Naslov
How to Present the Past and Influence the Present?

Autori
Štefanec, Nataša

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, neobjavljeni rad, znanstveni

Skup
Portals: Spaces of Encounter, Entanglement, and Exchange

Mjesto i datum
Split, Hrvatska, 25.09.2017. - 26.09.2017

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Pozvano predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Nije recenziran

Ključne riječi
Heritage, Military Border, learning concepts, popularization of history

Sažetak
The paper questions how to present the complex heritage of the Military Border in Croatia, concentrating on several main themes. First, omnipresence of warfare, plunder, violence and general insecurity prompted frontiersmen to develop various local practices and codes of conduct intended to alleviate cross-border communication and reduce danger and stress. They collided with imperial needs to maintain clear dividing lines between the clashing sides and counter permeability. This created mistrust and aversion towards imperial authorities. Second, an important concept of loyalty to one's faith or ruler gained even more weight after the 18th century militarization, when Habsburgs started to school frontiersmen and offer them opportunity of social promotion, military advance and ennoblement. Habsburgs opened a passageway from a restricted and atypical into 'normal' society. Third, the border society was comparatively tolerant to violence. Valor, dexterity and physical ability were highly rated virtues. Frontiersmen were enrolled into service with 16 years and children were taught how to handle arms. Problems and crises were resolved through violence and armed conflict, much less through negotiation and argumentation. Fourth, the concept of honor was important in the military society as was in the feudal society (dueling, playing by the rules, keeping one's word etc.) but the border society on all three sides also appreciated wittiness, trickery and adroitness. The latter should not be used only against the enemy but against the imposing authorities too. Fifth, imperial clash prompted huge migrations over the Balkans which caused a large Orthodox (later Serbian) presence in modern Croatia and brought together a variety of legal, linguistic and religious identities and customs, in violent circumstances. The shape of the Border partly influenced today's borders. Once the Military Border was abolished traditional identities (serfs, noblemen frontiersmen) could not be seamlessly merged into national identities which created further frictions. In sum, the three empires strived to maintain a strong and impermeable wall towards the enemy, while in fact they managed to make a portal between the worlds. This portal was big and constant enough to become a world on its own and leave an indelible imprint on its inhabitants.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Povijest

Napomena
Organizator: Centre for the Study of Emotions in
Cross-Cultural Exchange, ARC Centre of Excellence
for the History of Emotions

POVEZANOST RADA