništvo, koje je posljedice ono ostavilo na njihov stil života i način mišljenja i
promišljanja o ratnim strahotama, kako se ta tema suživjela u svakodnevnom suživotu sukoba i
tolerancije te koliko se vjerodostojno iz tih stihova može prikazati Prvi svjetski rat. Je li moguće na
temelju tih tekstova, nastalih isključivo pomoću izrazite subjektivnosti, doći do odreñenih
objektivnih informacija? Korpus tekstova čine stihovi iz prve polovice dvadesetog stoljeća.
Ključne riječi: Prvi svjetski rat, bećarac, Slavonija
105
Amir Begić
UDK 78:37.035(4-191.2)
Review article
Amir Begić
Academy of Arts
INTERCULTURAL CONTENT IN GRAMMAR SCHOOL MUSIC INSTRUCTION IN

CENTRAL EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
Abstract
Music instruction is an area which requires the development of intercultural competences of

learners, because music is essentially a multicultural art. Numerous nations have taken part in the
historical development of music, and music has developed by interweaving creativity of different
communities and different cultures. In music lessons students listen to the music of their own
country, and to the music of other nations. By getting to know their own culture they develop
awareness of their own cultural identity, whereas by listening to the music of other nations they
learn about other cultures, which contributes to the development of interculturalism. The curricula
of music lessons in grammar schools in Central European countries are analysed in this paper. The
aim of the research is to show to which extent music instruction is based on interculturalism. The
results show that intercultural content is inadequately represented in music instruction, and in some
cases not represented at all. This means that the development of intercultural competence of
students during music instruction remains mostly at a declarative level. We believe that the progress
in the creation of educational content with respect to intercultural education during music
instruction is possible through exposure to non-European music traditions and cultures, as well as to
those of less known European cultures.
Key words: music instruction, grammar school, interculturalism, Central European countries
Introduction
Life in the 21st century has posed numerous challenges, which a person needs to deal with if they
want to become/remain a human being who develops their individual potentials successfully, in
relation to themselves and others likewise. In other words, if they want to live in the full sense of
this word. School, as a place which should guide an individual in that very direction, is not an only
factor, and very often not a crucial one. Parents, peers and media are some of the educational factors
that influence the formation of a person. However, school should be a place where one lives and
learns how to live. Because “without basic knowledge of life many value categories are lost, those
of the respect of a human being as an independent being and their right to live their life to its
fullest” (Previšić 2010, 167). Intercultural education is just one of the dimensions of the tasks that
the modern, 21st century school needs to fulfil.
Today, more than ever, due to migration flows, population of Central Europe is very
multicultural. Multiculturalism is present in some countries more than in others, but one of the
priorities that came with globalisation is the virtue of understanding and acceptance of different
cultures and the belonging individuals. Lafraya (2011, in Mrnjaus and Rončević 2012) thinks that
multicultural society is the one in which different cultures, nationalities and other groups live
together, without the realistic and constructive contact with others. On the other hand, intercultural
106
Amir Begić
society is a society in which difference is seen as positive abundance necessary for social,
educational, cultural, political and economic growth. Previšić (1994) emphasises that
interculturalism as a value presents the upgrade of multiculturalism. Successful intercultural
communication with the members of different cultures is a prerequisite for a successful life of any
individual, no matter which culture they come from. This also means that intercultural competence
is one of the basic competences learners should acquire in schools. According to Šulentić Begić
(2015), learners acquire intercultural competence through intercultural education and become aware
of different cultures, which they acknowledge and accept. Izgarjan et al. (2013) assert the
importance of introducing intercultural elements in multicultural communities so that learners
would develop the feeling of respect towards different cultures.
Music instruction in grammar schools offers many possibilities of intercultural education
and it is an area in which learners can gain intercultural competence by listening to, singing and
playing songs of different cultures, as well as talking about them. An interculturally competent
teacher will develop both learners’ understanding and tolerance towards the different, through
presentation of various music traditions, and a wish to enrich their own cultural identity. However,
getting to know and understand the music of European music traditions in not enough; one should
also cover those which are both geographically and culturally distant because, as Dobrota (2007,
120) says “intercultural concept of music instruction makes students learn about music expression
of various cultures, not staying hermetically sealed inside the boundaries of western European
music tradition”.
Intercultural education and music instruction in grammar schools in Central European

countries
This paper compares how national curricula (i.e. education plans) are designed in Central European
countries regarding the intercultural content in music instruction. It analyses national curricula,
school curricula, lesson plans and the content of music lesson CDs. The research is done in nine
countries (Hungary, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Switzerland, northeast
Italy and Croatia). Research results for each country are shown below.
In Hungarian educational system there are more possibilities of vertical mobility between
the primary and secondary education. In most cases primary school lasts for four years, but a
student can choose to attend 6-year-long or 8-year-long primary school. There is also a possibility
to attend a combined primary and secondary school, which lasts for twelve years. Secondary school
lasts for four years (14 to 18 years of age), six years (12 to 18 years of age) or eight years (10 to 18
years of age), depending on the choice. So, students can choose to go to the secondary school after
the fourth, sixth or eighth grade or to attend the 12-year-long school (combined type). Students take
the final exam after twelve years of education.
Music instruction (Ének-zene) is obligatory in the first ten years of education with one
lesson per week. In other words, in the last 4 years of grammar school it is obligatory for the first
two years only. Schools have the possibility to include more music lessons into their curricula, but
only a few grammar schools have actually done that. In the graduation exam students can choose to
take the final exam of the basic or extended level.129
One of the educational goals of the national curriculum in music instruction is the encounter
with various cultures and traditions.130 The teaching areas include singing, listening, music theory,
development of competencies and creative expression. The greatest number of lessons is dedicated
to singing and listening to music.131 However, among the suggested songs (Lukin and Ugrin 2009)
there are no pieces which belong to non-European music cultures (with the exception of Porgy and
129
meNet. Music Education in Hungary. Retrieved from:
http://menet.mdw.ac.at/menetsite/english/topics.html?m=1&c=0&lang=en, 6.3.2015.
130
Művészetek - ének-zene helyi tanterv 11-12. Évfolyam Batthyány Lajos Gimnázium, Nagykanizsa. Retrieved from:
http://www.blg.hu/tantervek/muveszetek_enek_1_1.pdf, 6.3.2015.
131
Lovassy-László-Gymnasium, Pedagógiai Program. Retrieved from: http://www.lovassy.hu/online/egyeb/e-
dok/pp2013/Enek_zene.pdf, 6.3.2015.
107
Amir Begić
Bess by Gershwin and West side story by Bernstein) or even different European traditions. Music
repertoire mostly revolves around the Hungarian traditional music and western-European art music.
In Slovenia nine-year primary education is obligatory. After that students choose one of the
high schools, one of which is four-year grammar school. At the end of grammar school education
they take the state exam.
Music instruction (Glasba) is obligatory in the first grade of grammar school with 70 lessons
per year (52 as obligatory subject and 18 as elective). In the second, third and fourth grade it is
elective and three different modules are available: Music language, World music culture and
Slovenian music culture. All three modules (70 lessons each) are mutually connected and
complement each other.132 Besides, each grammar school must have a choir (with up to four lessons
a week).133
In grammar school curriculum134 some of the educational goals of music instruction are:
● Form a positive attitude and responsible conduct towards Slovenian and
world music
● Develop receptivity and tolerance towards different music cultures
● Form music values which are important for Slovenian and world music
culture
Listening to music, playing and singing, music creativity and music language are teaching
areas dealt with in music instruction. Multiculturalism is listed as one of the characteristics of
lessons, but only in the section dealing with the music of 20th and 21st century. In music examples
for state exam135 there are pieces of western European art music, Slovenian music and jazz. There
are no tracks which belong to non-European music cultures.
In Austria compulsory education consists of three levels, and at the last level (from 10 to 14
years of age) students may attend the lower level of grammar school (Unterstufe Gymnasium)
which is then followed by the higher level (14 to 18). At the end of grammar school students take
the state exam.136
Music instruction is obligatory in the first two grades of grammar school, whereas in the
third and fourth grade students need to choose between subjects Music and Art. Besides, throughout
the four years students can choose elective subjects such as Choir, Music Group, and similar. The
number of music lessons per week is somewhat different in different grammar schools and it ranges
from two lessons in the first two grades to two lessons in the first three and one lesson in the fourth
grade.137
In the grammar school curriculum for music instruction it is said that music instruction
should:
● Promote tolerance towards the new and the different
● Serve as a means of cultural communication
Teaching areas in music instruction are music expression (vocal, instrumental, body...), music
theory and history and listening to music. There are numerous examples from different music eras
which are suggested for playing to students, most of which are western European pieces. However,
there are music pieces of other cultures such as Indian, Chinese, Tibetan, Jamaican, and
Bulgarian.138
132
Učni načrt za Glasbeni jezik. Retrieved from:
http://eportal.mss.edus.si/msswww/programi2013/programi/gimnazija/gimnazija/glasbeni-jezik.htm, 6.3.2015.
133
meNet. Music Education in Slovenia. Retrieved from:
134
Učni načrt za gimnazije. Retrieved from: http://portal.mss.edus.si/msswww/programi2010/programi/gimnazija/ucni_nacrti.htm,
6.3.2015.
135
Izbor glasbenih del in video posnetkov za pisni ispit splošne mature iz glasbe 2015. Retrieved from:
http://www.dijaski.net/gradivo/gla_mat_tematski_sklop_2015_01, 6.3.2015.
136
meNet. Music Education in Austria. Retrieved from: http://menet.mdw.ac.at/menetsite/english/topics.html?m=1&c=0&lang=en,
6.3.2015.
137
Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Kultur. Retrieved from:
https://www.bmbf.gv.at/schulen/lehrdr/gesetze_verordnungen/Verordnung_Aenderung_der9110.html 6.3.2015.
138
Spielpläne Oberstufe: Wissen und Wege, Schülerbuch. Retrieved from:
http://www.klett.de/web/uploads/assets/22/229c4ad9/booklet_175001.pdf, 6.3.2015.
108
Amir Begić
Education system in The Federal Republic of Germany consists of four-year primary
school (Grundschule), followed by different school possibilities, one of which is grammar school
(Gymnasium) which lasts six years. After that, students continue their education in higher level
grammar school (Gymnasiale Oberstufe) for three years. Music education is obligatory in the first
ten years of education (two lessons per week, except for the last two years with one lesson per
week), whereas at the higher level of grammar school (two lessons per week) students can choose
between music lessons or art lessons (such as literature or drama).139
Teaching areas of music instruction in grammar school education are perception and
understanding of music, music expression and thinking about music. According to the framework
music instruction curriculum of the federal county of Berlin (Rahmenlehrplan Musik-Sekundarstufe
II, 2006) the encounter with music and understanding of music of different cultures is one of the
outcomes and competences to be developed. Students ought to find out about the diversity and
richness of music expression through dancing, singing, listening to and performing pieces of
different nations, and thus develop receptiveness towards different subcultures in German society.
Although western European pieces are dominant in this curriculum, there is a certain number of
examples which belong to the American music tradition (country, rap...), and according to the
curriculum of Lohmar Grammar School (Gymnasium Lohmar)140 third-grade students are
introduced to Turkish, Cuban, South African and West African music.
In Czech educational system children attend compulsory primary school from the age of six
to fifteen, and then they attend high school (střední školy). In primary school there is one lesson of
music per week. Some students enrol into grammar schools where they can choose to attend music
lessons or art lesson in the first two grades (two lessons per week), and in the third and fourth grade
these courses are elective.141
Music instruction consists of singing, playing music, moving to the music and listening to
music (Framework Educational Programme for Basic Education, 2007). Intercultural approach is
not per se stated in the outcomes of music instruction, but it is included in cross-curricular topics
which are dealt with throughout all four years, such as Individual and social education, Education
in European and global context, etc. (Structures of education and training systems in Europe -
Czech Republic, 2009). In the content of the subject Music (Hudební výchova) the encounter with
music of other continents is not planned, except for the pieces of those western artists who had been
inspired by non-European music tradition (Školní vzdělávací program pro čtyřleté gymnázium a
vyšší stupeň osmiletého gymnázia, 2012).
Slovak educational system is the same in the whole country, and the official language is
Slovak. National minorities such as Hungarian and Ukrainian may found schools in their language
and to them Slovak is treated as foreign language. Primary education is compulsory and it lasts for
nine years (from year six to fifteen). After primary school students may enrol into vocational
schools or grammar schools, the latter enabling them to continue education at any of the faculties.142
In grammar schools music is not a separate subject but it is instructed only partly throughout
four years (one lesson per week) as a part of the subject Art and culture (Umenie a kultúra). The
teaching plans143 do not define the exact ratio of music content in these lessons. Music is
synthesized with other arts (drama, dance, movie...). A positive fact is that the development of a
student’s intercultural competences for communication and cooperation with members of other
cultures is a clearly stated outcome.
139
meNet. Music Education in Germany. Retrieved from:
140
Curriculum für das Fach Musik in der Oberstufe des Gymnasiums Lohmar Sekundarstufe II. Retrieved from:
http://www.gymnasium-lohmar.org/images/Faecher/Musik/Curriculum_Musik_Oberstufe.pdf, 6.3.2015.
141
meNet. Music Education in Czech Republic. Retrieved from:
142
meNet. Music Education in Slovakia. Retrieved from:
143
Učebné osnovy Štvorročné štúdium / vyššie ročníky osemročného štúdia. Retrieved from:
http://www.gymgl.sk/skvp.php?section=skvp3a, 8.3.2015.
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Amir Begić
Nine-year primary education is compulsory for all children in Switzerland. Secondary
school education follows, which can be general (grammar schools) or vocational.144 Music is taught
in the first two grades and the first semester of the third grade with two lessons per week. Also,
students in grammar schools can choose to enrol into different modules where certain areas are
given more lessons. In music module there are more lessons of music per week, it lasts for four
years and there are subjects such as Playing or Choir.145 In the subject Music (Musik) the following
areas are covered: performing music, music knowledge and skills and encounter with music - music
experience. Western European music dominates here as well, but the teaching content emphasizes
the need to encounter music of different cultures (those geographically distant ones, too) and the
necessity to acquire intercultural competence.146
In Italy compulsory education involves primary education (age 6 to 11) and lower secondary
education (age 11 to 14). After that, students can enrol into secondary school, possibly one of the
grammar schools of different profiles which last for five years. Music education (Educazione
musicale) is offered only in music schools (Liceo musicale), but not in grammar schools.147
In the Republic of Croatia primary school is compulsory and lasts for eight years. After
that, students enrol into one of the secondary schools, among which grammar schools are available
as well. Music education is obligatory and there is one lesson per week of Music art in all four years
of grammar school education in general, language and classical grammar schools. In science and
math grammar schools the subject is obligatory in the first two years with one lesson per week, and
in the science grammar schools there are two lessons per week in the fourth grade.148
In the National Curriculum Framework for pre-school education, general compulsory and secondary
education (2010) one of the general educational goals is teaching learners to respect differences and
to be tolerant in order to be able to live successfully in today’s global, multicultural world. One of
the principles of curriculum design is interculturalism, i.e. understanding and acceptance of cultural
differences with the aim of removing prejudice towards members of other cultures. Also, one of the
educational goals of social-humanistic area is to help students acquire intercultural competence
which will enable them to accept and understand others and the different, regardless of their
cultural, ethnic or national background. Likewise, one of the outcomes in the art area is to develop
tolerance towards other cultures through listening to and playing pieces of music of different
tradition.
In the Music curriculum (Nastavni program Glazbene umjetnosti, 1994) multiculturalism
and intercultural education are not mentioned, and listening (which is dominant in the curriculum)
does not encompass pieces outside the Western European music tradition. However, in textbooks
and on accompanying CDs there are twelve pieces from different European countries and twenty
pieces belonging to non-European cultures from all continents. Yet, these pieces are very short and
they should be introduced over 2 to 3 lessons (out of 140 lessons altogether).
The amount of intercultural content in music instruction
The aim of this paper was to establish the amount of intercultural content in grammar school
music instruction in Central European countries. The analysis of national curricula, school
144
Eurypedia-European Encyclopedia on National Education Systems. Retrieved from:
https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/fpfis/mwikis/eurydice/index.php/Switzerland:Overview, 9.3.2015.
145
Stundentafeln nach Umsetzung des MAR. Retrieved from:
http://www.baselland.ch/fileadmin/baselland/files/docs/ekd/schulen/lehrpl_gym/pdf/stundentafeln-gym05.pdf, 9.3.2015.
146
Lehrplan für den gymnasialen Bildungsgang · Fachlehrplan Bildnerisches Gestalten. Retrieved from:
http://www.erz.be.ch/erz/de/index/mittelschule/mittelschule/gymnasium/lehrplan_maturitaetsausbildung.assetref/dam/documents/ER
Z/MBA/de/AMS/ams_klm_musik.pdf, 9.3.2015.
147
meNet. Music Education in Italy. Retrieved from: http://menet.mdw.ac.at/menetsite/english/topics.html?m=1&c=0&lang=en,
9.3.2015.
148
MZOS Republike Hrvatske. Retrieved from: http://public.mzos.hr/Default.aspx?sec=3061, 10.3.2015.
110
Amir Begić
curricula, teaching plans and the content of CDs used in teaching shows that in the most national
curricula (in the countries where a curriculum is implemented) intercultural competence is one of
the competences that students need to develop. This, of course, refers to the area of music as well,
but in teaching it is not accomplished to the wanted extent for multiple reasons. First, the number of
music lessons in most countries is small (one to two lessons per week), Music is very often not
taught in all four years of education and it is often an elective course, sometimes even combined
with other subjects. Second, teaching content is exceedingly oriented towards the western European
cultural tradition, and the music traditions of other European and non-European cultures are
neglected (Table 1).
Table 1. The amount of intercultural content in music instruction in European countries
The amount of music of

The number of music lessons other cultures - non-
per week Western European and
Country non-European
In a
1st 2nd 3rd 4th small
None A lot
grade grade grade grade amou
nt
Hungary 1 1 11 11 +
Slovenia 22 21 21 21 +
Austria 2 2 21 11 +
Germany 1 1 23 23 +
Czech
23 23 21 21 +
Republic
Slovakia 14 14 14 14 +
Switzerland 2 2 1/2 - +
Italy - - - - +
Croatia 1 1 1 1 +
1 - as elective subject
2 - combination of obligatory and elective
3 - students choose between music and fine arts
4 - not a separate subject
Table 1 shows that there is not enough teaching content which is oriented towards the music
of other cultures. Grammar school music instruction needs to be designed in the opposite direction.
Music is, more than any other, an area which interwoven with the spirit of interculturalism. As
Dobrota (2009) says, the superiority of Western art tradition is debatable (at least) and it is very
questionable to claim that this music is more natural than other types of music. We think that the
111
Amir Begić
progress in designing curricula, considering intercultural education in music teaching, is possible by
introducing music of less known European and above all non-European traditions and cultures.
There is no need to emphasize that today’s technology enables us to travel with our students
(virally) to the farthest parts of the Earth. Listening to (and watching) Indonesian gamelan
orchestra, dancing with students to the calypso sounds of a Caribbean steel-band, teaching them
how to sing a nyatiti song from Kenya and talking to them about the traditions of these faraway
cultures - this is the right way for a teacher to play a role in intercultural education of their students.
Such a teacher should, as a part of modern student-oriented education, help students develop
their intercultural competences. At the same time, a question is raised whether students who are
studying to become educators develop these competences during education and if they do, whether
this is enough. The results of a research done at one of the Croatian music academies (Begić 2015)
have shown that the intercultural competences of students of Music pedagogy are not sufficiently
developed during their studies. Evidently, more attention needs to be given to music and tradition of
other cultures for students to acquire more knowledge of cultures different from theirs and to
develop intercultural competences required for their future profession.
Conclusion
Interculturalism in music instruction in modern education means encountering, understanding and

accepting music of numerous cultures more or less similar to the culture of our surroundings.
Encountering and accepting as many different music traditions as possible is a way towards a more
comprehensive view and understanding of the entire human cultural reach. The results of the
research done in this paper have shown that the intercultural content is insufficiently represented in
music instruction, and in some countries it is not represented at all. This means that the
development of intercultural competence in music instruction mostly stays at a declarative level.
Therefore, modern intercultural curricula, a teacher who is interculturally competent and the
intercultural approach itself in the music instruction in grammar school is a prerequisite and a
necessity for the comprehensive and positive development of young people, subjects of the
multicultural world and the times we live in.
References:
Begić, A. (2015) Interkulturalne kompetencije studenata Glazbene pedagogije. In: Škojo, T.

