Izvorni znanstveni članak
Language identity of the Croatian immigrant community in Chile
Josip Lasić
orcid.org/0000-0001-5254-7903
; Filozofski fakultet u Splitu
Sažetak
Great migrations of the Croatian people to the Latin American country of Chile took place at the
end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. The causes of migrations were numerous
but they were mostly spurred by hunger and poverty. The first immigrants were Dalmatians from the
island of Brač and Hvar or the coastal village of Mimice near Omiš. Interesting and inexhaustible
themes of new life on a distant continent, integration, coexistence and preservation of ethnic and
cultural identity have long been subjects of historical, sociological, geographical and linguistic
research. This paper will present an analysis of the current state of the Croatian language in
Chile, that is the degree to which and the ways it has been preserved in the Chilean cities of Punta
Arenas, Porvenir, Iquiqe, Antofagasta, Santiago and Concepcion. These cities and the surrounding
areas are inhabited by a large number of descendants of Croatian immigrants and the analysis
of schools, institutions and centers that offer courses and activities involving partial use of the
Croatian language will provide a clear picture of the existence of the Croatian language in the
Spanish- speaking areas. In addition, this will also raise a question of whether and how to stop, or
at least slown down the process of extinction of the Croatian language, and thereby identity, in the
largest Croatian immigrant community in the Southern Hemisphere.
Ključne riječi
Chile; emigrants; Croatian language; integration – adaptation – language identity
Hrčak ID:
86318
URI
Datum izdavanja:
15.12.2010.
Posjeta: 2.169 *