Blog Post 2

 “National identity is a person’s identity or sense of belonging to one or more states or one or 

more nations”. (6 New York Times). Slovenian National identity prior to 1991 is something real and powerful, “Slovenes metaphorically find their guardian in magical creative nature that is native to a particular nature” (3 Kopper). Slovenes primarily find their National Identity with the land that surrounds them more of an ecological perspective then whereas in other countries it is more of a political ideology like the United States, we pride our land, rights, and of course the famous American dream. Whereas Slovenia looks to nature as a relaying factor within national identity and where you belong.  

 

Slovenia’s Role in the Language 

Slovenia has a few primary languages that are spoken is primary language of Slovene which makes up 87.7 % of the primary languages that are spoken in Slovenia, there are also the other two 

primary languages Croatian and Serb- Corotation which make up 2.8%, and 1.8% of the population that speak those languages ( 1 Central Intelligence Agency ). Slovenian was part of the “Three European languages “initially in the 1900s (5 Sarhimaa). The population of Slovenia is divided into 5 different groups Lendava the main center of the bilingual region, there is also Dubrovnik, and lastly Soca. Primary people are residing in Hungarian communities. (source 3) This saying that certain populations feel that their National Identity is stronger in certain areas where they reside, they may speak another language but may reside somewhere else. There is this theory called the Kopitar’s Slovene language ( 4 Kosi ) where” Slovenian language was supposedly spoken with the territory where Slovenes purportedly lived 

that resulted in two aspects the Slovene nation and the Slovene national territory” A lot if was argued because of “Political Unification” and therefore granted you “National Liberties” of living in the country 

of Slovenia, a lot of this political unification is because of Slovenia’s alliance with Yugoslavia in before the 1990’s, another factor of Slovenia as a language is economic factors. 

In the Slovenian language as a primarily economic and living factor if you are living in a certain community that is if you have a lot of money and or it is an indicator of social status to others around   you. The people who are Slovenian may look down upon you because you are not speaking the primary language of Slovenian and make assumptions about you that you are probably not native to their country etc.  

 

Slovenia’s role in Territory and the importance of National Identity 

As previously mentioned above territory is a really important factor of National Identity to the people of Slovenia. Based on where you live dictates your National Identity, another factor is that Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia until recently, in 1990 this is important to note that the countries that 

were a part of Slovenia were Italy, Croatia, Austria, and Hungry. This makes up a lot of Slovenia’s National identity because they were once aligned with each other which helps fit people’s National Identity based on what country they identify within Yugoslavia.   

In the 1990’s Slovenia became independent from Yugoslavia (1 CIA World Fact Book) so it was no longer a part of those countries which altered a lot of Slovenia’s National Identity in terms of land and who people from Slovenia primarily identified themselves with. This also ties into language as well because based on what language you speak ties with where you live in Slovenia and or the border countries. Also, the relationships with other countries that border Slovenia before 1990 Slovenia had a 

good relationship with other bordering countries that border Slovenia like Italy, Austria, and Hungry. 

Post war some things may have changed because. The fall of the alliance that in perspective think of the Soviet Union is very similar to the fall of Yugoslavia because many countries were aligned with the USSR, but it fell, and that made those countries that were part of that alliance does not have a good relationship, or maybe, later on, realized that they let Politics get in the way of things. Territory and land 

do matter a lot with Slovenia because it was aligned for a while to Yugoslavia so that made things complex. In terms of Religion that is also a key factor of National Identity  

Slovenia’s Role in terms of Religion and History 

Slovenia is a primarily Catholic country with 57.8%, followed by Orthodox and Christian with 2.3% and 

1%. (1 CIA World fact book) Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia in the 1990s which is like the Soviet Union. The collapse of those two alliances saw the same issues in the collapse economically and both falling 

under “centrifugal ideologization” which led to a divide in Religion the two main churches were 

Orthodox and Catholic which were represented in the same church ( 2 Piacintini). That is why primarily the religions that are part of Slovenia are Catholic and Orthodox. Slovenia’s History with Yugoslavia creates a tie in the rich religious ideological background between not just Slovenia but other countries that were once part of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. But there are not just religious, historical, and ideological factors there are some critical bonds between Slovenia and other countries. 

THE MEANING OF OTHERING:  

The meaning of othering and or Significant Others (6 Triandafyllidou) is National identity that may be 

related to a specific territory, the homeland of the nation, and a neutral strong setting. In terms of 

Slovenia, others have a significant relationship with neighboring countries that were once a part of Yugoslavia. Their true National Identity is when the people of Slovenia feel like they resonate with the mostly in terms of its religious, factors and makes them feel at home a sense of belonging you feel comfortable with living there you may live somewhere else like some people live at university but you feel safe to call this place your home you identify yourself with the people that live here already. Most people call that home, but it is not the home of their hometown and where they grew up. It is what most people call home, people feel safe and or can identify or relate to the people that are already living in the area.  

Othering also may mean that people who have a strong relationship with countries that were once a part of Yugoslavia but no longer want to be a part of their country, so they move to another country 

with mostly the same ideologies. A lot of migration not a lot in the U.S. because it is not easy to move from place to place but in Europe, it is probably more common to do so. 

 

REFERENCES: 

1. Central Intelligence Agency. (2024, January 24). Central Intelligence Agency.  

https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/slovenia/#people-and-society  

 

2           . Guglielmo, S., & Piacentini, A. (Eds.). (2023). East European Politics and Societies Volume 0: 

Print. Authenticate for database access. https://journals-sagepubcom.proxy.seattleu.edu/doi/epub/10.1177/08883254231203331.  

 

3           .Kopper . (2022). ACTA HISTRIAE. Zgodovinsko društvo za južno Primorsko - Koper Società storica 

del  

Litorale - Capodistria. https://zdjp.si/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/AH_30-2022-4_OMAN.pdf  

 

4.          Kosi, J. (2018, May 1). The imagined Slovene Nation and local categories of identification: “Slovenes” in the Kingdom of Hungary and postwar Prekmurje: Austrian history yearbook. Cambridge Core.  

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/austrian-history-yearbook/article/imagined-slovene-nationand-local-categories-of-identification-slovenes-in-the-kingdom-of-hungary-and-postwarprekmurje/B3A903E22A240912DBB24D19E27B6A7B  

 

5.          Research consortium ELDIA c/o Prof. Dr. Anneli Sarhimaa Northern European and Baltic Languages and Cultures (SNEB) Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz Jakob-Welder-Weg 18 

(Philosophicum) D-55099 Mainz, Germany Contact: eldia-project@uni-mainz.de © European Language Diversity for All (ELDIA)  

6.          Triandafyllidou, A. (1998). National identity and the “other.” Ethnic and Racial Studies,  21(4), 593–612. https://doi.org/10.1080/014198798329784 

 

7.          YouTube. (2018, February 28). How nations make up national identities | NYT - the interpreter.  YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9qF6FvwrHI 

 

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