Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.5673/sip.60.1.6
Czechs in the Požega County (Bjeliševac, Kaptol): Social Integration and Assimilation
Dragutin Babić
; Institut za migracije i narodnosti, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
The Czechs in Croatia are, according to their sociopolitical status, an old national minority,
with a long-standing presence in this area. They are notable for being well-organized and wellintegrated
in the Croatian society. A larger arrival of the Czechs is registered in the second
half of the 19th century, also to the Požega county (Požeština) and the villages analysed in this
paper (Bjeliševac, Kaptol). In both settlements of Požeština inhabited by the Czechs there are
the so-called Besedas, in which the Czechs pursue various activities of preserving, transferring
and further developing their national identity. The population of the Czech national minority
participated in semi-structured interviews in the spring and autumn of 2020. A total of nine
(9) persons belonging to the Czech national minority were interviewed, all of whom are active
in the Czech Besedas. Five (5) of them were interviewed in Kaptol and four (4) in Bjeliševac,
among whom six (6) male members of this national community and three (3) women. The
interview had fourteen questions and lasted approximately thirty (30) minutes. The sociodemographic
variables used in the interviews were: nationality, age, sex and place of residence,
to which respondents gave their consent in the introductory communication. The aim of the
interviews was to explore in what ways the Czechs preserve and shape their national identity,
and what is the relationship between their high quality integration in the Croatian society
and assimilation, which is gradual, yet continuous in their case. The results obtained in the
interviews and in annual reports of the Czech Beseda Bjeliševac are analysed in three sub-units:
“Communicational and cultural memory of the Czechs in the Požega county“, “National identity
of the Czechs: how to slow down the assimilation?“ and “Analysis of annual reports of
the Czech Beseda Bjeliševac“. The interviewed Czechs recall in the communicational memory
the narratives on the arrival of their ancestors to Bjeliševac and Kaptol. The Czech language
is a problem, for it is present in these communities more at the level of comprehension and
less in speech itself. The activities of the Czechs in Besedas, visits to the Czech Republic, communication
with other Besedas, and school education for national minorities (Model C) make
the most important factors of preserving the Czech national identity in the Požega county,
contributing to the slowing down of assimilation.
Ključne riječi
the Czechs; national identity; socialization; social integration; Bjeliševac; Kaptol
Hrčak ID:
278626
URI
Datum izdavanja:
2.6.2022.
Posjeta: 1.601 *