engleski

The Curse of King Zvonimir and Political Discourse in Embattled Croatia

Historical legend on how medieval Croatian king Zvonimir cursed his people that they 'would never have a lord of their own language, but would always be subordinate to the ones speaking foreign languages', had been present in Croatian literature and political discourse for centuries, and became particularly active in the second half of the 19th century, when the modern ideology of national integration achieved its elaborated form within the frame of Habsburg Monarchy. The motif was strongly actualized in media and dominant political discurse in the early 1990's, when country gained independence and, 'for the first time after a thousand years, the ruler of its own breed', i.e. democratically elected president F. Tudjman. It is thus shown how political myths survive in the long historical run, transforming their semantics and connotations to fit ever-changing socio-political contexts, to meet expectations of various partial publics and to serve ends of different actors in a society's identity building.

political discourse ; symbolic capital ; construction of identity ; social memory ; Croatia

Rad je kasnije tiskan na hrvatskom kao "Kletva kralja Zvonimira u suvremenome hrvatskome političkom diskursu", Republika, LI, 9-10/ 1995, str. 134-156.