Orientalisms as the Basis for Collaboration with the Orient

Orientalisms as the Basis for Collaboration with the Orient

Elvir, Music

After a long misunderstanding among the Balkan peoples, which has escalated in the last years of the previous century, begins the period of quest for cultural, historic and linguistic identifiers, which contribute to the versatile puritanization of the nations for a clearer marking of borders of the “national”, which, after a centuries-long interweaving of the inhabitants living in this region, should have been used for revitalization of the national identity of each of the peoples that gained independence in that period. In the case of the ex-Yugoslavian peoples this process is significantly radical, so marking out the borders of the national has assumed the meaning of distinction from the outward and not homogenization of the inward, which would eventually lead to cross-national alienation and animosity, which disables the renewed cooperation for the general well-being. Among the most important nationalistic identifiers are languages, whose filtration reflects the aspiration for proving the national authenticity and, of course, superiority. In order to alleviate the negative consequences and to prevent the cross-national alienation, it is necessary to guide the process of defining the “national” in a different direction, and, instead of looking for differences, look for similarities, which can bring peoples of the region closer to each other, and then open them to the region and the world. One of the common identifiers of Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian and Montenegrian language are orientalisms, which are a testimony to former strong connections of the peoples who communicate in the mentioned languages on one side, and the Eastern peoples on the other. Promotion and adequate presentation of this common characteristic of the ex-Yugoslavian languages may unite at least the linguists from the region in a common project, and then contribute to the increase of rating of the ex-Yugoslavian countries on the regional political, as well as economic-trade scene. Given the mentioned things, the process of regional bonding may begin with attaching the integrative role to the languages, raising of manifestation-demarcation function of the languages from the national to the regional level, and adopting common translation and promotional strategies directed at presentation of the oriental components found in the cultural heritage of the regional countries to the Eastern peoples - most of all to Turks, Iranians and Arabs - with the purpose of reminding them of the common past on the basis of which we could successfully build our common cultural, political and economic-trade future.

Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed

2012-05

803