(Ed.), Umjetnik kao pedagog pred izazovima suvremenog odgoja i obrazovanja. Osijek:
Sveučilište Josipa Jurja Strossmayera u Osijeku, Umjetnička akademija u Osijeku (in press).
Dobrota, S. (2007) Interkulturalni pristup nastavi glazbe. Pedagogijska istraživanja, 4 (1), 119-
129.
Dobrota, S. (2009) Svjetska glazba u suvremenom glazbenom obrazovanju. Pedagogijska
istraživanja, 6 (1-2), 153-161.
Izgarjan, A., Markov, S. i Prodanović-Stankić, D. (2013) Gender and Politics as the Dominant
Factors in the Perceptions of Multicultural Education. Gender Studies, The Journal of West
University, Timisoara, Interdisciplinary Centre for Gender Studies, 12(1), 333-360.
Jeřábek, J. i Tupý, J. (Eds.) (2007) Framework Educational Programme for Basic Education.
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Sažetak
INTERKULTURALIZAM U GIMNAZIJSKOJ NASTAVI GLAZBE U

SREDNJOEUROPSKIM DRŽAVAMA
Amir Begić, Umjetnička akademija u Osijeku, Osijek
Kroz povijesni prikaz razvoja glazbene kulture može se vidjeti da su mnogi narodi sudjelovali u
njezinom razvoju. Glazbena se kultura razvijala ispreplitanjem stvaralaštva različitih naroda i
različitih kultura te je ona u svojoj biti multikulturalna umjetnost. Na nastavi glazbe sluša se glazba
vlastitog naroda, ali i glazba ostalih naroda. Upoznavanjem vlastite kulture razvija se svijest o
vlastitom kulturnom identitetu. Slušanjem glazbe drugih naroda upoznaje se njihova kultura. To
pridonosi razvoju interkulturalizma. U okviru rada ovoga analizirat će se programi gimnazijske
nastave glazbe u srednjoeuropskim državama. Cilj je utvrditi u kojoj je mjeri gimnazijska nastava
glazbe zasnovana na interkulturalizmu. Pokušat će se doći do teorijskih spoznaja o tome na koji
način bi se mogao ostvariti napredak u kreiranju nastavnih sadržaja s obzirom na interkulturalni
odgoj.
Ključne riječi: nastava glazbe gimnazija interkulturalizam
114
Irena Krumes Šimunović, Maja Koporčić
UDK 371.649:82
Review article
Irena Krumes Šimunović

Maja Koporčić
A COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH TO IVANA BRLIĆ-MAŽURANIĆ'S OPUS IN THE

DIGITAL MEDIA
Abstract
Contemporary media which are omnipresent in the public and domestic domain are also
frequently implemented in education. This particularly refers to the creation of teaching
materials and the digitising of school materials, especially pertaining to the literary opus of
Croatian writers. In order to make literature more accessible to readers, contemporary media
provide their users with a simpler and easier access to the literary message.
This research aimed to ascertain and analyse the didactic function of the medium as a mediator in
the works of Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić across various digital formats, as a source of information,
the instrument of creation, or the transfer of information between the user (pupil) and the text. By
means of quantitative analysis of the digital existence of particular literary works of the
aforementioned author, we are provided with types, forms and ways of accessibility at young
readers’ disposal.
Keywords: new media, teaching materials, Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, digitised literary works
1. Introduction
One of the integral systems for observing the world is that of communication, whose processes
are the subject of scientific research within the study of communicology149, one of the
149
Communicology is an interdisciplinary science engaging in research of various forms of communication among
living beings, and encompasses the study of content, formats and techniques of conveying information, as well as
115
strategically most important areas of study and advancement in the world today. The basis of
communication is the transfer of thoughts and messages, and its essential forms are based on
signs and sounds (Kesić 1997: 4). Nowadays communication is the integral part of contemporary
society. Due to the developments in modern technology, the nature of interactions among people
has significantly changed as well. Throughout history, communication among people has
developed from oral to written, from the invention of print to mass media, from analogue to
digital media, and multimedia networking. The foundation of online communication implies
Mensch-Maschine-Kommunikation (Schulz 1994: 140). Such type of communication
presupposes the existence of a computer as a mediator that transfers information to the receiver.
Owing to the great storage capacity of computers, it is nowadays possible to store all the human
knowledge in such extrapsychic memory and leave it at the disposal of every human, not only a
selected few. This fact allows us to finally conceive the possibility of all people mastering the
scientific and technical information inherent to human kind, which was up to this point
unimaginable… (Plenković 1993: 72).
Plenković (1993) argues that without transferring information into another communication
medium (speech, visual stimulus, electromagnetic wave, writing) the information remains
invisible and unheard by everyone but the author. For this reason it is noted that a medium is
worth as much as the transfer value of the information. Similarly, there is an interdependence
between the message and the medium by means of which both evolve and develop (Plenković
1993: 79).
This paper, in view of Laswell’s formula150, presents research dealing with communication on
the internet, including persons and organisations which take part in the creation and
dissemination of media content151, in this particular case the content used for educational
purposes. This area of study observes the method, the characteristics of the transferred content,
as well as the forms and types of availability of media content. The content refers to the literary
and artistic text which is transposed into one of the media by means of different artistic
expressions and genres.
2. New media and their function
the meaning of messages and their reception, and the effect of the messages exchanged between the sender and the
recipient (Hrvatska enciklopedija [Croatian Encyclopedia], http://www.enciklopedija.hr/Natuknica.aspx?ID=32687
retrieved Sept. 3 2015)
150
Lasswell's formula: “Who Says What In Which Channel To Whom With What Effect?“ (Harold D. Lasswell
1948:37).
151
See Kunczik, M. i Zipfel, A. (2006 : 5)
116
According to communication science, a medium152 is essentially a technical and physical means

of transforming a message into a signal which can be emitted via a channel (Zgrabljić Rotar
2005: 3).
The media are categorised into printed, electronic and new media153, or traditional (old) and
modern (new), and it is also possible to divide them according to other criteria, such as their role
in the communication process, the degree of publicity, or according to the structure and number
of media elements. A medium is most frequently defined as a “carrier of signs or information, or
a system of signs or information which enables/fosters communication between at least two
partners” (Dichanz, H. i Kolb, G. 1974: 21).
New media154 are characterised by an almost unlimited number of communication channels,
great accessibility, a variety of content that is mostly specialised and, therefore, less appealing to
the mass audience (Lullu 2000: 124). On the other hand, many believe that the media may
encourage the development of critical thinking of the receiver, but also contribute to the
multiplying of different audiences. Mass communication gives people the “conceivable power
inherent in the populist style” (Webster, Phalen, 1997: 21, qtd. in Ilišin 2006: 20).
The function of a medium is twofold: it is a carrier of information and/or a mediator in their
transmission (Rodek, 2007: 8).
T. Martinić (1994: 72-3) lists six functions of the mass media: informational (the creation and
acquisition of information), selective (choice and explanation of the acquired information),
explicative (using informational content to create coherent ideas), educational (transfer of
knowledge and cultural values), entertainment (free time, relaxation, leisure) and aesthetic (the
creation of specific media and aesthetic forms).
The fundamental importance of the media is in creating an effect that contributes to the success
of communication. This effect is the consequence of mediation (Nadrljanski 2007: 529). Potter
(2001) believes that one learns from the media and that media affect knowledge.
From an educational standpoint, the media themselves do not have direct impact on the learning
outcomes. Their effect is achieved indirectly – they simply open up new possibilities for the
didactic and methodological organisation of learning (Rodek 2011: 10-11).
3. Education by means of the new media
Electronic media have marked the previous century with technological changes which impacted
communication up to that point and opened doors for entirely new forms of communicating in
21st century. The computer as a medium is used in everyday activities ranging from business to
leisure. It can be said that we live in the times of all-encompassing informatisation. By means of
the development of information and communications technology (ICT) one communicates
152
The Media Law from 2004 states: “Media are newspaper and other printed sources, radio and television
programmes, news agencies programmes, electronic publications, teletext and other forms of daily or periodical
publishing or editorial programme content, content transfer recordings, voice, sound or picture”.
153
See Lipovčan (2006: 21).
154
Nowadays the term new media also includes the tems electronic, digital, interactive, or multimedia. The new
media imply those that enable the digital transfer of different files.
117
increasingly via the media: by texting, using electronic mail, social networks (Facebook,
Twitter), web pages, chat, internet forums, or internet telephony (Skype).
This communication aspect has reflected on the education process as well. Among younger
generations this communication has resulted in a new language. More specifically, language has
never appeared as such before, as is evident from the use of various emoticons, abbreviations,
acronyms, syllabic abbreviations, longer abbreviations… (Filipan-Žignić 2012). The new
language of the media, whose use is particularly spread among younger generations, points to the
popularity of the use of electronic media, which eventually prompted individuals to use these
media for educational purposes in order to make it possible for pupils to access Croatian
literature in their favourite medium (the internet). In this case we speak of media didactics or
“learning with the media” while using the media with the purpose of achieving educational goals
and objecitves (Uldrijan 2011: 185).
Education by means of modern interactive media is of significantly higher quality when
compared to traditional methods of education. Digitised information can be more easily
presented by using pictures, animation or sounds, while simultaneously appealing to more senses
and providing complex information. The advantage of online system is the speed of information
flow and the possibility of its actualisation (Nadrljanski et al. 2007: 528).
Digital media, aside from information transfer, also allow for novel access to messages and
content which significantly changes the type of reception in the recipient. The reception of the
recipient (in this case a pupil) is multiply affected because it is closer to their perception of the
world, and additionally the media are an integral part of the life of new generations. The message
that they receive on everyday basis is multisensory, fast and interesting with a multitude of brief
pieces of information, impressive and aggressive.
The media learning environment has been enriched in the previous ten years by many
educational projects on the greatest communication network created by human kind - the internet
(Jollife, A., Ritter, J. and Stevens, 2001). Various sources speak of online learning, long distance
learning or web-based instruction (Matijević 1992). Learning by means of computers and the
internet is enabled from the first day of schooling. An especially important issue connected to the
use of multimedia and the internet for learning and teaching are the questions of criteria for the
selection of didactic models and didactic strategies built into a multimedium (Matijević). These
issues are dealt with by multimedia didactics (Issing 1994, Issing 2002).
Today contemporary schools introduce the new media, yet, they are non-critically implemented
(Matijević, 1). The emphasis is on the power of the media in transferring knowledge, as well as
encouraging and helping pupils. Schools frequently use PowerPoint presentations, film, DVD or
other multimedia, as well as hypertext.
School achievements and the attention of pupils are not only affected by the type of medium and
content, but also the time spent with each of the media. Accordingly, the majority of scholars
concluded that it is ideal for a child to spend less than two hours per day engaging with the
media. It is important to know that children were not born for the media, but the more exposed
they are to different media, the more their message reception changes. According to children’s
perception, some media require more effort, and therefore the level of required effort will affect
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whether they will perceive the information derived from the media with more or less intensity
(Cohen i Salomon 1979). Equally so, the reception of the information from the media is affected
by the context and the environment. Children who are initially prepared for the comprehension
check of the content received via one of the media are more attentive and focused on the material
and, thus, learn better (Salomon 1983).
However, in schools such types of media and media content are primarily used to link various
activities or, in pre-schools, to “calm” children down during the so-called “quiet time”, and less
frequently as the instrument of teaching (Strasburger, Wilson, Jordan 2009: 111).
4. Digital natives or Net generation

Research conducted approximately twenty years ago has revealed that children spend more time
with the media than engaging in other activities aside from sleeping. Likewise, growing up they
are more likely to spend more time watching television than spend time in the classroom
(Hearold 1986).
The past few years have seen the coming-of-age of a new generation marked by the digital
revolution. This generation was influenced by a widespread use of media, digital technologies
and information. One third of their time is spent in front of the television, computers, using the
internet, mobile phones, tablets, mp3 players, etc. They are naturally controlling of the
information flow, absorb twice as much data as the previous generations, learn only what they
select, communicate simultaneously in many different ways, and simultaneously perform several
intellectually demanding activities (Bubonjić 2013). All new technological products on the
market are immediately embraced by this generation because they represent the gratification of
their immediate desires. This is accompanied by reverse education evident in parents being
taught about approaches to new technologies. All this points to the need to change the traditional
schooling in order to adapt it to the generation growing up in the internet era which
accommodates the immediate need for information.
The internet has brought together all classic mass media and become an irreplaceable part of
every person’s everyday life. Each day millions of people create and take part in sharing user
content on the internet. The internet network has become a universal publishing medium, a
central site of communication and education. In other words, the internet has become a
multimedia classroom opening up unthinkable opportunities within the system of education.
Children and young adults, having been socialised by the media, have developed ways of using
the media that are completely different from those used by their parents. They do not create a
distinction between “the world” and “the world of the media”. They are children in the world of
the internet and the internet is a part of their world. (Labaš 2011: 37)
Children who have grown up using the computer “think differently than the rest of us. They have
developed hypertextual minds. They skip back and forth as if they have parallel cognitive
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structures that do not perform sequentially” (Prensky 2001). The linear way of thinking that
dominates education systems could now actually make learning a difficult task for a brain that
has developed while playing electronic games or surfing the internet. (Moore 1997)
For example, repetitive exposure to electronic games and other digital media develops thinking
skills such as decoding visual images that seem to represent three-dimensional space
(representational competence) for example, multidimensional visual-spatial skills, mental maps,
“mental paper folding” (i.e. mental representation of the results of different types of folding,
such as origami, without actually creating those forms), “inductive reasoning” (i.e. reasoning,
forming a hypothesis and detecting the rules of a certain dynamic representation), “dividing
attention” (such as simultaneous observing of multiple locations, as well as faster reaction time
to expected and unexpected stimuli (Greenfield, 1984: 4).
Even though observed separately, these cognitive skills are no novelty, but their combination and
intensity certainly is. We are now facing a new generation that is displaying a different
combination of cognitive skills than their predecessors – the generation of digital natives.
Because of their experience, digital natives seek interactivity – a fast reaction to any of their
actions. Traditional schooling can in that respect offer them very little compared to the rest of the
world (a research revealed that pupils in the classroom on average ask a question every 10 hours)
(Graesser 1994 104-107.) Therefore, it is not true that digital natives cannot follow instruction,
but consciously choose not to do it.
Research that has been conducted over sveral decades reveals that some educational television
programmes encourage children to understand and acquire new words, while on the other hand,
it has not been proven how this impacts the acquisition of more complex language structures
such as grammar (Naigles and Mayeux 2001). A longitudinal study in Germany with two parallel
groups over four years proved the positive correlation of educational programmes and reading
achievements (Ennemoser and Schneider 2007). Jackson et al. (2006) have concluded that
children with reading difficulties were assisted by the use of the internet at home because this
was a way of supporting textual information.
Velički and Velički (2015) are of the opinion that the Net generation requires professionally
adjusted teaching materials so that they fit into “small drawers” in order to be presented to
pupils. A teacher nowadays should prepare a presentation using short sentences and interesting
facts in order to hold the attention of pupils, should interrupt lectures with visual presentations
and films, and should be entertaining. Memorising as a skill has been replaced with entertaining
content and a memorising technology. This reflects on the poorer acquisition of grammar,
writing, as well as precise synthesising and deduction, as reported by more recent research
(Velički 2015: 118).
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5. Digitising teaching materials and literature
The digitising of teaching materials, and literature in particular, has opened up undreamed
possibilities of didactic implementation in education and the reception of literary text. The
internet, in other words cyber space, has become a place of sharing complete literary
achievements, but also a virtual space in which new works of literature are created.
Based on Bakhtin’s theory of communication and the exchange of utterances between speakers,
Vaupotič (2013) emphasises that a person using hypertext or digital text cannot create the same
images as the author, which results in more layers of authorship. For example, in traditional
publishing there are three roles: that of the author who grounds the textual material in one of the
media, the editor who critically assesses the text before publication, and the publisher who
creates the text in relation to the economic and political demands (Vaupotič 2013).
In his work Medmrežje in literature Strehovec (2008: 124) discusses the internet as a network
that represents both the distribution and reproduction, and the production of literary texts. In this
way many literary contents and many collections become easily accessible at one click. For this
reason there are media that enable the shaping of new literary content of blogs, Wiki texts or
installations.
Vaupotič (2007: 203) discusses hypertext narration, software poetry, interactive drama, textual
computer games and blogs that appeared in the 1980’s and 1990’s in relation to literary
experiments. This poses the question in which way the tradition of literary thinking and
capturing the world can be inspired within a completely new context. It includes, along with
verbal, also the visual, sound and video presentation.
In this way the digitised literary teaching material becomes multimedial, accessible to new
generations outside the classroom as well, authorially diverse, multipurpose and multilingual.
The digitised teaching materials are in line with the requirements of the process of instruction
which can capture the attention of pupils and transform a less attractive textual material into the
source of fun and literary creation.
Digitised literary texts foster pupils’ individualised approach to literature, especially the required
reading. They enable the extracurricular reading of the text, and anticipate the adjustments for
pupils with reading difficulties by means of systems used to interpret content, explain archaic
words, unknown terminology connected to historical attire, footwear, manners, historical events.
Likewise, digitised teaching materials for literature instruction may include reading
comprehension checks, quizzes and competitions. A digitised literary text can be an incentive for
creative processes in the new media and combine media such as film, comic, picture book, diary
or blog.
Research by Nina Tadić (2013) demonstrated that pupils associate new media and literature
firstly through a literary text that is available in the media (57%), or required reading in digitised
form (31%), whereas copying the required reading is mentioned by only 9% of the pupils, and
hypertext or text organised according to the principle of non-linearity and interactivity is brought
up by only 3% of the pupils. This means that digitised literature that at the same time represents
didactic material is still difficult to find in schools.
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6. Content and research methodology
Research problem
Required reading is nowadays facing a great crisis, while at the same time the attractive new
media dominate the textual medium. By digitising literary accomplishments it is possible to
preserve, as well as realise, an educational potential of content available on the internet. Reading
that is made available in such a way with the support of technology is in accord with the
preferences of the Net generation and accommodates the needs of contemporary instruction.
Considering the fact that many teaching materials connected to Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić were
derived over the years from various sources, in this paper we will attempt to sytematise these
contents and provide a quantitative analysis of digital materials, particularly the content related
to Priče iz davnine [Croatian Tales of Long Ago].
Research goals
The focus of the research is the discovery of all digitised forms of literary and artistic
accomplishments of our most prominent children’s author Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić and her work
Croatian Tales of Long Ago. Her works are still widely read and many of them have found their
way into the virtual world.
We were foremostly interested in how many of such forms and types of digitised material on the
internet are available to pupils, and especially teachers during the teaching process.
For this reason the research was directed at:
1. finding all the digitised content related to the Croatian Tales of Long Ago
2. determining the type of media in which they can be found on the internet
3. determining the type and degree of access to the content on the internet (open access or
password protected)
4. researching the background of persons and organisations that took part in the creation of
the aforementioned content on the internet.
By using the content analysis method which dealt with the published works of Ivana Brlić-
Mažuranić in the digital media, it was determined which works of the aforementioned authoress
are available in digital format and in which way. The analysis encompassed media forms that
were released in the digital media up to August 15, 2015.
7. Works of Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić in the digital media
The works of Ivana Brlić–Mažuranić, created at the beginning of 20th century, were newly
adorned in 21st century by means of the digital media. Her works were aimed at younger readers,
and there is much interest in her opus even today among readers of all ages. Due to information
and communications technologies, the stories of Ivana Brlić–Mažuranić are more available than
ever to readers globally and via the internet.
122
Table 1. Croatian Tales of Long Ago: Stribor’s Forest [Šuma Striborova]
Priče iz davnine Medium Access Language in Author of the

