Revija za sociologiju, Vol. 29 No. 1-2, 1998.
Izvorni znanstveni članak
Contingent Selves: The Croatian Diaspora and the Politics of Desire
Daphne N. Winland
; York University, Canada
Sažetak
The collapse of communism in the former Yugoslavia has sparked an avalanche of personal and political questions for Croatians everywhere on the meaning of Croatian history, traditions and identity. In the midst of tumultuous changes brought about by the war, homeland Croatians have been struggling to (re)build/(re)imagine a new/old state and, in the process, reinvent themselves. Similarly, diaspora Croatians, who have, over the years, constructed themselves as an ethnic group within the Canadian political and multicultural landscape, have been grappling with the impact of these changes on what is now means to be Croatian. This paper investigates the politics of recognition and representation for Croatians through an analysis of the (re)production of sentiments of desire and disdain between diaspora and homeland Croatians. This multi-sited research demonstrates that the mutually constitutive relationships of diaspora Croatians and the focus of their desiring gaze, a free Croatia where its citizens are participating in the “production” or “recovery” of the historic Croatian state, are highly contested. For example, Croatians in the homeland have been reluctantly drawn into the politics of diaspora identity by virtue of their newfound status as members of the new Croatian state and outright reject the nostalgic imaginings of the diaspora. By spuming the gaze of the diaspora, homeland Croatians, in effect, blunt diasporic efforts to positively identify with and/or participate in the (re)invention of the homeland, underscoring the paradoxes that characterize the condition of multiple location and belonging.
Ključne riječi
identity; diaspora/homeland relationship; Croatia; Canada
Hrčak ID:
154457
URI
Datum izdavanja:
30.6.1998.
Posjeta: 1.742 *