engleski

Ethnophaulisms on the Island of Korčula: Performing Local Identities by Mocking.

The complexity of contemporary processes of identification is a central question in various scientific disciplines. This research relies on theoretical approaches to questions of identity that regard identity as dynamic and fluid, constructed in interaction with Other/s. Perceptions and representations of Self and Others, often stereotyped and articulated throughout discursive formations, have an important role in these processes. The Other on the island of Korčula is perceived not as distant and exotic but as close and neighbouring. Communities on the island are differentiated in various ways (for example, culturally and linguistically) although they share the same space bounded by the sea. Differentiated local island identities are the result of specific historical and economic contexts. Symbolic boundaries between communities seem to be important in the identity construction process. Language plays an important role in this process as well, not only as a marker of identity (the outsider needs to stay on the island for some time in order to “hear” the different modes of speech) but also as a form of cultural capital. This research is directed primarily toward “performing” these diverse local identities on the island through what Joseph (2004) calls “the primary text of personal identity occupying a privileged place in the language”, i.e. names. The analysis will focus on ethnophaulisms (Roback, 1944), i.e. nicknames for members of a certain group or community, usually (though not exclusively) of a mocking character. Ethnophaulisms, which are still in everyday use on the island, reveal antagonisms (usually symbolic) between various island communities, thus enabling the maintenance of differentiated local identifications on a small island like Korčula.

ethnophaulisms; stereotypes; Korčula Island

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