[Croatian Tales which the text is posted media form
of Long Ago] available
Šuma comic/picture partly open Croatian Naklada Bulaja
Stribotrova book, DVD with English
[Stribor’s animated film, German
Forest] CD with audio
book
short synopsis, open Croatian Web page
characters and Lektire.hr
author
biography on the
web page
film (1991) open Croatian Yugoslavianmovie
on YouTube
audio book open Croatian Audio books
Muzika poezija
Film Umetnost
[Music Poetry
Film Art] ARTV
on YouTube
theatre play open Croatian Dječje kazalište
[Children’s
Theatre]
Pinokio / in three
parts, Etno selo
portal TV
Bubica trubica on
YouTube
audio story open Croatian Podvorjeschannel;
Vlajic, A., on
YouTube
opera for big restricted Croatian Hnkzajc on
and small YouTube
The table clearly displays in which media format Stribor’s Forest was available, and it is quite
evident that the selection is diverse. It appears as an animated film, text, theatre play, radio story,
and even an opera. Almost all forms are accessible and open to users, except for the opera for
which there is only one title page with an opening paragraph. All forms are in Croatian, with the
exception of Naklada Bulaja which offers the translation into English and German. The internet
pages which contain these formats are Lektire.hr, YouTube and the official web page of Naklada
123
“Bulaja”. The media forms available on YouTube are uploaded by private users, as is the case
with the 1991 film, or institutions such as HNK “Ivan Zajc” [Croatian National Theatre “Ivan
Zajc”]. During project instruction in Tučepi elementary school 4th grade pupils depicted Stribor’s
Forest as part of their required reading by means of drawings and retellings, and posted the
recording on YouTube. From all of the above one can conclude that the tale of Stribor’s Forest is
still present in its electronic form via many different media forms and has by means of them
become more available to a wider audience. Similarly, there is visible interest in adapting it to
screen in different forms.
Table 2. Brother Jaglenac and Rutvica Sister [Bratac Jaglenac i sestrica Rutvica]
Priče iz
Language in Author of the
davnine
Medium Access which the text posted media
[Croatian Tales
is available form
of Long Ago]
animated partially open Croatian, Naklada Bulaja
interactive story English,
German
text of the tale on open Croatian Wikisource

the web page Baza bajki [Fairy
Tale Database]
Bratac Jaglenac children’s play open Croatian Dječje kazalište
i sestrica IBM [Children’s
Rutvica Theatre IBM] on
[Brother YouTube
Jaglenac and
Rutvica Sister]
animated film open Croatian Katarina Čipčić
English on YouTube
subtitles
theatre play closed Croatian Teatar.hr
After analysing the posted version of Brother Jaglenac and Rutvica Sister by Ivana Brlić-
Mažuranić in electronic form it is easy to detect various media forms ranging from animated and
interactive stories, text, drama, to animated features. Naklada Bulaja has enabled the translation
into English and German via the partially open access to their media format. The textual forms
available in the Croatian language were posted by the Wikisource and the Fairy Tale Database
with open access, as well as the children’s play and animated film which were uploaded onto
YouTube. Closed access is evident in the announcements of Teatar.hr on YouTube. This literary
124
work which constitutes the integral part of Croatian Tales of Long Ago has proven its popularity,
earned before the development of information and communications technology, and has further
exhibited it by appearing in numerous electronic forms and within novel technological frames.
Table 3. How Quest Sought the Truth [Kako je Potjeh tražio istinu]
Priče iz
davnine
[Croatian Tales
is available form
of Long Ago]
animated film and partially open Croatian, Naklada Bulaja
3 computer games English,
German
Kako je Potjeh full text open Croatian Lektire.hr web

tražio istinu page
[How Quest eLektire. Skole.hr
Sought the
Truth]
audio book in two open Croatian Audio books
parts Muzika poezija
Film Umetnost
ARTV on
YouTube
puppet play partially open Croatian Stipić,B.,YouTub
e
digital book open Croatian Childrenslibrary.o
rg
As is shown in the table, this tale from the Croatian Tales of Long Ago published by Naklada
Bulaja as an animated film and three computer games has partially open access and was
translated into Croatian, English and German. The full text, audio book and digital book are open
access, as opposed to the puppet play to which the access in this case is partially open and which
was uploaded on YouTube by a private user. During this analysis one may detect the frequency
of screen adaptations of the Croatian Tales of Long Ago.
Table 4. Toporko and His Nine Brothers [Lutonjica Toporko i devet župančića]
Priče iz Language in Author of the

davnine Medium Access which the text posted media
[Croatian Tales is available form
of Long Ago]
125
LutonjicaTopor animated partially open Croatian, Naklada Bulaja

ko i devet interactive story English,
župančića German
[Toporko and
His Nine
Brothers]
text open Croatian Baza bajki [Fairy
Tale Database] -
web page
eLektire.hr
theatre play partially open Croatian IGK tv on
YouTube
This table overview of the tale Toporko and His Nine Brothers offers another edition of Naklada
Bulaja as an interactive story with partially open access and the translation into English and
German. The full text on the web page Baza bajki [Fairy Tale Database] and eLektira with open
access allows for reader accessibility without limitations. The particularity striking feature with
regard to the screen adaptation of this tale posted on YouTube by a private person are the
English subtitles. This is the only video footage including the translation into a foreign language
which does not belong to the Naklada Bulaja edition.
Table 5. Sun Groomsman and Neva Nevičica [Sunce djever i Neva Nevičica] in electronic media
Priče iz
davnine
[Croatian
is available form
Tales of Long
Ago]
Neva theatre, picture partially open Croatian, Naklada Bulaja
book, DVD, English,
audio CD, German
colouring book
Sunce djever i full text open Serbian Magičan svet
Neva Nevičica Croatian knjiga [The
[Sun Magical World of
Groomsman Books]
and Neva eLektire.hr
Nevičica]
theatre play partially open Croatian Puškarić, I. on
YouTube
theatre play partially open Croatian 034TV on
YouTube
126
Naklada Bulaja has published the work titled Neva in DVD, audio and CD format. The original
title Sunce djever i Neva Nevičica was released in Serbian in textual electronic format with open
access, and the author of this format is Magičan svet knjiga [The Magical World of Books]. In
the Croatian language the textual format was posted by eLektire.hr as part of the larger entity of
the Croatian Tales of Long Ago. The theatre play which is partially open for access was
uploaded onto YouTube by a private person. What is detected in this case is the fewer number of
media forms compared to the previous tales from Croatian Tales of Long Ago.
Table 6. Fisherman Plunk and His Wife [Ribar Palunko i njegova žena]
Priče iz
davnine
[Croatian
is available form
Tales of Long
Ago]
animated partially open Croatian, Naklada Bulaja
Ribar Palunko i interactive story English,
njegova žena German
[Fisherman
Plunk and His
Wife]
full text open Croatian Lektira.hr
play open Croatian Puškarić, I. on

Ribar Palunko i YouTube
njegova žena
theatre partially open Croatian Kazalište lutaka
performance Zadar [Zadar
Puppet Theatre]
on YouTube
stage play in open Croatian Svijet bajki
ikavica [World of Fairy
Tales] on
YouTube
A great interest in media forms in electronic format is evident in the example of the tale
Fisherman Plunk and His Wife. What is especially significant is the fact that this story was
performed as a stage play in ikavica, because no other tale from the Croatian Tales of Long Ago
was performed in one of the Croatian dialects, only in standard Croatian language. As part of the
elementary school open days with partially open access the performance Fisherman Plunk and
His Wife was made available on YouTube, which points to the promoting of Croatian literature
127
in extracurricular activities. As a part of Croatian Tales of Long Ago Naklada Bulaja publishes
its work in electronic form as well, accompanied by the translation into German and English
language. The theatre performance, among other, is there to encourage the audience to visit the
theatre. Also apparent is the posting of the play on YouTube by the same user who posted the
story Sun Groomsman and Neva Nevičica.
Table 7. Jagor
Priče iz
davnine
[Croatian Tales
is available form
of Long Ago]
Jagor animated partially open Croatian, Naklada Bulaja
German
full text open Croatian Wikisource

Baza bajki [Fairy
Tale Database]
eLektire
animated film open Croatian Bulaja, H., on
YouTube
While analysing the occurrence of the tale Jagor from the Croatian Tales of Long Ago in
electronic media it is easily perceived that several authors posted it in textual form. Naklada
Bulaja displayed this literary work, much like all the aforementioned ones, in two foreign
languages, with partially open access, as an animated interactive story. Additionally, one of the
persons representing Naklada Bulaja posted it on YouTube with completely open access.
Table 8. Regoč
Priče iz
Language in
davnine Author of the
Medium Access which the text
[Croatian Tales posted media form
is available
of Long Ago]
Regoč animated partially open Croatian, Naklada Bulaja
German
full text open Croatian Lektire hr
128
musical play open Croatian Valentina the 2003

on YouTube/ 4
sequels
musical play open Croatian Petričević, M. on
YouTube
musical play partially open Croatian Kazalište lutaka
Zadar [Zadar
Puppet Theatre]
digital book open Croatian Childrenslibrary.org
Regoč in electronic media was also released by Naklada Bulaja as an animated interactive story
available by way of partially open access and translation into foreign languages, much like in
previous analyses. On the internet web pages one can find the text of this story, as well as the
musical plays which were posted by private users on YouTube with fully open access. This
literary work is also available on the internet pages as a digital book.
Table 9. The Brave Adventures of a Shoemaker’s Boy [Čudnovate zgode Šegrta Hlapića]
Literary Work Language in Author of the

Medium Access which the text is posted media
available form
Čudnovate short synopsis open Croatian Lektire hr
zgode Šegrta
Hlapića [The
Brave
Adventures of a
Shoemaker’s
Boy]
animated film : open Croatian Najlepšicrtaci on
1) Hlapićeve nove YouTube/ 7
zgode [Lapitch the episodes
Little Shoemaker] partially open
2) Čudnovate Croatian Klasiktv1 on
zgode šegrta YouTube
Hlapića [The
Brave Adventures
of a Little
Shoemaker]
129
radio story open Croatian Munge83 on

YouTube
animated film open Croatian Svastracxy on
Hlapić YouTube / 12
episodes
film / movie trailer open Croatian Cinemaworld456
Šegrt Hlapić
theatre play partially open Bosnian Mlakić, A. on
YouTube
digitised first open Croatian ArhivPro
edition of the book
The Brave Adventures of a Shoemaker’s Boy is a novel published in 1913 and translated from
Croatian into many languages including Slovenian, Slovakian, Macedonian, Burgenland
Croatian, English, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Albanian, Romanian, Chinese, as well as the Romansh
language, Latin, German and Braille (Brešić, 2014). Regarding Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić’s
reference list Brešić (2014) stresses the issues attached to published works with false titles such
as The Brave Adventures and Misadventures of Lapitch acoss several editions. What is evident in
the analysis of electronic media is the release of the animated movie in seven episodes titled
Hlapićeve nove zgode which is posted in seven sequels and inspired by this novel. The same
animated film was posted under the title Hlapić in twelve sequels by svastracxy on YouTube
with the total number of views amounting to 100.000. The most viewed is the excerpt from the
animated film posted by klasiktv1 with 200.000 views. The theatre play performed by Gradsko
kazalište mladih «Vitez» [City Youth Theatre “Vitez”] in Bosnian language on YouTube makes
it possible for the audience to view a short excerpt from it. The film The Brave Adventures of a
Little Shoemaker is posted as a movie trailer. There is also the radio story, yet, this novel also has
its digitised first edition with fully open access on the pages of ArhivPro.
Table 10. School and Holidays [Škola i praznici] and Jaša Dalmatin Viceroy of the Gujarati [Jaša
Dalmatin potkralj Gudžerata]
Literary Work Medium Access Language in Author of the

which the text is posted media
available form
Škola i praznici electronic open Croatian ArhivPRO
[School and edition of the
Holidays] original
(1905) published in
1905
Jaša Dalmatin text open Croatian Dzs.ffzg.unizg.hr
potkralj Wikisource
130
Gudžerata [Jaša
Dalmatin
Viceroy of the
Gujarati]
The least representation in electronic media is given to School and Holidays and Jaša Dalmatin
Viceroy of the Gujarati. ArhivPro provides the original work School and Holidays from 1905 in
electronic format, while the novel Jaša Dalmatin Viceroy of the Gujarati can be found as full
text in electronic media.
While further reviewing the total number of views on YouTube for each of the literary works,
the graph below displays their mutual ratio. Due to the fact that each of the works except for the
last two, School and Holidays and Jaša Dalmatin Viceroy of the Gujarati, were noted in some
sort of media form on YouTube where it is possible to monitor their respective number of views,
it is possible to graphically display them in this paper.
Chart 1. Overview of views on YouTube up to August 14, 2015.

