The Balkan Element in the Dinaric Mentality: A Theological View of the Dinaric Influence on the Creation of the Modern Croatian State

Abstract

This essay investigates the degree to which one of the most evident and more common of mentalities in Croatia — the Dinaric — has influenced the establishing of the sovereign and independent State of Croatia in its early phases, and includes also a theological critique of this phenomenon. The first section links the said mentality to the fundamental elements of the Balkan forma mentis and the basic features thereof are sought out. The second section of the paper puts these particular features into the context of speech on the establishment of an independent Croatia, an approach which makes it very easy to note the measure in which Croatian social–political elites of that time were determined by the fact they seem to be less progressive. The third section highlights the Christian attitude to be adopted in regard to this type of behaviour and understanding of the state and society. Christianity in this respect — and here we speak of Christianity of the Catholic provenance — must clearly distance itself from any conglomeration of the Dinaric worldview and its rootedness in everyday life. To demonstrate a Christian attitude is at the same time the basic aim of this essay. It was shaped by reading thoroughly through the texts of authors who have dedicated the bulk of their scientific research to these topics. With all of this in mind one might say that the end result of this article is the assertion that the propheticcritical function of Christianity must become even more apparent and more evident in contemporary Croatian society.