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The Alphabet War: Language, Collective Memory and National Identity in Contemporary Debates over National Minority Rights in Croatia

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  • Tamara Banjeglav

Abstract

This paper discusses a crisis regarding Serb national minority rights in the city of Vukovar. The crisis was caused by the government’s attempt to introduce Serbian language and Cyrillic alphabet in the official use in Vukovar. The paper examines which symbolic meanings of the Cyrillic alphabet were used with the aim of consolidating national identity and collective memory of the war in Croatia. The paper argues that the use of a minority language and script was discursively framed as a means of aggression of one ethnic community over another, rather than as an issue of minority rights. The paper is theoretically grounded in Michele Foucault’s theory about the ‘discourse of perpetual war’.

Suggested Citation

  • Tamara Banjeglav, 2021. "The Alphabet War: Language, Collective Memory and National Identity in Contemporary Debates over National Minority Rights in Croatia," Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(5), pages 695-708, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:cjsbxx:v:23:y:2021:i:5:p:695-708
    DOI: 10.1080/19448953.2021.1935075
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