Toporko and His
Brother Jaglenac Nine Brothers;
and Rutvica [VALUE]
Sister; 2,239 How Quest
Sought the Truth;
Stribor's forest; [VALUE]
40,982 Sun Groomsman
and Neva
Nevičica; 6,176
Fisherman
Plunk; 8,572
The Brave
[CATEGORY
Adventures of a
Shoemaker's NAME]; 3,864
Boy; 325,300
By means of the graphic representation of the total number of views for each of the literary
works on YouTube it is visible that the biggest number of views, 325,300, refers to The Brave
Adventures of a Shoemaker’s Boy in different media formats. Because YouTube offers the
animated film under two different titles (Hlapićeve nove zgode and Hlapić) which refer to the
same film, in one case divided into seven and in other into twelve episodes, with completely
open access, as well as the excerpt from the animated movie Čudnovate zgode šegrta Hlapića
which alone had 200,000 views, the total for these two categories is 250,000 views. From all of
131
the above it is possible to conclude that the greatest number of views of the excerpt from the
animated film titled Hlapićeve nove zgode is reason enough to provide the correct title of this
work, and that electronic media users primarily search for the animated film under its original
title and based on that conclude that the other two versions titled Hlapićeve nove zgode and
Hlapić refer to the animated film Čudnovate zgode šegrta Hlapića [The Brave Adventures of a
Little Shoemaker].
By analysing the number of views for Stribor’s Forest one detects a higher number of views on
YouTube compared to the rest of the works. The reason for that is open access to whole plays,
film, radio story, as opposed to the rest of the works of Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić which have
partially open access to plays on YouTube, or the access is completely closed. Such partially
open access mostly refers to the announcements of the upcoming shows at the time when the
video was posted, or are part of the report about the play that had already taken place. Equally
so, the extreme popularity of Croatian Tales of Long Ago and The Brave Adventures of a
Shoemaker’s Boy, which was established before the invention of information and
communications technology, is the reason behind their adaptation into dramatic texts, audio
stories, animated films, live-action features and their appearance in electronic media. All the
figures regarding the number of views displayed in the chart were obtained before August 2015.
8. Discussion
In order to research which literary works from the opus of Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić can be found in
electronic media, a quanititative analysis was performed. Represented in digital format are all the
tales from the collection Croatian Tales of Long Ago, The Brave Adventures of a Shoemaker’s
Boy, School and Holidays and Jaša Dalmatin Viceroy of the Gujarati. The listed works in their
printed form have been translated into foreign languages, which is particularly evident in the
case of the novel The Brave Adventures of a Shoemaker’s Boy, however, many translations are
found of the Croatian Tales of Long Ago as well. What the web space enables in terms of the
written word is the availability of different media forms of the authentic or artistically adapted
work from play to digital book or audio story to film in one location. Because through her
creation Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić was particularly dedicated to children, and at the same time
highly esteemed by adult readers, all these media forms on various web pages have offered them
access to new editions, and her popularity with young readers has resulted in screen adaptations
of her work in a format accessible to children, the animated film. The characters from her books
have been embodied by numerous actors, pupils, or animated characters, thus giving children the
possibility to experience the work of Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić more intensely. Schools have been
implementing projects connected to the author’s work and making it possible for children to
personally become a part of her fairy tales by playing the role of Hlapić the Apprentice, Regoč or
another one of Ivana’s heroes.
Due to the fact that the literary texts from the opus of Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić have been included
in textbooks and required reading lists, they are very much present in the domain of formal
education. Yet, what we are trying to present to a contemporary child is the variety of format.
132
Therefore, all the forms that are aimed at children, as well as adults as network users, offer a
contemporary form of literature which enables interactive reception. At the same time, it affects
cognitive, spatial and motor skills because engaging in electronic literature requires information
and communications skills.
9. Conclusion
Digitising has enabled availability and simple browsing of a great number of texts, as well as
literature as a common good. In this way the electronic medium becomes especially appropriate
for publication of lengthy editions such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, manuals or literary works
(Živković, 2001). Accordingly, literature is given a new type of manifestation online. In the era
of intense development of information and communications technologies when new technologies
are used for various purposes, such as advertising, disseminating information, or education,
literature occupies a special place in this global space.
In digital format children’s literature and works of Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić enable a reader to
engage in sensory activities. It unifies the activation of several senses, tactile when opening a
digital file, and visual and audio when engaging with animation. Furthermore, it develops ICT
skills, as well as cognitive, spatial and motor skills. Literature in digital format is consumed by a
variety of readers, it affects the developments of language competence in pupils and is a
motivation for foreign language learning. Likewise, it develops a positive attitude and critical
thinking involved in interacting with the media. Considering their wide scope of sensory
influence, different media forms can help with specific learning disabilities, for example
providing pupils with dyslexia with literary content in the form of animated film or a radio story.
By digitising literature we achieve a principle of edutainment by approaching literature via the
new media which foster a better reception and cognition opportunities, and modernise the
process of instruction. Therefore, one can conclude that the high quality digital content such as
literature provides numerous advantages, such as learning motivation and the higher appeal of
content itself.
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Sažetak
KOMUNIKOLOŠKI PRISTUP STVARALAŠTVU IVANE BRLIĆ MAŽURANIĆ U

DIGITALNIM MEDIJIMA
Irena Krumes Šimunović, Fakultet za odgojne i obrazovne znanosti, Osijek
Maja Koporčić, Fakultet za odgojne i obrazovne znanosti, Osijek
Suvremeni mediji, sveprisutni u suvremenom životu, omogućuju digitalizaciju književnog

stvaralaštva hrvatskih pisaca. Digitalizacijom se književnost približila svakom čitatelju pod
jednakim uvjetima, na jednostavan i pristupačan način. Ovim se istraživanjem nastoji provjeriti
kvantitativna zastupljenost stvaralaštva Ivane Brlić- Mažuranić u digitalnim medijima kao jedne
vrste komunikacijskog kanala izmeñu korisnika i djela. Analizom svih digitalnih oblika
pojedinih književnih naslova spomenute književnice dobiveni su rezultati koji ukazuju na vrstu i
razinu njihove pristupačnosti čitateljima školske dobi.
Ključne riječi: Ivane Brlić-Mažuranić, digitalni mediji, komunikološki pristup
136
Danijel Vojak
From the history of the Roma suffering in some Central European countries shortly before and during
World War II (Hungary, Croatia, Czechoslovakia, Poland)
UDK 341.48(4-191.2)”1940/1945”
Review article
Danijel Vojak
Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar, Zagreb
FROM THE HISTORY OF THE ROMA SUFFERING IN SOME CENTRAL

EUROPEAN COUNTRIES SHORTLY BEFORE AND DURING WORLD WAR II
(HUNGARY, CROATIA, CZECHOSLOVAKIA, POLAND)
Abstract
Up to the World War II in most European countries there were no violent assimilation
attempts like those that had already been in progress in Nazi Germany. With the beginning of
World War II and the spreading of Nazi influence on many European countries, either directly
because of occupation, or indirectly as ally countries, some parts of Nazi anti-Roma model
started to be implemented. The analysis of this paper deals with Central European governments
such as Hungarian, Croatian, Czechoslovak and Polish and their attitude to minority Roma
population during World War II. A separate part of analysis focuses on the question whether and
to which extent Nazi government had an impact on the attitude of the abovementioned
governments to the Roma.
Keywords: the Roma, World War II, Croatia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland
1. Introduction
The Roma started to inhabit Central Europe in the 14th century when migrating from
south-eastern areas. Although they were welcomed at the beginning, in the 15th century the
Central European governments’ attitude changed, as well as in most other European countries
and negative perception of the Roma increased. This repressive relation of the governments to
the Roma was aimed at their forced assimilation which was especially perceptible between the
two world wars and during World War II. In these circumstances one of the most difficult
periods in Roma history in Europe began after World War I and lasted until the end of World
War II. In this period European governments’ attitude to the Roma changed, and they attempted
to deal with the “Roma question” by violently implementing assimilation and extermination. The
Roma were a minority that did not have their own state so this consequently led to their
marginalisation in these countries. Nazi ideology did not only have an impact in its “host”
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countries, Germany and Italy, but it spread across the borders and influenced other countries’
attitude to the Roma. One of the questions raised in this paper is the extent of Nazi Germany’s
influence on the attitude to the Roma in other European countries.
2. Nazi anti-Gypsy model

The research on the position of the Roma in Europe has to start with Germany that
was a
guiding force in dealing with the “Gypsy question” at that time. Namely, the German authorities,
even before the Nazi rule in 1933, were the first to create a system of treatment of the Roma
minority population. In these circumstances one can observe the establishing of judicial and
repressive-police mechanism to control the Roma and Sinti155 in the second part of the 19th
century. This was supported by the foundation of Gypsy Informative Service (German
Zigeuenernachrichtendienst or Zigeunerzentrale) in 1899 within Munich police. This police
department systematically collected data on the Roma and their property in order to carry out
close surveillance. This resulted in creating the most extensive records of that time containing
fingerprints and photographs of a few thousands of the Roma (Heuss, 2006, p. 8 – 9; Fraser,
1995, p. 251- 252; Lucassen & Willems & Cottaar, 1998, p. 85 – 87). This repressive practice of
control continued during Weimar Republic marked by stricter control and repression which
brought about new rigorous legal restrictions on the Roma positions (Friedlander, 1995, p. 247 –
248). At the same time the influence of racism on science and society was becoming more
evident in Germany at the end of the 19th century when racism also became “anti-Gypsy”. Most
German (racist) scientists considered the Roma “a mixture of more nations (races)” (German
Mischvolk) (Margalit, 2002, p. 16 – 18). In this way the Nazi authorities adhered to the
repressive “anti-Gypsy” policy which was a part of their racist ideology. The Nazi repressive
anti-Gypsy model was formed and implemented through politics of prohibition (limitations) of
travel and control of the Roma in specific areas in camps, which was all followed by constant
raids (Lewy, 2000, 20 – 23; Sparing, 2006, p. 32 – 47; Margalit, 2002, p. 33 – 34). The next level
of this model was sterilisation of the Roma which was based on eugenics and racist view of
“moral” and “hidden mental retardation” evident in symptoms like Roma resistance and not
adapting to social norms and the stereotype view of the Roma as cunning and sly people. Some
authors suggest that around 500 Roma people were sterilised as part of the asocial group until
1939 (Browning, 2005, p. 179 – 180; Fraser 1995, p. 256 – 257; Schmuhl, 2008, p. 357). The
Nuremberg Laws from 1935, although not explicitly mentioning the Roma, ostracised them
legally from German society. Later on, acts (decrees) restricted the Roma people’s rights to
marrying Germans and acquiring citizenship (Bruneteau, 2005, p. 87). The influence of eugenics
and racist scientists on the Nazi authorities was so enormous that the Research centre for
studying racial hygiene and biology of people (Rassenhygenische und bevölkerungsbiologische
Forschungsstelle), was founded in Berlin in 1936. The centre was a part of the Ministry of
155
Only the Sinti, a specific Roma minority named after a region Sind in India, lived in Germany until the mid-19th
century. The paper uses the term Roma for both, the Sinti and Roma unless it is different in works cited (Dekanović-
Helebrant, 1982, 333 – 334).
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Health under the authority of Robert Ritter (Friedlander, 1995, p. 249- 250; Schmuhl, 2008, p.
358). One of its aims was to study and collect data on the Roma in order to determine their racial
classification in German society and help the police and legal institutions to pass specific laws
for them. Ritter and his Research centre offered scientific foundations for political and police
attempts to deal with this issue on the basis of race (Heuss, 2006, p. 18 – 19; Sparing, 2006, p.
51). Warfare and Nazi (quick) territorial takeover motivated German politicians to consider the
need for moving the Roma, “racially impure”, from Germany to the occupied territory serving as
“a huge landfill for unwanted elements” (Crowe, 1996, p. 87; Bársony, 2008, pp. 28 – 29;
Crowe, 1995, p. 87; Vojak, 2004, pp. 447 – 476). Some Central and East European countries,
which took over parts of the Nazi model of treatment of the “Gypsy question”, were to become
“landfills” for the Roma.
3. The Roma in Hungary, Croatia, Czechoslovakia and Poland before

World War II
Nazi-socialist “project” ‘Endlősung’ (The Final Solution) spread as a wave of
aggressive
Nazism across the borders of other European countries where the Roma were some of the first
victims in World War II. The events that followed can be described as Porajmos, a term similar
to Holocaust156. Thy analysis of the Roma suffering includes countries such as Hungary, Croatia,
Czechoslovakia and Poland as exemplary countries of Central and East Europe. The criteria was
their geographical position and the number of the Roma. In order to better understand Roma
suffering in World War II, we must briefly consider the period between the two world wars.
The number of the Roma in these countries between the wars did not significantly differ.
It must be emphasised that the data vary depending on the source, official records or estimate.
According to the official records, the greatest number of the Roma lived in Slovakia, around
37,000 (in Bohemia / Protectorate around 6,500), while 15,000 lived in Poland, Hungary and
Croatia. At the same time according to the estimate, the greatest number of the Roma lived in
Hungary and Slovakia, around 100,000. The estimate suggests that around 50,000 lived in
Poland, and more than a half of that number lived in Croatia (Bársony, 2008a, pp. 28 – 29;
Crowe, 1996, p. 48, 87, 180; Guy, 2004, p. 24; Vojak, 2004c, pp. 447 – 476). Statistic data are
cited from David Crowe who used official records from Census as well as estimates by some
scientists later. We should emphasise that the data from Census should be used carefully since
the methodology of that time could not include the entire Roma population in a certain region at
a specific time. Similarly, another problem is mimicry because the Roma feared society’s
156
Holocaust in this context refers to Nazi genocide of the Jews, Roma and others. This term has synonyms in other
languages (e.g. French Shooah, Armenian Aghet, Ukraine Holodomor, Arabic Anfal). Some scientists define
holocaust as mass terror and genocide of certain ethnic communities. Some scientists like Ian Hancock, a Romani
scholar, emphasise the term Porraimos (cutting up, devouring, rape), while other scientists criticise this term as
“ethically and linguistically inappropriate” since it primarily refers to sexual violence and is not part of “historical
memory” of the Roma. Other scientists use Samudaripen (complete destruction / mass killing), whereas German
scientists prefer Zigeunermord as analogy to Judenmord (Weiss – Wendt, 2013, pp. 23 – 24; Hancock, 2012, p. 34).
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negative attitude towards them so they hid their own ethnic identity and identified themselves
with the majority in a certain region (Vojak, 2004c, pp. 447 – 476; Vojak, 2004c, pp. 701-728).
The economic position of the Roma in these countries was also more or less similar since
they were socially and economically marginalised. Most Roma people worked in agriculture,
entertainment and trade and were especially skilled in woodwork and metal trade. Some of them
were involved in “dirty” work such as cleaning cesspits, digging wells, etc. (Hübschmannová,
2009, pp. 21 - 22; Vojak, 2013, 125 - 138).
Between the two wars Hungarian authorities promoted the policy of repressive
assimilation of the Roma and attempted to permanently settle nomadic Roma. A number of them
were often under the surveillance of the authorities which included their registration, physical
marking and putting some of the “disobedient” into state work camps (Bársony, 2008, pp. 49 -
50). During this period the authorities passed laws whose aim was to regulate the position of the
Roma and which prescribed tougher and more restrictive control of nomadic Roma travel and
strict measures like preventive arrest since the Roma were presumed to be suspects (Bársony,
2008, pp. 30 - 31; Barany, 2002, p. 100). In 1930s some Hungarian politicians suggested a more
radical solution such as concentration camps for the Roma, sterilisation, and racial laws, which
were all influenced by the Nazi model (Bársony, 2008, pp. 32; Katz, 2009, pp. 64 - 65; Barany,
2002, p. 100). The Czechoslovakian authorities tried to regulate the position of the Roma in a
similar way especially since they were under the influence and pressure of village inhabitants
who saw the Roma as “parasites”. These circumstances were the cause of numerous conflicts
between villagers and the Roma. A difficult economic situation naturally had a negative impact
on the relations between the Roma and the locals so the consequences were bloody riots (Roma
“pogrom”) (Crowe, 1996, p. 46; Barany, 2002, p. 98; Guy, 2004, pp. 23 – 24). In 1924 in Košice
19 Moldovan Roma were standing trial for cannibalism. The trial lasted for 5 years and most of
the accused were found guilty. Numerous European countries were reporting about that trial
(Crowe, 1996, p. 45; Guy, 2004, p. 23).
One of the consequences of this negative public atmosphere against the Roma was the anti-
Gypsy pressure on Czechoslovak authorities that in summer 1927 imposed new repressive
regulations on the Roma. Also, the new law on the Roma was influenced by a similar law passed
a year before in Bavaria. Its aim was to limit and keep under surveillance the travel of nomadic
Roma by giving them identity cards, taking fingerprints, taking away their children and putting
them into foster families or educational institutions (Heuss, 2006, p. 9; Purcsi Barna, 2008, pp.
51 – 52; Crowe, 1996, p. 45; Guy, 2004, p. 23; Hübschmannová, 2009, pp. 22). Besides these
negative examples of local inhabitants’ attitude to the Roma, there are some cases of cooperation
especially in education and culture. In mid-1920s in Slovakia a few Roma schools were opened
enabling a great number of them to finish primary school and become literate (Hübschmannová,
2009, p. 22). Furthermore, in 1930 in Košice a few Czechoslovak intellectuals founded an
association that studied the “Roma question” and organised Roma theatre plays and musical
performances (Crowe, 1996, p. 46 - 47; Guy, 2004, p. 24). The Polish authorities did not have a
defined policy in dealing with the Roma, which, according to some, enabled them to act
politically and organise themselves (Barany, 2002, p. 99). At that time in Poland a Romani
family Kwiek was well-known and they established themselves as Roma “royal dynasty” that
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gathered the Roma and were active economically and socially. They attempted to actively
engage in international politics and demanded a foundation of a special Roma state. Thus the
“Roma king” Janusz Kwiek got in touch with Mussolini, who, allegedly, supported the idea of
creating a special Roma state in Ethiopia (Crowe, 1996, p. 180; Barany, 2002, p. 102 -103;
Kenrick & Bakewell, 1995, p. 20). The Polish authorities did not pass specific laws with regard
to the Roma, but they let the Roma leaders make decisions since they were also working towards
permanent settling of nomadic Roma. The Roma in Croatia were not as organised as the ones in
Poland, neither was there concerted (non-Roma) initiative for their education as the one in
Slovakia. It must be emphasised that in 1930s Croatia enjoyed a certain degree of autonomy
within the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In these circumstances Croatia did not have a defined state
policy towards the Roma, but treated them as an unrecognised minority group that was not
legally protected. Their legal position was not defined by any specific regulations, but the
authorities treated them by passing “ad-hoc” decrees and implementing the current regulations
(Janjatović, 2005, p. 17; Sobolevski, 2000, p. 395). At the same time village population
perceived the Roma as thieves, crooks, disease carriers, child kidnappers and vagrants. Often
(over)emphasised cases of Roma thefts, cheating and other illegal activities only contributed to
the negative perception of the Roma. A poor economic standard of village population
additionally embellished this negative attitude to the Roma who were seen as unemployed people
prone to begging. All this contributed to frequent violence between village population and the
Roma. In these incidents the Roma people were violently beaten, mistreated and banished from
their homes that were plundered and burnt. The cause of conflicts was allegedly the incapacity to
prevent Roma crimes while the state and local authorities together with repressive (police)
services were unable to prevent them (Vojak, 2004a, pp. 363 - 383; Vojak, 2005, pp. 107 - 124).
4. The Roma in Hungary, Croatia, Czechoslovakia and Poland during

