Croatian Studies Review 8 (2012) (original) (raw)
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The Croatian Diaspora as an Unfinished Transdisciplinary Project
The Croatian Diaspora as an Unfinished Transdisciplinary Project In a discussion involving 20 th century Croatian emigrants, it is imperative to mention Boris Maruna. Maruna was not only one of the most astute commentators on the vicissitudes of an exilic and emigrant existence, but also one of its most gifted poets. Upon his return to the democratic Croatia in 1990-after 30 years in exile-as the newly elected president of the Croatian Heritage Foundation, he pointedly welcomed "the cancellation of artificially created divides in the diaspora between an economic and a political emigration." 1 Ever since the closing of the wide ideological gap that was placed and then meticulously upheld between emigrants and their home country from the decades following the end of World War II until the fall of communism in 1989, the Croatian diaspora has found itself in uncharted waters, and between states, cultures, and disciplinary protocols both in the country of origin (i.e. Croatia), and in the host country. Taking as an example the traditionally strong and durable Croatian diaspora in the United States, this article will consider how changing geo-political conditions have affected the study of the Croatian diaspora in the latter half of the 20 th century. It will then attempt to extrapolate the trends of the 21 st century, which is already underway.
2012
The author deals with a chapter from the histories of Croatian and Slovenian ethnology, particularly the period of the 1950s, when both national ethnological disciplines were engaged with the issue of the relationship between general and regional/national ethnology. As far as concerns this relationship, Branimir Bratanic and Vilko Novak, both university professors at that time, followed the contemporary line of discussions in European ethnology (EE). They presented the "novelties" and advocated the integration of specific national traditions in EE, adapting them by respecting disciplinary legacies and current state of the discipline in their home countries as well as their educational agendas and broader research practices. For this reason, this study also includes a comparative presentation of some disciplinary convergences and divergences right before this particular period: the links between Croatian and Slovenian ethnology that come to light when emphasising the concep...