Review article
Life of Border Population: Case Study of Međimurje
Filip Škiljan
orcid.org/0000-0001-7979-1359
; Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies, Zagreb, Croatia
Barbara Riman
orcid.org/0000-0003-2006-256X
; The Institute for Ethnic Studies, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Abstract
In the text the authors present information about Croatian-Slovene relations in the border area in Međimurje with special emphasis on the area of present-day municipalities of Nedelišće, Štrigova, Sveti Martin na Muri and the area of the Town of Mursko Središće. Based on the life stories of narrators who had family ties with Slovenia, and archive sources (register of deaths and marriages along the Croatian-Slovene border in the Međimurje County) the paper displays an outline of life in the border area before 1991 and after the border line was established. The paper also presents data about nationally mixed marriages, i.e. about the number of Slovenes deceased in the area of Croatian parishes from the middle of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th century, and brings conclusions regarding the intensity of the cross-border relations. The paper puts special emphasis on individual ethnological elements of forming ties, which were the foundation for making conclusions about the common life in the observed area. The authors paid special attention to the past of intensive relations of Croats and Slovenes, as well as to problems that emerged as a result of the established border between Croatia and Slovenia. Family ties, that once used to be very frequent, declined in number after 1991, and knowledge of both languages also became very rare with younger population. It can be concluded that common life in the past was very rich, but the problems after becoming independent emerged in those areas where mutual ties were the most intensive.
Keywords
Slovenes; Međimurje; Croatian-Slovene border area; identity
Hrčak ID:
231668
URI
Publication date:
2.12.2019.
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