World War II
The attitude of these countries’ authorities to the Roma differed, among other things, in the
extent of implementation of the Nazi anti-Gypsy model. International political circumstances at
the end of 1930s brought about the disintegration of Czechoslovakia and creation of German
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and establishment of independent Slovak Republic (under
Nazi control). At that time the Hungarian authorities annexed Slovak regions Užhorod and
Košice where a great number of the Roma lived. In March 1939 the local authorities in the
Protectorate started to monitor behaviour and travel of the Roma and prevented them from
roaming. The unemployed, among whom there were the Roma as well, were sent to open
correctional camps for forced labour. After some time the German authorities banished nomadic
Roma to the inner parts of Protectorate and issued the prohibition of their nomadic travel
(roaming) in regions near the borders (Crowe, 1996, p. 47 - 48; Necas, 2009, p. 178). From the
end of the same year the authorities repeatedly issued regulations on permanent settling of the
Roma and imposed punishment of “preventive arrest” or forced labour. One of these measures
was introduced at the beginning of February in 1940 when the Roma were forced to permanently
settle and choose an (“honest”) job (trade or agriculture). September 1939 marks the beginning
of Roma deportations to Nazi concentration camps Léty and Hodonín (Crowe, 1996, p. 48 - 49.;
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Necas, 2009., p. 178 - 179). In Slovakia the position of the Roma was better and safer than in the
Protectorate. In spring 1939 their nomadic roaming and horse trade were restricted and the new
Constitution stated that the Roma could, if they showed their loyalty and well-ordered life,
acquire citizenship. In the same year they were obliged to serve in special work forces
(“chocolate army”) for more months in exchange for army service. At the same time they were
forbidden from entering certain public places and institutions. The new pressure of the Slovak
authorities occurred in April 1941 when the Ministry of Interior Affairs passed decrees on
sending the Roma to forced labour and at the same time attempted to legally define their
position. Thus their travel permits were abolished, they were ordered to return to their home
towns or regions (homeland) and their travel was controlled by the police. Besides, the decrees
banished them from places near public roads which meant they were forced to move to
uninhabited areas resulting in their ghettoization. Later on, regional and local authorities passed
other regulations on limiting Roma travel and coming to urban areas (Kollárová, 2003, p. 38;
Hübschmannová, 2009, pp. 39 - 44; Crowe, 1996, pp. 51 - 52). The Slovak authorities excluded
part of the Roma from education system and the other part was recruited into Slovak armed
forces where they were recorded as Slovaks in documents but they also referred to themselves as
Slovaks. They fought in Russia, Italy and Slovakia. At the end of 1943 exactly these recruited
Roma started a riot in Poprad since they were not allowed to go home after a 2-year army
service. Eight of the rebels were sentenced to death, but were pardoned later by Tiso
(Hübschmannová, 2009, pp. 26 - 32). Afterwards Tiso paid a visit to “cocoa army” and
emphasised that the Roma were “Slovaks” and that there were no Gypsies and on the basis of
this policy the Roma did not suffer like Jews (Hübschmannová, 2009, pp. 44 – 45). From 1941 to
1944 in Slovakia there were 11 forced labour camps in which the majority were the Roma. They
were in a certain type of quarantine, forced to work due to political, racial and ethical reasons.
This work included building roads and tunnels. The camps were controlled by local policemen,
members of Hlinka’s guard, and lots of the Roma died because of injuries, diseases, hunger and
exhaustion (Hübschmannová, 2009, pp. 32 - 38). Some Roma people joined Partisan movement
and participated in Slovak National Uprising (August – October 1944) and a number of them
were killed during this rebellion. As revenge for taking part in the Uprising, the Slovak
authorities and German army killed and tortured the Roma and burnt their settlements
(Kollárová, 2003, pp. 38 - 39; Hübschmannová, 2009, pp. 45 - 56). In November 1944 under the
influence of Nazis, the Slovak authorities started to implement the policy “After Jews –
Gypsies!” which meant that new camps were established or the old ones were turned into
internment camps. Thus the camp in Dubnica was converted and the Roma were forced to work
there and some were also executed (Hübschmannová, 2009, pp. 56 - 58).
The Roma had a similar treatment in Croatia. At the beginning of April 1941 Ante
Pavelić was the leader of pro-fascist Ustasha movement and with the help of the Axis Power he
came into power. They established the Independent State of Croatia (Pavličević, 2007, pp. 399 –
461; Goldstein, 2008, pp. 205 – 349). In April 1941 the arrival of pro-fascist Ustasha
government resulted in quick adoption of Nazi anti-Gypsy model in treatment of the Roma. Thus
the basis for Roma persecution was supposed to be the passing of anti-Gypsy regulations. On
April 30 1941 the Ustasha authorities passed a law “Regulations on racial affiliation” and
“Regulations on protection of Aryan blood and honour of the Croatian people” (Lengel Krizman,
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1986., pp. 30 - 32). The influence of the Nuremberg Laws is evident in these regulations,
especially when defining Aryan race and origin (Biondic, 2004, p. 34). After that the Roma
travel was limited as well as their groupings in certain areas in order to precisely record their
numbers and belonging to a certain race (Hrečkovski, 1985, p. 35). The next move of the
authorities was to consider the issue of colonisation, which was soon abandoned due to warfare
and the authorities opted for genocide (Lengel Krizman, 2003, p. 36; Biondic, 2004, p. 35, 42 -
43). Mass and systematic persecution of the Roma in the Independent State of Croatia started in
the second part of 1942 when the government deported the Roma to concentration camps, mostly
to Jasenovac (Hrečkovski, 1985, p. 36). It is important to emphasise that the Roma, unlike other
prisoners, were not officially recorded as individuals, but as parts of a certain “railway carriage”.
Upon arrival to Jasenovac all their possessions were taken away (they were actually robbed)
(Hrečkovski, 1985, p. 36). A number of them were immediately executed and some were sent to
the village Uštica to stay in homes of the Serbs who had left. Soon, due to their great number,
some Roma were sent to the village Gradina where extensive mass murders occurred. Some of
them had been working on building the embankment, but soon they were also executed. It is
considered that from July 1942 there were almost no Roma in Jasenovac except a few who
worked as gravediggers and were also killed at the beginning of 1945 (Lengel Krizman, 2003, p.
47 - 53; Biondic, 2004, p. 38 - 39; Hrečkovski, 1985, p. 36 - 37). The position of the Roma in
Hungary became worse during World War II. The authorities continued with repressive policy
towards them, and some local authorities carried out frequent raids in order to better control the
Roma population. Nazi racial and anti-Gypsy model was also considered in Hungary, especially
by some politicians. Thus a Hungarian anthropologist and eugenics scientist Ferenc Orsós
demanded that the government implement racial laws like Germany and to submit the Roma to
sterilisation and internment. This suggestion was not approved by the Hungarian parliament even
though there were some other Hungarian politicians and scientists who promoted similar
methods. Afterwards the authorities started to record the Roma in order to keep them under
control. Despite repressive policies, the Roma were still being recruited and fought together with
Nazi soldiers in battlefields in Europe. In 1943 special regulations forced the Roma to work in
military and labour camps as well as for army’s needs on farms and in construction (Katz, 2009,
62 – 69; Bársony, 2008a, 23 – 48). But the model was actually implemented when a pro-Nazi
party Arrow Cross Party led by Ferenc Szálasi came to power in 1944. At first, the travel of the
Roma was restricted and later on they were assembled and imprisoned in special areas like
camps or city ghettos. Some of them were deported to a Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz and
others to a camp Komáran. The deportations were actually long and exhausting marches that
lasted until the end of the war, which was all followed by mass murders. They were also tortured,
left to starve and executed. In April 1945 the persecution of the Roma was terminated with the
end of Nazi occupation of Hungary and as the consequence there were between 5,000 to 50,000
killed Roma (Katz, 2009, 69 - 97; Barany, 2002, p. 106; Bársony, 2008a, 23 - 48; Bársony,
2008b, 10 - 12; Ury, 2008, pp. 87 - 97; Szita, 2008, pp. 98 - 114). The process of Roma self-
organising in Poland was interrupted by the outbreak of war when the German and Soviet
authorities invaded Polish territories. One of the first Roma victims was their king Janusz Kwiek,
who was succeeded by his cousin Rudolf Kwiek after the war. Soon after the occupation, the
German authorities introduced their anti-Gypsy model, which imposed restrictions on their travel
and sent them to concentration camps where they were eventually executed. It was precisely in
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this area that great numbers of the Roma were deported from Nazi Germany, its occupied parts
and ally states (satellites). A great number of them were executed in numerous camps (Bełżeca,
Chełmno-upon-Ner, Oświęcim/ Auschwitz- Birkenau, Treblinka /Mazowieckie), ghettos (Lodz)
and other places of suffering (Bielcza, Żabno). The execution of 3,000 Roma in Auschwitz at the
beginning of August 1944 is regarded as a central memorial day with regard to Roma suffering
in World War II (Sparing, 2006, p. 54 - 55; Hancock, 2006, p. 59; Bartosz, 2009).
5. Conclusion
Between the two world wars most European countries’ attitude to the Roma became more hostile
and since they were influenced by Nazi Germany they promoted repressive and assimilation
policy towards the Roma. Newly established Slovak and Croatian states as well as Hungary that
was a German ally, were under the patronage of Nazis and as such they took over parts of the
German model in treatment of the Roma. More than 10 thousand of the Roma resided in those
countries even though they were forced to live on the social and economic margins. The Slovak
and Hungarian authorities inherited repressive attitude from interwar governments that attempted
to curb Roma nomadic way of life in order to control them better and restrict their travel. In such
repressive – assimilation circumstances these countries adhered to their policy of forced
colonisation under the threat of “preventive arrest” or imprisoned the Roma in camps, while the
Slovak and Hungarian authorities used them for forced labour. At the end of 1944 the Slovak and
Hungarian authorities, under the influence of Nazis, started to deport the Roma to internment
camps where they were forced to work and were later executed. Still, the Roma managed to
survive World War II, especially in Slovakia. At the same time Croatian authorities passed racial
laws that banished the Roma from society and politics, which was later on followed by the Nazi
model of persecution. The first step was made after a few months when the authorities restricted
their travel and started to register them. In mid-1942 the Roma were deported mainly to a
concentration camp Jasenovac where the “Gypsy question” was quickly dealt with by executions
and torture. It is evident that the Ustasha regime followed the Nazi model to a great extent since
a lot of Roma were executed, whereas the Slovak authorities subjected the Roma to forced
labour. The result is that the Roma were victims of a genocide in the Independent State of
Croatia, while in Slovakia most of them survived the war. Still, Polish authorities did not have a
specific treatment of the Roma, but Nazis used Poland as a “landfill” for deported Roma from
other parts of Europe. A great number of them were executed in camps and other places of
suffering. We could say that in the turmoil of World War II it was more advantageous to be a
Roma in Slovakia than in Hungary, Croatia or Poland. Yet, the war had economically, socially,
morally and psychologically devastating effects on the Roma population and hindered the
process of their pre-war social integration.
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22. Kollárová, Zuzana (2003) 'The Roma during the first Czechoslovak Republic, the Second
Czechoslovak Republic, and the First Slovak State', in: Čačipen Pal O Roma: A Global report on
Roma in Slovakia, ed. M. Vašečka, M. Jurásková, T. Nicholson. Bratislava, pp. 36 – 37.
23. Lengel – Krizman, Narcisa (1986) 'Prilog proučavanju terora u tzv. NDH: Sudbina Roma
1941 – 1945', Časopis za suvremenu povijest, Vol. 18, Nr. 1, pp. 29 – 42.
24. Lewy, Guenter (2000) The Nazi Persecution on the Gypsies. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
25. Lucassen, Leo, Willems, Wim, Cottaar Anne-Marie (1998) Gypsies and Other Itinerant
Groups: A Socio-Historical Approach. London: St. Martin's Press.
26. Necas, Ctibor (2009) Lety i Hodonín – dva internacijska logora za Sinte i Rome u
Čehoslovačkoj, in: Romi u Drugom svjetskom ratu: U sjeni svastike, ed. D. Kenrick, Vol. 2,
Zagreb, pp. 177 - 200.
27. Margalit, Gilad (2002) Germany and its Gypsies: a Post – Auschwitz Ordeal. Madison:
University of Wisconsin Pres.
28. Pavličević, Dragutin (2007) Povijest Hrvatske. Zagreb: Naklada Pavičić.
29. Purcsi Barna, Gyula (2008) 'Anti-Gypsy Initiatives and Raids in Pest County under
Deputy – Lieutenant László Endre (1928, 1939 – 1944)', in: Pharrajimos: The fate of the Roma
during the Holocaust, ed. J. Bársony, Á. Daróczi, Budapest, pp. 49 - 86.
30. Sobolovski, Mihael (2000) 'Nacionalne manjine u Kraljevini Jugoslaviji', in: Dijalog
povjesničara – istoričara, ed. H.-G. Fleck, I. Graovac, Vol. 2, Zagreb, pp. 395 - 410.
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31. Sparing, Frank (2006) 'Ciganski logori': nastanak, karakter i značenje logora kao sredstva
progona Sinta i Roma u doba nacionalsocijalizma', in: Romi u Drugom svjetskom ratu: Od 'rasne
znanosti' do logora, ed. K. Fings, H. Heuss, F. Sparing, Vol. 1, Zagreb, pp. 27 – 67.
32. Schmuhl, Hans Walter (2008) The Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Anthropology Human
Heredity and Eugenics 1927 -1945. Boston: Springer.
33. Szita, Szabolcs (2008) 'One of the Roma Killing fields: Komáromi Csillagerőd, Automn
1944', in: Pharrajimos: The fate of the Roma during the Holocaust, ed. J. Bársony, Á. Daróczi,
Budapest, pp. 98 – 114.
34. Ury, János (2008) 'The Mass Murder of Gypsies and Inota – Lake Grábler at the End of
January 1945.', in: Pharrajimos: The fate of the Roma during the Holocaust, ed. J. Bársony, Á.
Daróczi Budapest, pp. 87 – 97.
35. Vojak, Danijel (2004a) Odnos izmeñu seoskog i romskog stanovništva na području
Hrvatske i Slavonije, 1900. - 1910., Sociologija sela, Vol. 42, Nr. 165/166 (3/4), pp. 363 – 383.
36. Vojak, Danijel (2004b) Romsko stanovništvo u popisima stanovništva u Hrvatskoj i
Slavoniji u razdoblju 1850.-1910. Časopis za suvremenu povijest, Vol. 36, Nr. 2, pp. 701-728.
37. Vojak, Danijel (2004c) Romi u popisima stanovništva iz 1921. i 1931. na području
Hrvatske. Migracijske i etničke teme, Vol. 20, Nr. 4, pp. 447 – 476.
38. Vojak, Danijel (2005) Romi u Podravini (1880. - 1941), Podravina, Vol.4, Nr.7, pp. 107
– 124.
39. Vojak, Danijel (2013) U predvečerje rata: Romi u Hrvatskoj 1918. – 1941. Zagreb,
Udruga za promicanje obrazovanje Roma u RH „Kali Sara“, Romsko nacionalno vijeće.
40. Weiss – Wendt, Anton (2013):'Introduction', in: The Nazi Genocide of the Roma, ed. A.
Weiss – Wendt, New York – Oxford, pp. 23 – 24.
Sažetak
IZMEĐU PROGONA I PREŠUTNE MARGINALIZACIJE, ILI IZ POVIJESTI

STRADANJA ROMA U NEKIM SREDNJOEUROPSKIM DRŽAVAMA ZA VRIJEME
DRUGOG SVJETSKOG RATA (MAĐARSKA, HRVATSKA, ČEHOSLOVAČKA,
POLJSKA)
Danijel Vojak, Institut za društvene znanosti Ivo Pilar, Zagreb
Većina europskih zemalja prije samog početka Drugoga svjetskog rata nije započela s nasilnijim
pokušajima asimilacije, kakav je već bio u tijeku u nacističkoj Njemačkoj. Izbijanjem Drugoga
147
Danijel Vojak
svjetskog rata i širenjem nacističkog utjecaja na mnoge europske zemlje, bilo izravno kao
okupirane, ili posredno kao države – saveznice, započeli su se provoditi neki dijelovi nacističkog
modela odnosa prema Romima. Analizom u ovom radu biti će obuhvaćen odnos
srednjoeuropskih vlasti, poput mañarskih, hrvatskih, čehoslovačkih i poljskih, prema romskom
manjinskom stanovništvu za vrijeme Drugog svjetskog rata. Poseban dio analize će se
usredotočiti na pitanje da li su i u kojoj mjeri nacističke vlasti utjecale na odnos navedenih
državnih vlasti prema Romima. Zanimljivo je i promotriti pitanje odnosa neromskog
stanovništva prema Romima u ovim državama.
Ključne riječi: Romi, Drugi svjetski rat, stradanje, srednja Europa
148
PROFESSIONAL ARTICLE
STRUČNI ČLANAK
Margarita Khazanova (Russia)

Choosing the standard Ukrainian language: speakers at the geographical crossway
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Margarita Khazanova
UDK 811.161.2
Professional article
Margarita Khazanova
Russian State University for the Humanities
Moscow, Russia
CHOOSING THE STANDARD UKRAINIAN LANGUAGE: SPEAKERS AT THE

