Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.15176/vol52no201
Lazy, Stupid, Temperamental? The Use of Stereotypes about the Dalmatian Mentality
Mira Ljubić Lorger
; Split
Abstract
Lately, all sorts of events taking place in Dalmatia are being explained by an alleged "Dalmatian mentality". This paper is an attempt to answer the questions of what the notion of a mentality should be, whether it has any analytical value or whether it belongs to the obsolete and (justifiably) rejected model of the society, and whether the alleged characteristics of the "Dalmatian mentality" are just prejudices and stereotypes, or autostereotypes, and if they are, what their purpose is – primarily their purpose in daily politics. The paper presents a discussion of whether the Dalmatian mentality discourse belongs to the typical orientalistic/semi-orientalistic, or even a special sort of postcolonial discourse. An attempt is made to show that the reasons of revitalizing the notion of mentality are completely external to science, present in the modern society, modern politics, modern economics and in the modern dominant ideology, aimed at their petrification. Contrary to this, there are numerous reasons which support opening a discussion about our internal, miniature, local orientalism-Balcanism, the one towards Dalmatia and in Dalmatia. In doing this, references will be made to Gramsci and Todorova, rather than Said, so as to clearly establish both the discourse and the realia; that is, what it means, who and what it serves when what Gramsci noticed as the dominant presentation of the Italian South almost a hundred years ago is repeated of Dalmatia today.
Keywords
mentality, Dalmatia, stereotypes, buffoons, postcolonialism
Hrčak ID:
149470
URI
Publication date:
14.12.2015.
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