The National Self (and the Other): Croatia
All nations looking to construct a unique national characteristic which can separate them from other nations. Dr. Florian Pichler explains in “To be or to not to be… European,” “1) by the creation of political communities by transforming former separate units into coherent system” (Pichler, 2006). This proves that national identity can be built upon an idea which liked minded people agree on. Some may think that national identity is related to the location in which people are born, however, it’s the commonality between a group of people who build a sense of identity. There are several events or situations which can impact or enhance national identity. The Oxford University Press explained that some of those factors include traditions culture, and language, (Oxford University Press, 2018). This paper will break down the types of national identities that shape Croatia the most.
Croatia’s overarching national identity was there political side and their relation to Yugoslavia. Encyclopedia Britannica explains that Croatia was involved with this federated country for most of the 20th century. The country suffered during the 1990s under this federation. However, Croatia was able to declare their independence October 8th, 1991 after enduring a three-month moratorium to allow the European Community to resolve the Yugoslav crisis (Central intelligence Agency, 2018). The Central Intelligence world factbook explains, “the country's output during that time collapsed, and Croatia missed the early waves of investment in Central and Eastern Europe that followed the fall of the Berlin Wall” (Central Intelligence Agency, 2018). It goes on to explain once finally joining the European Union in 2013, their currency had to be adjusted to meet the standards. With the help of the European Union, Croatia was able to form their identity through the guidelines of the European Union, (Central Intelligence Agency, 2018). This causes them to have similar concepts as neighboring countries within the union. In other words, Croatia was confirming their identity while keeping their core values.
Religion is also a part of the national identity for Croatia. The leading two religions in Croatia include 86.3% Roman Catholic and 1.2% Serbians, (Central Intelligence Agency, 2018). In Every Culture Article, even some Croatian who consider themselves Catholic might not attend the religious activities but still get baptized and married within the Catholic belief system. The Catholic leaders are very active within Croatia. With this religion baptism, first communion, confirmation marriage, funeral mass, Christmas, and Easter; these are all very significant in the day to day life of Croatians. Currently, Croatians find it very important to observe all Saint’s Day (BBC, 2017).The Catholic religion is very involved in the day to day culture of Croatians, such as politics. This just shows how the religion has such an impact on their politics and Croatia’s national identity. Even though there are different factors of national identity, they all build on each other to create the final picture or identity.
Croatians also have their own language which separates them and gives them their own identity. Their language dates all the way back to the 11th century. With Croatians having their own sense of identity through language, the origins of their language come from Slavic. According to Dombrowski, when Croatia separated from Slavic the contact was lost which caused Croatia to build their own language, (Dombrowski, 2013). With that Croatian’s have their own alphabet has a variety of different types of one set of letters which are to be used in different contents (Omniglot, 2018). With that Croatia was able to create their own separate language to show part of their independence.
Croatia Regional aspects have changed over time, which has helped create their national identity as well. Once Croatia separated themselves from Yugoslavia the borders change for their independence. With Croatia physically separating themselves, it forced them to create their own identity, due to them having no one to rely on. With that, this would have to be the most impactful part of their identity. Having to start over is never easy but it always makes the situation stronger in the end. Same for Croatia, when first separating they tend to have tons of debt but they were able to make the right decision to benefit their country, (Pichler, 2006). With these different regional aspects as well play a part in the national identity. With the new borders, others can now relate Croatia with new beginning from where they were in the past, with the whole connecting with European Union. By being separated from other non-relating counties helped others see the true national identity of Croatia.
All these characteristics are showing the upbringing of Croatia’s National identity. Starting with the political aspect which basically sets the foundation for Croatia, which shows the struggle they had to go through to just get the right government for their people. Religion is also a large factor in creating the identity for Croatia; the importance of the rituals separates them from the other countries who value their religion. Croatians take Roman Catholic and apply it to their politics, culture, and traditions; not the other way around. With Croatians having their own language it reinsures that as a country they are one and can be compared but not grouped with other counties.
Word Count: 1004
References
The Breakup of Yugoslavia, 1990-1992. (n.d.). US department of state: Office of Historian. Retrieved from
Dombrowski, A. (2013). Phonological aspects of language contact along the slavic periphery: An ecological approach (Order No. 3568374). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I. (1426178282). Retrieved from http://login.proxy.seattleu.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1426178282?accountid=28598
Croatia’s county profile. (2017). BBC News. Retrieved From
Croatian (Hrvatski). (2018). Omniglot. Retrieved From
Europe: Croatia. (2018). In Central intelligence agency the world factbook. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/hr.html
National identity. (2018). In English oxford living dictionaries. Retrieved from
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/national_identity
Pichler, F. (2006). To be or not to be... european - the meanings of european identities from a people's perspective (Order No. U226429). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I. (301673152). Retrieved from http://login.proxy.seattleu.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/301673152?accountid=28598
No comments:
Post a Comment