GEOGRAPHICAL CROSSWAY
Abstract
The process of reforming Ukrainian standard language is related to the coexistence of two
historically developed variants of the Ukrainian standard - Eastern and Western. Before Ukraine
became an independent state, Ukrainian language policy encouraged the use of the Eastern
standard, which is closer to Russian. This Eastern variant was reflected in standard vocabulary
and grammar. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Western variant of the language, which
had evolved by the first half of the 20 century on the territory, which was a part of the Austro-
Hungarian empire, is now considered the more prestigious one. Not only researchers and editors
of dictionaries and grammars are elaborating of a new Ukrainian standard, but also common
speakers are discussing language elements in line with 'folk purism' (by analogy with 'folk
etymology').
Keywords: standard Ukrainian language, folk purism, language policy
1. Introduction
This article focuses on some problems of contemporary Ukrainian standard language,
Ukrainian language policy and the way in which common speakers perceive and influence the
process of standard language reformation.
2. Methods
The analysis of the language material was done using the method of continuous sampling
in the Ukrainian Internet forums. The first step was to choose the most active forums that touch
the question of the language norm, language purity and standard reformation. The second step
was to analyze the dynamics of the discussion and speakers’ ideological viewpoint: West
Ukrainian variant oriented or East Ukrainian variant oriented.
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Margarita Khazanova
3. Discussion
Since 1991, after becoming an independent state, Ukraine has changed its language policy.
Now Ukrainian language has become the only official (state) language; the other minority
languages sometimes do and sometimes do not have a special regional status, and that is a
prominent change compared to the situation in the Ukrainian SSR where two languages –
Russian and Ukrainian – had the official status157.
The two former official languages reflected the real language usage, as Ukrainian people
are usually bilingual with one preferred language – mostly Ukrainian or Russian – for everyday
communication.
According to the survey conducted by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology in
2003, current situation in language usage is following:
Figure 1. Preferable language of day-to-day communication in Ukraine
157
According to the 2012 act "On the principles of the state language policy", the State guarantees constitutional
protection to any language spoken in Ukraine and any language in areas of Ukraine where the percentage of
representatives of national minorities exceeds 10% of the total population of a defined administrative district and the
status of a “regional language” so that it can be used officially in courts, schools and other government institutions.
However in February 2014 there was an attempt to repeal the law but the repeal bill is still not signed although not
vetoed, its current status is “ready for signature” (by the President).
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Margarita Khazanova
Figure 1. shows parts where:

- yellow – Ukrainian is the preferable language of day-to-day communication
- light green – Russian is used a bit more often than Ukrainian (46% to 32%)
- dark green – Russian is the preferable language of day-to-day communication.
It has been some time since the survey was conducted but the language situation has not
undergone serious changes. However we must admit that – although very slowly - the number of
Ukrainian speakers is growing each decade.
In 1994 the Ukrainian standard language was declared strongly russified and in need of
urgent reformation. That was the moment when the Orthography Reformation Committee began
its work that was paused in 2003.
The language situation in Ukraine is aggravated by the fact that there are two regional
variants of the Ukrainian language – Eastern and Western – that have a number of differences,
primarily in lexis. Also there are several strong Ukrainian diasporas, first of all in the USA and
Canada (but also in Brazil), originating mostly from Western Ukraine. Therefore, for many
people now, the Western variant is the more ‘native’ one due to the fact that it is ‘further’ from
Russian and has preserved some of its older characteristics, while the Eastern variant is
perceived as strongly russified. However during the Soviet period the Eastern variant was the
more prestigious one and it became the basis for the construction of the literary language in the
1930s.
So the newly formed Orthography Reformation Committee in 1994 faced several big and
serious problems:
- firstly, they needed to reform the standard language so that it would become more
‘contemporary’, i.e. it would meet the needs of day-to-day communication better
- secondly, they needed to create a literary form that could reflect both the Eastern and the
Western variants of the language
- thirdly, the standard had to reflect not only the Ukrainian language in Ukraine but also
that of the diasporas in Americas.
After several years of work the Committee worked out a new orthography project that tried
to achieve all of the aforementioned aims. The process of reformatting the literary language
caused the so-called language discussion in the society on every level. The new variant of 1999
appeared to be very controversial. It was too innovative for Ukrainian speakers from the East
although acceptable (and even advisable) for the Western and diaspora speakers. Still, some
publishing houses and common speakers use it for their needs. The others use the official
orthography of 2012 that is very similar to the Soviet variant.
However, the orthography reformation was only the first step in the process. The second
step was the reformation of vocabulary. Before, many words and idioms were deemed unliterary
(dialectal, archaic, colloquial etc.) but now their status has changed. Especially that is important
for Western Ukrainian vocabulary, which is rather close to the West Slavic languages (especially
Polish), e.g. пательня – patelnia, шпальта – szpalta, шкіц – szkic, кнайпа – knajpa etc. This
tendency was parallel to diverging as far away as possible from Russian even despite the close
relation of both languages.
Thus in today's Ukrainian language not only language variants have different levels of
prestige but also words, grammatical forms and even spelling variants, e.g.
сковорода – пательня
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Margarita Khazanova
фотографія – світлина
машина – авто
річ у тому – річ у тім
буду писати – писатиму
Вашингтон – Вашинґтон
Хемінгуей – Гемінґвей
Many of preferred forms originate from Western regions and sometimes are the effect of
Ukrainian and Polish language contacts. From common speakers these forms go into mass
media, literature and school books, and thus they are incorporated into education and become
more familiar for children and teens. Thus a new generation of speakers is emerging.
All of this concerns not only literary language in its usual sphere – mass communication.
Another aspect of Western orientation (as speakers understand it, of course) is its influence on
the colloquial language. In Ukraine there are a lot of dialectal and regional language groups that
sometimes are very different from each other. In that continuum of language characteristics, the
further to the west the better, is what people believe. Since Eastern dialects are perceived as
surzhyk (a colloquial mix of Russian and Ukrainian) and as such have low level of prestige,
Western dialects are becoming a source of ‘native’ language elements, not only for more or less
official communication but also for everyday communication e.g. on the Internet people are less
likely to criticize colloquialisms originating from Western dialects than those originating from
the East.
Surfing on the Net one can come across many examples of discussions such as the
following (this one was found in a forum thread dedicated to correct spelling and word usage). In
the previous posts speakers criticized word usage on street signs, menus, advertisements etc. – in
different public spheres. Most of the criticized words were called Russian or surzhyk and thus
incorrect.
Later the discussion turns to the word пательня (‘frying pan’) in the restaurant menu.
1: Тобто до слова «пательня» питань нема?
So, you don’t see any problem with this ‘patelnja’ word?
Then the second speaker gives a link to the article on пательня in Wikipedia, which
proves that this word really exists in Ukrainian.
3: У деяких регіонах використовується діалектний варіант ‘пательня’,
літературною формою є слово сковорода та похідні від нього. (вікі)
In some regions they use a dialectal word ‘patelnja’, the literary form is the word
‘skovoroda’ and its derivatives. (wiki)
So here the third speaker says that there are two words with similar meaning. But the
literary word ‘skovoroda’ sounds the same as in Russian and thus causes a critical attitude:
4: Не знаю ніяких ‘сковородів’. Пательня і всьо.
I don't know any ‘skovorodas’. It's patelnia, and that's that.
So here the fourth speaker does not want to hear anything about the word ‘skovoroda’.
5: Або рондель.
Or ‘rondel’.
The fifth speaker finds another word with the same meaning, a dialectal one too.
6: В тернопільському ресторані не приймаються претензії до слова «пательня».
Мають право на місцеві діалектизми. Не порівняти із дійсно неграмотним …
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Margarita Khazanova
At a Ternopil restaurant they don't listen to complaints about the word ‘patelnja’. They
have a right to use local dialects. It can’t be compared to the illiterate…
and they go on discussing other words.
As one can see, in this example speakers allow others to use non-standard words but only if
those words originate from Western Ukrainian dialects. Elements of colloquial speech
originating from other regions are deemed Russian or surzhyk even if they are not, and even if
dictionaries and grammar books state them as actually Ukrainian, because speakers believe their
own language sense more than other (even the most reliable) sources.
4. Conclusion
The tendency of consciously changing the Ukrainian language standard towards more
Western language elements is not the only one observed in contemporary Ukrainian but one of
the most prominent ones that involves not only linguists, politicians and authorities but also
common speakers and gives them a lot of room for creativity. The idea of Western orientation in
norm reformation makes Ukrainian speakers very aware of any potential changes in the language
structure. In opinion of some of them the idea ‘the further to the West the better’ is the true
nature of the standard language reformation, while Eastern language elements are sometimes
perceived as surzhyk, or a colloquial mix of Russian and Ukrainian.
References
Besters-Dilger J., Dermarkar C., Pfänder S., Rabus A. (eds.) (2014) Congruence in Contact-
Induced Language Change: Language Families, Typological Resemblance, and Perceived
Similarity. Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.
Khmel'ko V.Ye. (2003) Linhvo-etnichna struktura Ukrajiny: rehional'ni osoblyvosti ta tendentsiji
zmin za roky nezalezhnosti. Available from:
http://www.kiis.com.ua/materials/articles_HVE/16_linguaethnical.pdf (Accessed: 30 June
2015) (Ukrainian)
Masenko L.T. (2004) Mova i suspil'stvo. Postkolonial'nyj vymir. Kyiv: Vydavnychyj dim “KM
Akademija”.
Masenko L.T. (2011) Surzhyk: mizh movoju i jazykom. Kyiv : Kyjevo-Mogyljans'ka akademija.
Masenko L.T. (2013) Movna polityka v Ukrajini // Jazykové právo a slovanské jazyky. Praha :
Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Filozofička fakulteta. C. 58—75.
Mel'nyk S., Chernychko S. (2010) Etnichne ta movne rozmai'ttja Ukrai'ny. Analitychnyj ogljad
sytuacii'. Uzhgorod, PoliPrint.
Nimchuk V.V. (2004) Peredmova, Istorija ukrajins'koho pravopysu: XVI — XX stolittja.
Khrestomatija, Kyiv: Naukova dumka.
Proekt Zakonu pro vyznannja takym, shcho vtratyv chynnist', Zakonu Ukrajiny "Pro zasady
derzhavnoji movnoji polityky". (2014) Available from:
http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/zweb2/webproc4_1?pf3511=45291 (Accessed: 30 June 2015)
(Ukrainian)
Ukrajins’kyj pravopys. (2012) Available from: http://pravopys.net/ (Accessed: 30 June 2015)
(Ukrainian)
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Wexler P.N. (1974) Purism and Language: A Study in Modern Ukrainian and Belorussian
Nationalism (1840-1967). Indiana University, Bloomington.
Zakon Ukrajiny "Pro zasady derzhavnoyi movnoyi polityky". (2012) Available from:
http://zakon2.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/5029-17/print1331482006276224 (Accessed: 30 June
2015) (Ukrainian)
Sažetak
PITANJE UKRAJINSKOGA STANDARDNOG JEZIKA: GOVORNICI NA

GEOGRAFSKOM RASKRIŽJU
Margarita Khazanova, Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow
Postupak reforme ukrajinskoga standardnog jezika povezan je sa usporednim postojanjem dvije

kroz povijest razvijane varijante ukrajinskoga standarda – istočnu i zapadnu. Prije no što je
Ukrajina postala neovisna država, ukrajinska jezična politika poticala je korištenje istočnoga
standarda koji je bliži ruskome. Istočna varijanta odražavala se u standardnome vokabularu i
gramatici. Nakon raspada Sovjetskoga Saveza, zapadna varijanta jezika koji se razvio do prve
polovice 20. stoljeća na teritoriju koji je bio u sklopu Austro-Ugarske Monarhije, smatra se
prestižnijom. Ne promišljaju samo znanstvenici i urednici rječnika novi ukrajinski standard, već
takoñer i prosječni govornici koji raspravljaju o jezičnim elementima u skladu s pojavom
'narodnoga purizma' (analoški povezanog s 'narodnom etimologijom').
Ključne riječi: standardni ukrajinski jezik, narodni purizam, jezična politika
155
BOOK REVIEWS
PRIKAZI KNJIGE
Tanja Đurić (Croatia)

Sičanske riči [Siče words] by Emina Berbić Kolar and Ljiljana Kolenić
Ivančica Marković (Croatia)

Mijat Stojanović: Sgode i nesgode moga života [Adventures and misadventures of my life]
Pavao Nujić (Croatia)

Memoari baruna Franje Trencka [Memoirs of baron Francis Trenck]
156
Tanja Đurić
Book review
Tanja Đurić
SIČANSKE RIČI [SIČE WORDS] BY EMINA BERBIĆ KOLAR AND LJILJANA

