The first printed book in the Slovenian language. PHOTO: STADTARCHIV MEMMINGEN

Essays Nation and narration

The article considers the emergence of nationalisms during the period of the downfall of socialist regimes in Eastern Europe and concentrates on the formation of Slovene nationalism through the spyglass of historic narration. The Slovene case may provide some general lessons as to how, in national narrations, history is retroactively homogenized: all significant landmarks of Slovene history that now form the core of the narrative presented at the time the major breaks with the then standards of Slovene national identity.

Published in the printed edition of Baltic Worlds BW 2023:4, p 75-80
Published on balticworlds.com on December 11, 2023

abstract

Nationalism always relies on certain ways of historical narration. The history of a nation is made in narration, and narratives retroactively create a homogeneous mythical history that is used for the present political purposes. The article considers the emergence of nationalisms during the period of the downfall of socialist regimes in Eastern Europe and concentrates on the formation of Slovene nationalism through the spyglass of historic narration. The Slovene case may provide some general lessons as to how, in national narrations, history is retroactively homogenized: all significant landmarks of Slovene history that now form the core of the narrative presented at the time the major breaks with the then standards of Slovene national identity. Everything that is now considered the epitome of “Sloveneness” was at the time seen as an import of a foreign intrusion, changing the very standards by which “Sloveneness” was to be assessed. Thus the fidelity to the Slovene national identity can only be achieved by the courage of putting it into question. The last part of the article addresses the larger question of how the nationalisms of that period have in the course of the last decades evolved into the new populisms which no longer try to present a coherent narrative but functions rather as the managements of rage, based on the fantasy of the theft of enjoyment.

Keywords: Historical narration, nationalism, Slovenia

Read the full article as pdf (download above).

 

The article is part of a theme in the printed journal 2023:4, “Monuments, new arts and news narratives” with guest editor Cecilia Sjöholm>>.

Mladen Dolar