KOLENIĆ
The book Sičanske riči was published in 2014 by the Faculty of Education, Josip Juraj
Strossmayer University of Osijek. It was written by the accomplished linguists and professors
Ljiljana Kolenić from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek and Emina Berbić
Kolar from the Faculty of Education in Osijek. The authors have already produced numerous
scientific papers and contributions to Croatian dialectology. The book is not only intended for
linguists and dialectologists, but also for a wider audience interested in linguistic diversity and
non-standard language. Sičanske riči or Siče words are in fact the words of native speakers of the
little village of Siče in Brod-Posavina county, Croatia. The Siče vernacular is protected and
included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list for Croatia. It belongs to, according to
the authors, a bigger language group called the Slavonian dialect, and the Slavonian dialect
belongs to the most widespread Croatian dialect, the Shtokavian dialect. At the time of
omnipresent globalisation, vernaculars are prone to extinction, which is why this book plays an
important role in preserving the intangible cultural heritage and preventing dialect extinction.
The book contains three hundred and eighteen pages which include text, five geographical and
dialectological maps, one table, one graph and one photograph. Recent scientific studies do not
point to many authors and works that deal in as much detail with the Slavonian dialect issue in
the contemporary world as Sičanske riči does. Therefore, Sičanske riči is a valuable attempt to
popularise and revitalise the Slavonian dialect.
The book is divided into two larger segments. The first part is written by Ljiljana Kolenić
and introduces readers to the wider linguistic context of Siče vernacular, which is the Posavina
subdialect, the Slavonian dialect and the Shtokavian dialect. The author emphasises the
importance of the Slavonian dialect within the Croatian Studies because it is primarily spoken by
Croats named Šokci in Slavonia. In addition to the theoretical basis of the Siče vernacular within
the frame of the Croatian language, the first part of the book deals with the geographic dispersion
of dialects in Croatia and abroad, the classification of the Croatian dialects, the Slavonian dialect
references overview, the linguistic description of the Slavonian dialect, as well as that of the Siče
vernacular. Moreover, the book informs readers on the geographic position of the village of Siče,
the graphic display of the number of inhabitants in the village per year, and the short description
of the respondents, the native speakers who made their contribution to this linguistic research.
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Tanja Đurić
The part of the book that is especially important is the one in which the linguistic features of both
the Siče vernacular and the Slavonian dialect are described, allowing the reader to compare them
and determine which Slavonian dialect features are found in the Siče vernacular and to what
extent they are preserved in that particular area. Based on the references and field research, the
author gives examples of the features of the Siče vernacular, such as the fifth accent called akut
(vodẽ, dõjdē), Ikavian-Jekavian reflexes of the yat sound, -l sound at the end of the syllable
(položil, uplel), the appearance of šć sounds in words, which is called šćakavism (godišće instead
of godište, šćuka instead of štuka), the omission of the sound h (odali instead of hodali, gra
instead of grah), and many more. The book is not only of linguistic importance, but also has
anthropological and cultural significance because it depicts the life outside the linguistic reality
by means of archaic words which represent objects, occupations and life in general. Based on
these archaic words, readers may discover that Siče inhabitants provided for their families
primarily by engaging in agriculture and that carving was a good source of income ((flajbaz
denotes the pen for wood carving, glajfuz is the carving equipment, živinar is a veterinarian,
baščovan is a gardener, etc.). The first part of the book encompasses eighty-seven pages. At the
end of the book the author provides the conclusion in which it is stated that the Siče vernacular
has maintained the majority of the Slavonian dialect features in phonology, accentuation,
morphology, syntax and lexis.
The second part of the book is written by Emina Berbić Kolar and it represents the
dictionary of Siče words, including their accentuation and grammar features. The dictionary
dominates most of the book and spans across two hundred and thirteen pages. Therefore, the
main purpose of the book is to preserve the old vernacular, organic idiom which does not exist in
its written form. In an effort to provide the written form of this organic idiom, the author creates
the dictionary which lists the archaic, old Shtokavian words of Siče in alphabetical order.
Therefore, the title of the book fully corresponds to the content of the book because it provides a
holistic approach to the Siče vernacular, contextualising it within the wider linguistic frame and
highlighting its indigenous words. The greatest number of words in the dictionary begin with
letters p, k and š, and the words that are least represented begin with letters dž, nj and lj. Each
word has its accentuation and the description of its meaning. The nominal words have their
gender and number denoted. The foreign words contain their etymological description including
the original words, which means that the dictionary is also of etymological and historical
importance. By observing the dictionary it can be concluded that the majority of the words were
adopted from the German and Turkish languages, which is intangible proof of the influence of
the historical rule in this area. However, the dictionary is not only significant for the Croatian
Studies, but also for the more encompassing Slavic Studies because the Slavonian dialect
vernaculars are the most archaic Shtokavian vernaculars.
The book is an example of original scientific work because it includes a systematic
linguistic field research and data analysis at each linguistic level: phonological, morphological,
lexical, syntactic, and dialectological. The content is divided into chapters with headings which
enable an easier navigation through the book. The main chapters are: Slavonian dialect, Croatian
language, Slavonian dialect and its geographic location, Basic facts about the Slavonian dialect,
Linguistic features of the Slavonian dialect, Siče vernacular, Siče dictionary, References, and
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Tanja Đurić
Notes about the authors. Some headings are also further specified with subheadings. The chapter
Croatian language consists of the subchapter Croatian dialects, the chapter Slavonian dialect
and its geographic location consists of the subchapters Slavonian dialect within the Croatian
borders, Slavonia, Baranya and Western Srijem, Posavina, Podravina, Našice vernaculars, The
Croatian part of Baranya, Slavonian dialect outside the borders, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia,
Hungary, and Slavonian dialect divided into subdialects. The heading The Linguistic features of
Slavonian dialect includes the subchapters denoting Accent, Phonology, Morphology, Nouns,
Pronouns, Adjectives, Verbs, Invariable parts of speech, Word formation, Syntax, Lexis. The
chapter Siče vernacular consists of subchapters on Accent, Phonological features, Morphological
features, Nouns, Pronouns, Adjectives, Verbs, Invariable parts of speech, Adverbs, Prepositions,
Connectors, Exclamations, Syntactic features, Word formation features, Lexical features,
Semantic fields, Word etymology and Conclusion. The data are accompanied by a table, maps, a
graph and a photograph. The theoretical background of the book is based on the relevant studies
of Croatian linguists which date from as early as 1913, when the great Croatian dialectologist
Stjepan Ivšić conducted the linguistic research of the Slavonian dialect, up to 2011 marked by
Josip Užarević’s academic contributions. Therefore, the book provides an overview of the
historical development of the Slavonian dialect and its vernaculars. It is written in a language
that is comprehensible to the general public, but also contains valuable dialectological notes in
the dictionary which are targeted at linguists specifically. The first and the second part of the
book complement each other, the first part being the introduction to the second and the second
superbly exemplifying the first. The authors have managed to enrich the Croatian dialectology
and culture by exploring the previously untraversed Croatian language territory, and most
importantly, have managed to leave a written trace of the Croatian language diversity.
The book Sičanske riči has a linguistic, cultural, historical, anthropological and social
significance because it provides a holistic approach to the Siče vernacular. In addition to the
linguistic features of the Siče vernacular and its position within the frame of the Croatian
language, the book is also about the life, history and culture of Siče. From a larger perspective,
the book deals with the Siče vernacular and the Slavonian dialect, listing them among the old,
archaic, Shtokavian vernaculars which are part of the world heritage. Today, when English has
become a lingua franca in the age of globalisation and its circumstances, it takes much effort to
find the kind of work that depicts minority language varieties and tries to preserve them. The
authors know the value of preserving and revitalising language diversity and identity in the
multicultural world. Accordingly, they popularise this underestimated issue by emphasising the
problems of depopulation and language extinction. It is a challenge to retain significance in
today's world, especially for smaller communities, and in this way this book is a great
contribution to the Croatian language and culture. It also represents a great motivation for
linguists and individuals who are interested in language varieties with the aim of participating in
language revitalisation and preservation. Sičanske riči raises awareness of language diversity and
its importance. It is also crucial to emphasise that this book, in addition to being great proof of
intangible cultural heritage, is not enough for Siče vernacular preservation. In order to preserve
the vernacular, its speakers and the awareness of vernacular preservation are required as well; it
is necessary to teach it and pass it on to younger generations. Only in this way can the vernacular
truly stay alive.
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Ivančica Marković
Book review
Ivančica Marković
MIJAT STOJANOVIĆ
SGODE I NESGODE MOGA ŽIVOTA [ADVENTURES AND MISADVENTURES OF
MY LIFE]
The autobiography of Mijat Stojanović, the notable Croatian teacher, educator and folk writer
from the nineteenth century, was published in its entirety under the title Sgode i nesgode moga
života [Adventures and Misadventures of My Life]. The three editors of the aforementioned book
are the Croatian scholars and historians Dinko Župan, Stanko Andrić and Damir Matanović. The
text was published as it was originally intended by Mijat Stojanović himself, and the editing
interventions reduced down to a minimum. For the purpose of a better understanding of the
political and social context in which Mijat Stojanović lived, two editors, Dinko Župan and Damir
Matanović, additionally provide critical reviews and introductory explanations which contribute
to the bigger picture of the life of the author.
The book contains a prologue and two introductory overviews followed by the text of the
autobiography by Mijat Stojanović. The additional materials in the book include the facsimiles of
the selected pages of the original manuscript, the references page listing all the works of Mijat
Stojanović, the glossary of historical terms, the dictionary of foreign, less widely known or
archaic words and expressions, abstract in English and the index of personal and geographic
names.
Due to the fact that the text by Stojanović was published in its original version with very little
interventions, the abovementioned Glossary and Dictionary allow significantly for its better
understanding.
In the first introductory text titled “Stojanović’s Adventures and Misadventures” the author
Dinko Župan analyses the life of Mijat Stojanović who from a below average student evolved
into a highly esteemed educator. The author stresses self-education and life-long learning as the
foundation for his success. He also emphasises that Stojanović’s outlook was very progressive
and ahead of his time, because he encouraged education of women in various professions, not
perceiving women solely as wives, mothers or housewives.
The author of the second introductory text is Damir Matanović and it is titled “The World of
Mijat Stojanović’s Childhood: Village and City of the Brod-Krajina Regiment in the First Half of
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Ivančica Marković
the Nineteenth Century”. Matanović paints a picture of the political and social processes during
the nineteenth century which subsequently influenced Mijat Stojanović’s development as a
young teacher, and eventually a mature educator.
The mid-section of the book is the autobiography of Mijat Stojanović, titled “Adventures and
Misadventures of My Life”. It was created based on the family records and his own memories,
and it is the combination of memoirs, diary and annual records.
The manuscript itself is divided into two parts. The first part contains four chapters which depict
Stojanović’s family from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century. In the first chapter, “Snippets
from my great grandfather’s life,” aside from family history, Stojanović provides very important
data regarding the migrations of the population during the Turkish conquest, as well as their
overall way of life. In the second chapter, “Snippets from my grandfather’s life,” he describes the
family life at the beginning of the eighteenth century in Babina Greda, the lingering danger of
Turks and the position and circumstances of widows and children in such surroundings. In the
third chapter, “Snippets from my father’s and mother’s life,” the descriptions refer to the family
life in the first half of the nineteenth century which is intermingled with important historical
events that influenced the everyday life of a family, such as the French Revolutionary Wars.
After showing the “snippets” from the lives of the three generations of his family (great
grandfather, grandfather and parents), Stojanović describes the most important events and
happenings from his own life, emphasising his work in education. This segment is titled
according to the years of service from 1871 to 1881, including the paragraph titled “From my
travelogue”, listing all the places that he visited.
In much detail he describes his development within the education system, all the while
particularly stressing the importance of one’s own self-education, crucial in order to superbly
perform the duties of a teacher. He further delivers many interesting ethnographic data about the
life of the Slavonian village population in the nineteenth century. The descriptions mostly refer
to everyday life, such as housing and food management, but he also describes folk rituals and
mores, as well as boyhood games and pastimes. Included are also interesting depictions, often
subjective and emotionally tinged, which discuss the relationships between parents and children,
and specific rearing methods applied at the time.
All the information contained in this book is very valuable and can be used as a remarkable
source for many scientists doing research on various historical topics, education, ethnology,
psychology, etc. Therefore, this work needs to be acknowledged as an important contribution to
the future interdisciplinary development in the humanities and social sciences.
161
Pavao Nujić
Book review
Pavao Nujić
MEMOARI BARUNA FRANJE TRENCKA [MEMOIRS OF BARON FRANCIS

TRENCK]
Alexander Buczynski (ed.), Milan Vrbanus i Mica Orban Kljajić (contr.), Hrvatski institut za
povijest - Podružnica za povijest Slavonije, Srijema i Baranje [Croatian Institute of History –
Slavonia, Srijem and Baranja Branch], Slavonski Brod, 2015, p. 352.
The name of the head of pandurs, Baron Francis Trenck, is still present and alive in the
public memory. There are numerous stories and legends attached to his persona, one of the most
famous ones being his love affair with Queen Maria Theresa. Accordingly, when visiting the
Kutjevo wine cellars one can hear numerous tales of his romantic exploits, whereas Požega is
home to the Brass Band “Trenck’s Pandurs”. In addition to representing “living history”, Trenck
is often featured in school textbooks, encyclopaedias, lexicons and TV shows. However, as
opposed to the frequent mention of him in contemporary culture, unusual of an early Modern
Age figure, there is hardly a frequent representation of him in scientific discourse. Indicative of
this phenomenon is the fact that over a century the basic secondary source on this legendary
officer in Croatia has been the work of Ferdo Šišić, Franjo barun Trenk i njegovi panduri.
Istorička rasprava [Baron Francis Trenck and His Pandurs, a Historical Discussion] published
as early as 1900 in Zagreb. Therefore, the monograph Memoirs of Baron Francis Trenck,
published by the Croatian Institute of History - Slavonia, Srijem and Baranja Branch, is a truly
refreshing and novel contribution to the Croatian early Modern Age historiography. The book
represents the first Croatian critical edition of the biography of Baron Francis Trenck,
encompassing 352 pages, under the editorship of Alexander Buczynski. Mica Orban Kljajić
provided the Croatian translation of the original Trenck biography in the German language from
1745, accompanied by very elaborate and high quality notes by Milan Vrbanus, which makes it
easier for a contemporary reader to navigate the world of times long gone. Additionally,
Alexander Buczynski provided the detailed introductory study which functions as a supplement
to the memoirs and a critical review.
The monograph is divided into Foreword (pp. 7-10), The rise and fall of the pandur
officer Francis Baron Trenck (11-101), the introductory study by Alexander Buczynski,
References (102-106), Summary (107-110)., the Croatian translation of the biography titled
The peculiar life and deeds of the world-famous gentleman Baron Francis Trenck (111-
194), followed by the facsimile of the original Merckwürdiges Leben und Thaten Des Welt-
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berühmten Heern Francisci Frey-Herrn von der Trenck (195 - 336), Index of personal
names (337-343.), as well as Index of geographical names (344-352).
In the foreword the author Alexander Buczynski sets the frame important for a better
understanding of the context in which the work was composed, from the presence of Trenck in
today’s culture, the goals of the research, to the difficulties inevitably accompanying such a
project. He is of the opinion that a historian is faced with the toil not unlike that of Sisyphus
when directing the intention of the public towards solid historical reconstructions, which is
exemplified in the case of Baron Trenck because of the myths and legends that are continuously
repeated about him. For the author the primary problem when writing the introductory study was
the fact that there are very few secondary sources and he, therefore, finally based his study on
research at the Vienna War Archive and Regional Historical Centre Limburg in the Netherlands.
Finally, he recommends readers to first read the biography and then the introductory study,
because the study is an extension of the time period as a whole.
Influenced by the recommendation of the author I began reading the translation of the
biography whose title in its entirety is: The peculiar life and deeds of the world-famous
gentleman Baron Francis Trenck – the rightful chamberlain of His Royal Majesty of Hungary
and Czechia etc., etc. and the colonel of a band of pandurs and Slavonian husars etc. (111. -
193.). In the prologue it is noted that the content was literally composed of the writings that this
great hero personally recorded, and upon which the author (the publisher remained anonymous)
happened to accidentally stumble. Therefore, the biography was written in the first person, which
gives one the impression of true memoirs written by Francis Baron Trenck himself, although
Buczynski states that this is not very likely. Already on the first pages of the translation we find
many references that describe and explain almost all geographical terminology, persons and less
known terminology, which significantly allows for a better navigation and the fluency of reading
without the need for much prior knowledge, while next to the text one can find numeric marks
which refer to the exact page in the original. The contents of the biography chronologically track
Trenck’s life from his birth in 1711 till September of 1743. Certain light motifs, such as avoiding
death and confrontation with the ever unjust surroundings, are found in the very first lines. On
the pages that follow where he describes his youth there are many events that almost cost him his
life. Ten years pass from his birth in Italy till his move to Slavonia during which Trenck avoided
almost certain death six times, was severely injured, took part in war campaigns and participated
in two battles. In the midst of anecdotes and adventures, confrontations and accidents that follow
him each step he takes, one slowly perceives the development of his personal story which
includes both the positive and negative aspects of his turbulent nature peppered with a dose of
arrogance and a predetermination for glory and greatness. Francis Baron Trenck opted for a
military career after a sword fight with his brothers, although he still had to attend the Jesuit
School in Požega for a while. By accident his brother died in 1725 and soon his mother and
grandmother died as well. Finally he joined the army in 1727 as sergeant major in the regiment
of the palatine Nikola Palffy. The beginning of his military career was marked by conflicts with
other officers. In 1733 he married the daughter of the commander of Petrovaradin with whom
during four years of marriage he had four children, all of which quickly passed. In the meantime
he was jailed twice to finally enter the Russian service after his proposal to collect 4000 pandurs
for a breach into Bosnia. However, he had no better luck in the Russian army either. In three
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years he experienced confrontations with the whole regiment, took part in several war
campaigns, witnessed the Treaty of Belgrade in 1739 and was convicted to a death sentence to be
pardoned in the nick of time and sent to serve penal labour sentence. By relying on begging and
corruption he eventually attained freedom. He was released and prohibited to ever return, yet, he
complained about the Russians confiscating three female slaves he had acquired while leaving
the country. On the other hand he had no problem leaving behind and forgetting all the
accumulated debt. After returning to Slavonia he fiercely dealt with bandits and considered the
act of heroism illegally crossing the territory of the Ottoman Empire and murdering a runaway
bandit. However, for this rude breach of peace treaty he was sent to military court. While
running away from justice he managed to reach Vienna and arrange a private audience with the
Queen Maria Theresa. To redeem himself he offered his fidelity and the fully equipped 1000
pandurs at his own expense, which the queen heartily accepted. In March 1741 in Slavonia over
the period of three weeks he gathered 1000 pandurs and headed for the battlefield. The memoirs
witness of the admiration of the title, attire and the beauty of his troops, which is why he thought
to have inspired many enviers in the army. The following pages include the descriptions of many
sabotaging campaigns undertaken by pandurs headed by Trenck, explicitly celebrating the
exaggerated heroism, as well as listing their robberies and other criminal activities. We,
therefore, have the opportunity to read of occasions on which as few as 64 pandurs lead by
Trenck defeated the enemy which counted more than 1800 men, as well as the description of
extorting money under the excuse that “everything that strikes their fancy is justified because
they are on enemy soil”. The siege of the city of Cham, one of Trenck’s more famous
undertakings, was equally embellished with the accounts of heroism and pillaging. Trenck, along
with 140 pandurs and 300 Croats, conquered Cham by burning the suburbs, after which the fire
spread throughout the city. The runaway army crew of more than 700 soldiers was captured by
Trenck himself, aided by only one hussar. After boasting about the number of prisoners and the
seized trophies, there is the summary of the pillaging of the city stating that the pandurs acquired
great booty in there because the people from the entire country had fled to the city with their
most treasured belongings. Trenck divided the booty with his soldiers, and personally came in
possession of “two agreeable prisoners, the finest girls in the city.” After several more or less
similar campaigns in Bavaria, he was allowed to return to Slavonia with his pandurs where he
participated in the suppression of the 1743 Peasant Revolt. After this he recruited additional 700
pandurs and 100 husars and joined the battlefield again. There were several additional military
campaigns followed by the final anecdote on September 23, when, during his journey from Basel
his horse grew frightened and threw him off, after which he lost consciousness. Finally, he
announces that readers in the future will be able to find out what “heaven and destiny intended
for him” if he lived.
Of what destiny intended for this famous baron readers of today can find out from the
writings of Alexander Buczynski in the introductory study titled The rise and fall of the pandur
officer Francis Baron Trenck (11.-101.), divided into four subchapters: The Acknowledgment of
the Viennese Court (11.- 24.), World Fame (24.-37.), The Legal Charade (37.-87.) and Epilogue
(87.-101.). The author begins his study with a literary description of the military campaign for
the Silesia town of Kosel, which gives the impression of the biography being continued, merely
utilising a different narrator. However, what makes this text impressive is the temperance of the
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author who develops the story of the key events of Trenck’s life based on reliable sources,
usually followed by the historical analysis of its key elements. By presenting the characteristics
of war and warfare of the 17th and 18th centuries, as well as the particularities that graced the
border area between the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire, the author set the frame
and the foundation for a better understanding of the basic terms and processes that defined
Trenck and his pandurs, such as the dichotomy of the regular versus irregular military, as well as
little and great war. Trenck was the virtuoso of little wars and the Vienna Court recognised this.
Pandurs were the epitome of everything unconventional, from their appearance to their manner
of fighting, and therefore evoked awe. The author continues the description of the events that
preceded and marked the process of rearranging of Trenck’s pandur volunteer troops into a
regular German regiment of the Austrian army comprised of 3000 soldiers. Considering the fact
that such a regiment had great reputation and regular salary issued from the state treasury,
Trenck was required to introduce stricter rules and a greater degree of discipline. In addition to
the regular regiment, Trenck requested the position of the grand mayor and the commander of
the entire Sava Krajina with the rank of general-major. Although this seems at a first glance an
absurdly immodest proposal, the author offers a more in-depth analysis and claims that there
were grounds for it, albeit Trenck was refused. Trenck was aware of the fact that he was
renowned and that he was esteemed in the highest of circles – he had acquired world fame in
only four years after all. Additionally, practically overnight he had infiltrated the great Slavonian
land-owning families with a property that encompassed one half of the Požega county. Although
he was an officer of lower rank, his social status was on the rise. The second subchapter, World
Fame (24.-37.), concludes that the fame and reputation that Francis Trenck had acquired
culminated when his first biography was published in the spring of 1745. The author briefly
reflects on the genre of biography in those times, as well as the particularities of Trenck’s
biography. What follows is the analysis of newspaper articles from the leading papers of Vienna,
Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain and America which provided reports on Trenck,
concluding that they regularly wrote about Trenck without cheering him on and did not hesitate
to publish incriminating news without embellishing his military campaigns. The third
subchapter, The Legal Charade (37.-87.), represents the following segment of the life of Francis
Baron Trenck marked by indictments, trials, and eventually imprisonment. The author
approaches this process chronologically by gradually stating the facts along with the analysis of
several key factors, such as death or alienation of his patrons, the end of war with Prussia and his
lack of tact in the malicious court war. The indictment against Trenck first appeared in the
autumn of 1745, charging him with taking hostages, robbery, unjust treatment of officers and
random crimes committed by pandurs. Similar charges appeared throughout the trial which
spanned across many years, to also include violent rape, the embezzlement of state money and
organising the revolt in Slavonia. Trenck denied all the charges or found justification for them,
but each time the charges were dropped, additional investigations were initiated and new
committees formed. He was finally imprisoned after a physical confrontation with his former
officer during a theatre performance in Vienna. The author notes that in the new process against
Trenck from the very beginning there was no chance of a fair trial because it was presided over
by his old enemy, count Löwenwold. After the additional charges of grand treason, there was a
sequestration issued on his property. Maria Theresa believed that Trenck was guilty despite the
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hearty support that the fallen baron and colonel received from her husband and brother-in-law,
the Emperor Franz and Archduke Karl. There was the appeal to the court of audit which was
prolonged, while in the meantime the possession of property and imprisonment continued. The
final verdict was the establishing of guilt on several charges after which Trenck was released
from death penalty only by the mercy of Maria Theresa and sentenced to life in the Spielberg
fortress in the vicinity of Brno. He had to recompense and pay many court fines, which
completely ruined his honour and reputation. In the Epilogue (87.-101.) the author provides us
with the posthumous reception of Baron Trenck, paying special attention to the works that were
written about him. Gradually, he claims, the fine line between truth and fiction faded and Trenck
as a person soon transgressed into the literary genre. Furthermore, the author dedicated himself
in great detail to the analysis of credibility of Trenck’s biographies, argumenting the importance
of the publication of the translation first published in 1745. The author’s conclusion regarding
the person that was Baron Trenck can be summed up in his claim that he was not without vice,
yet, he was also not an ambitious go-getter and dark savage, and that his pandurs were no worse
than other irregular soldiers, Krajina soldiers or the militia, often even the regular brothers in
arms, as opposed to the general opinion that prevails. Still, many Trenck’s co-fighters made a
career out of similar or identical deeds for which Trenck was charged. The final remark suggests
that the colonel Francis Baron Trenck deserved more than his beloved sovereign.
After the introductory study one encounters References (102.-106.) which contain the list
of the main bibliographic units, as well as the summary in the English language, Summary (107.-
110.). The facsimile of the German source was written in printed Gothic script, and takes up
more than one third of the monograph (195.-336.) following the Croatian translation. The final
part of the monograph contains the Index of personal names (337-343.), and Index of
geographical names (344.-353.), which makes it easier to search for the desired terms more
efficiently.
Finally, we may conclude that this monograph is an exceptional contribution to the
revealing of life of Francis Baron Trenck often veiled in myths and legends, especially if we
consider that the last study on his life was published over one century ago. Moreover, the
monograph is important for the study of eighteenth century military history with a special focus
on the so-called little wars, the history of Slavonia, War of the Austrian Succession, baroque
biography, as well as the human psyche and consciousness of the times. Last, but not least, I
hope that it will aid in accomplishing the goal that the author Alexander Buczynski set: guiding
the public towards solid historical reconstructions and away from the persistent retelling of
legends and myths. Perhaps in this way someday in Croatia there will be an appropriately
displayed museum exhibition dedicated to Francis Baron Trenck.
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UPUTE AUTORIMA
Opis časopisa
Časopis Pannoniana znanstvena je publikacija čiji je izdavač Fakultet za odgojne i obrazovne
znanosti u Osijeku. Izlazi dva puta godišnje i objavljuje radove koji doprinose spoznajama iz
humanističkih znanosti, ali i one koji imaju interdisciplinaran i multidisciplinaran karakter.
Radovi trebaju biti tematski usmjereni na prostor nekadašnje Panonije te poticati meñusobni
dijalog stručnjaka u humanističkim znanostima. Radovi se mogu temeljiti na kvantitativnim i
kvalitativnim istraživanjima te se privaćaju radovi koji su usmjereni na različite razine
istraživanja (pojedinačni slučajevi, manji i veći uzorci). Primaju se isključivo neobjavljeni
radovi.
Vrste radova
Časopis objavljuje recenzirane radove, izvješća o istraživanju, znanstvene rasprave i prikaze.
Povremeno se izdaju i tematski brojevi. Radovi podliježu postupku dvostruke slijepe recenzije
koju provode domaći i meñunarodni recenzenti. U okviru postupka stručnog recenziranja, radovi
objavljeni u časopisu svrstavaju se u jednu od sljedećih kategorija: izvorni znanstveni radovi,
prethodna priopćenja, pregledni te stručni radovi. Radovi moraju biti na engleskom jeziku, a
sažetci te ključne riječi moraju biti i na hrvatskom i na engleskom jeziku.
Izvorni znanstveni rad (original scientific paper) sadrži neobjavljene rezultate izvornih teorijskih
ili praktičnih istraživanja koje je autor naveo tako da se mogu provjeriti njihova točnost i točnost
analiza.
Preliminarno priopćenje (preliminary communication) sadrži grañu ili podatke koji zahtijevaju
brzo objavljivanje.
Pregledni je rad (review paper) kritički i analitički pregled nekog područja istraživanja ili jednog
njegova dijela. U članku treba biti vidljiv autorov doprinos proučavanju odabrane problematike,
a citirana literatura treba biti cjelovita.
Stručni rad (professional paper) uvodi u problematiku struke bez nastojanja da bude rezultat
znanstvenoga istraživanja.
Prijava radova
Prijavljeni radovi ne bi smjeli biti ranije objavljeni, niti predani na razmatranje za objavljivanje
negdje drugdje. Radovi se dostavljaju u elektroničkom obliku na elektroničku adresu
pannoniana@foozos.hr. Detaljne upute mogu se pronaći na www.foozos.hr.
167
Autorska prava
Autori čiji se rad objavljuje u časopisu Pannoniana automatski prenose svoja autorska prava na
časopis, koji pridržava ta prava za sve radove koji su u njemu objavljeni. Rukopisi se ne vraćaju.
Etička načela
Etička načela za časopis Pannoniana temelje se na smjernicama za najbolju praksu za urednike
časopisa Udruge za etiku objavljivanja (COPE – Comittee on Publication Ethics). Uredništvo se
obvezuje na poštivanje ovih meñunarodno prihvaćenih načela. Etička načela obvezujuća su za
uredništvo, recenzente i autore.
Uredništvo
Izvršni urednik donosi konačnu odluku o prihvaćanju rada za objavljivanje. Kriterij za
objavljivanje rada kvaliteta je rada i znanstveni doprinos bez obzira na rasu, spol, nacionalnost,
vjeru ili političko uvjerenje autora. Uredništvo ne smije otkrivati informacije o prijavi rada, niti
ih koristiti u neke druge svrhe.
Autori
Svi autori jednog rada trebaju znanstveno doprinijeti istraživanju, što se odnosi na pisanje rada.
Prilikom prijavljivanja rada, podrazumijeva se da su svi autori suglasni da se rad objavi, kao i
odgovorne osobe na ustanovi u kojoj je rad obavljen. Izdavač neće biti pravno odgovoran u
slučaju žalbi i prigovora glede navednoga.
Radovi i prijave ne smiju biti objavljivani ranije ili na razmatranju za objavljivanje negdje
drugdje.
Recenzenti
Prijave podliježu dvostrukoj slijepoj recenziji u kojoj identiteti autora i recenzenta nisu otkriveni.
Recenzenti mogu odbiti zahtjev o recenziji, ukoliko im nedostaje dovoljno stručnosti za
navedeno područje ili ako ne mogu dovršiti recenziju unutar šest tjedana. Recenzenti trebaju
obavijestiti urednika o mogućem sukobu interesa ili nepravilnostima vezanima za rad koji je na
recenziji. Svaki rad koji je primljen na recenziju treba biti tretiran kao povjerljivi dokument.
Opće smjernice za autore

Ne postoje strogi uvjeti, ali svi radovi moraju sadržavati bitne elemente kao što su: sažetak,
ključne riječi, uvod, pregled dosadašnjih istraživanja (teorijski okvir), metodologija, rezultati,
168
rasprava, zaključak. Takva se struktura preporučuje za znanstvene članke u kategoriji izvornih
članaka, prethodnih priopćenja i preglednih radova. Svaki rad treba sadržavati sažetak od najviše
jedne kartice teksta te tri do pet ključnih riječi.
Radove je potrebno oblikovati za ispis na papiru veličine 250 x 353 mm (B5 format). Treba
koristiti font Times New Roman veličine 12, a prored treba biti 1. Tablice i grafikone potrebno je
numerirati i dati im nazive. Literaturu je potrebno navesti prema harvardskom sustavu citiranja i
referenciranja.
Margine stranica (lijevu, desnu, gornju i donju) treba postaviti na 25 mm. Tekst mora imati lijevo
i desno poravnanje (obostrano poravnato). Rad bi trebao imati najmanje šest kartica teksta, a
najviše sedamdeset kartica teksta. Prikazi knjiga mogu imati manje od šest kartica teksta.
U gornjem lijevom uglu rada, svi autori trebaju navesti ime i prezime, ustanovu i mjesto.
Uredništvo zadržava pravo uvesti neophodne tehničke i slične promjene na radovima.
Detaljne upute za autore mogu se pronaći na www.foozos.hr. Radovi koji nisu napisani u skladu
s uputama neće se uzeti u obzir za objavljivanje.
Uredništvo
169
GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS
Description of the journal

Pannoniana is a scientific publication published by the Faculty of Education in Osijek. It is
published biannually and it publishes papers which contribute to findings in humanities, but also
interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary papers. Papers should be aimed at former Pannonia space
and encourage a dialogue between experts in humanities. Papers can be based on qualitative and
quantitative research and can be aimed at different levels of research (individual studies, small
and large samples). Only unpublished papers can be submitted.
Types of papers
The journal publishes reviewed papers, research reports, scholary debates and reviews.
Individual issues can be dedicated to more specific topics. Submisssions will undergo a double
blind review. Within the peer review process, papers published in the journal are categorized in
one of the following categories: original scientific papers, preliminary communications, review
papers and professional papers. Papers must be in English, and abstracts and keywords must be
both in English and Croatian.
Original scientific papers contain unpublished results of the original theoretical and practical
research. Its authors must list all the inputs and information in such a manner that the accuracy of
the data provided and the analysis carried out may be verified.
Preliminary communications contain the materials of the scientific data that need to be published
urgently.
Reviews are critical and analytical overviews of a field of study or a part therof.
Professional papers aim to provide information and introduce a field of study or problem area,
while the author does not aspire to conduct a detailed scientific research of the subject matter.
Submission
Submissions should not be published earlier or be under consideration for publication elsewhere.
The papers should be submitted electronically to the e-mail address: pannoniana@foozos.hr.
Copyright
Contributing authors automatically waive their copyright in favour of the journal. The journal
reserves copyright of all papers published in it.
170
Ethical Principles
The ethics statements for the journal Pannoniana are based on the Committee on Publication
Ethics (COPE) Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors. The Editorial Board is committed to
following these internationally accepted principles. The adopted ethical principles are binding for
the Editorial Board, reviewers and authors.
Editorial Board
The Editor-in-Chief makes the final decision whether a paper will be accepted and published.
The criterion for publication is quality and scientific significance of papers regardless of race,
gender, nationality, religious or political beliefs of the authors. The Editorial Board must not
disclose any information on submissions, nor use them for other purposes.
Authors
All the authors of a single paper should have made significant intellectual contribution to the
research, i.e. to writing the paper. Submission of a manuscript implies that its publication has
been tacitly or explicitly approved by all co-authors, if any, as well as by the responsible
authorities at the institution where the work has been carried out. The publisher will not be held
legally responsible should there be any claims for compensation.
Submissions should not be published earlier or be under consideration for publication elsewhere.
Reviewers
Submissions undergo a double blind review process, in which identities of author(s) and
reviewer(s) are not disclosed. Reviewers should decline a review request if they lack sufficient
expertise, or if they are unable to complete the review within six weeks. Reviewers must inform
the editor of any possible conflict of interest or irregularities connected to the paper under
review. Any paper received for review must be treated as a confidential document.
General guidelines for authors

There are no strict requirements but all manuscripts must contain the essential elements, for
example: Title, Abstract, Keywords, Main part of the paper: Introduction, Review of previous
research, Methodology, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, References, etc. Such article structure
is recommended for scholary articles in the category of original scientific papers, preliminary
communications and review papers. Each paper should contain an abstract of up to one standard
page, and three to five keywords.
171
Papers must be formatted so as to allow printing on paper size 250 x 353 mm (B5 format). Times
New Roman, size 12 should be used, and line spacing should be 1. Each table and graph needs to
be named and numbered. Format your citation and references according to Harvard citation style.
The margins (left, right, top and bottom) should be 25 mm wide. The text should be aligned with
both the right and left margins (justified). The paper should have minimum six standard pages
and maximum seventy standard pages. Book reviews can have less than six standard pages.
In the upper left corner of a paper, all the authors should note: the author's first and last name,
his/her affiliation and place.
The Editorial Bord reserves the right to make any necessary technical and similar changes to the
papers.
Detailed guidelines for authors can be found at www.foozos.hr. Papers that do not adhere to
these guidelines will not be considered for publication.
Editorial Board
172
CONTACTS

lbakota@foozos.hr
Ana Tereza Barišić (Croatia)

anatereza.barisic@gmail.com
Amir Begić (Croatia)

Academy of Arts
abegic@uaos.hr
Emina Berbić Kolar (Croatia)

eberbic@foozos.hr
Klara Bilić Meštrić (Croatia)

Centre for Croatian Studies
klara.bilic.mestric@gmail.com
Tanja Đurić (Croatia)

tdjuric@foozos.hr
Margarita Khazanova (Russia)

Russian State University for the Humanities
Moscow, Russia
margaritakhazanova@yandex.ru
173
Maja Koporčić (Croatia)
mkoporcic@foozos.hr
Irena Krumes Šimunović (Croatia)

ikrumes@foozos.hr
Marek Kulec (Poland)

Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan
mkulec@amu.edu.pl
Valentina Majdenić (Croatia)

vmajdenic@foozos.hr
Ivančica Marković (Croatia)

imarkovic@foozos.hr

University of Novi Sad
johnnynrv@gmail.com
Pavao Nujić (Croatia)

pnujic@foozos.hr
174
Jageillonian University, Poland
k.m.siewior@gmail.com
Dubravka Smajić (Croatia)

dsmajic@foozos.hr
Irena Vodopija (Croatia)

ivodopija@foozos.hr
Danijel Vojak (Croatia)

Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar, Zagreb
danijel.vojak@pilar.hr
Andrea Vučetić (Croatia)

School of Economics, Požega
andrea.vucetic2@gmail.com
Bogusław Zieliński (Poland)

Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan
zielbog@amu.edu.pl
175

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PANNONIANA

GOD. I · BR. I/ 2016. · OSIJEK, LISTOPAD, 2016.

SVEUČILIŠTE JOSIPA JURJA STROSSMAYERA U OSIJEKU

JOSIP JURAJ UNIVERSITY OF OSIJEK

GLAVNI UREDNIK/ EDITOR IN-CHIEF

ZAMJENICA GLAVNOG UREDNIKA/ DEPUTY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

IZVRŠNI UREDNIK/ EXECUTIVE EDITOR

UREDNICI NOVACI/ ASSISTANT EDITORS

UREDNIŠTVO/ EDITORIAL BOARD

TEHNIČKI UREDNIK/ TECHNICAL EDITOR

LEKTOR ZA HRVATSKI JEZIK/ CROATIAN LANGUAGE EDITOR

OBLIKOVANJE KORICA/ COVER DESIGN

GRAFIČKO OBLIKOVANJE/ GRAPHIC DESIGN

ČASOPIS IZLAZI DVA PUTA GODIŠNJE/ PUBLISHED BIANNUALLY

ADRESA UREDNIŠTVA/ ADDRESS OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD

Sveučilište Josipa Jurja Strossmayera u Osijeku

Copyright© 2016 Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Education

ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES/ IZVORNI ZNANSTVENI ČLANCI

1. Bogusław Zieliński, Marek Kulec (Poland)……………………………………………….9

2. Lidija Bakota (Croatia)……………………………………………………………………22

3. Emina Berbić Kolar, Klara Bilić Meštrić (Croatia)……………………………………..41

4. Kinga Siewior (Poland)…………………………………………………………………....55

5. Dubravka Smajić, Irena Vodopija (Croatia)…………………………………...………..64

PRELIMINARY COMMUNICATIONS/ PRETHODNA PRIOPĆENJA

1. Valentina Majdenić, Andrea Vučetić (Croatia)…………………………………………72

2. Nikola Milivojević (Serbia)………………………………………………………..………82

REVIEW ARTICLES/ PREGLEDNI ČLANCI

1. Ana Tereza Barišić (Croatia)………………………………………………………....91

2. Amir Begić (Croatia)…………………………………………………………………105

3. Irena Krumes Šimunović, Maja Koporčić (Croatia)………………………...…….114

PROFESSIONAL ARTICLE/ STRUČNI RAD

1. Margarita Khazanova (Russia)………………………………………………………….149

BOOK REVIEWS/ PRIKAZI KNJIGE

1. Tanja Đurić (Croatia)……………………………………………………………………156

2. Ivančica Marković (Croatia)…………………………………………………………….159

3. Pavao Nujić (Croatia)…………………………………………………………………….161

GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS………………………………………………………………...166

IZVORNI ZNANSTVENI ČLANCI

Bogusław Zieliński, Marek Kulec (Poland)

Lidija Bakota (Croatia)

Emina Berbić Kolar, Klara Bilić Meštrić (Croatia)

Kinga Siewior (Poland)

Dubravka Smajić, Irena Vodopija (Croatia)

Bogusław Zieliński (Poland)

Marek Kulec (Poland)

CENTRAL EUROPE AT THE CROSSROADS: CONTROVERSIES OF GEOPOLITICS

Keywords: Central Europe, crisis, geostrategy, ideology, cultural studies

The specificities of Central Europe

The specificities of Central Europe, characterised by its geographical, historical, economic

Central Europe as an alternative to Russia and the West

Central Europe from a condominium to a cordon sanitaire

From the Triangle of Three Seas to the Triangle of Austerlitz

Geopolitical future of Central Europe according to Aleksandr Dugin’s concept

SREDNJA EUROPA DANAS – NOVE IDEJE PREMA KRIZI

Ključne riječi: Srednja Europa, kriza, geostrategija, ideologija, kulturologija

Lidija Bakota (Croatia)

LEXIS OF TEXTBOOKS IN THE NINETEEN-EIGHTIES: A SOCIOLINGUISTIC

Keywords: textbook analysis, Serbo-Croatism, political lexemes – ideologemes

Research goal and methods

The following textbooks/readers were analysed:66

Results and discussion

Texts as promotors of value of a state political system

The didactic-methodological instrumentarium of textbooks often includes certain ideological