engleski

The "Harsh Inhabitants of Hvar" in the Speech of Vinko Pribojević (A.D. 1525)

The aim of this paper is an analysis of the genesis and representation of local group identities of the island of Hvar, based on the information from the oldest historiographic and literary source dating to the 16th century. The speech by the Croatian Dominican monk Vinko Pribojević, entitled "De origine successibusque Slavorum" ("On the Origin and Glory of Slavs"), was held in the Latin language in the town of Hvar on the island of Hvar in 1525. It was published in 1532 in Venice, and represents one of the most famous works of Croatian literature in Latin language. The speech consists of three parts. Most locally specific information on Hvar and its inhabitants can be found in the last part of the speech. The island itself is divided into three geographical parts in Pribojević's speech (the eastern part, consisting of the high plain plateau, the western part, consisting of the Hvar plain, and the town of Hvar). The division of the island's inhabitants corresponds to this division. In the description of the islanders and their supposed characteristics we can recognize many of the stereotypes still ascribed to many inhabitants of islands even today. People from the eastern part of the island, mostly shepherds that came to the island as refuges before the Turkish army, are referred to as "the others". They are described in quite negative context and stereotyped as being different from the rest of the island's population. In contrast, the inhabitants of the western and central part of the island are presented as ideal, homogenous, and harmonious community. Shepherds from the mountainous area in the east part of the island have been excluded from the collective representation of idealized indigenous population, the Mediterraneans that lived in the western part of Hvar. In Pribojević’ s speech we find the oldest form of the stereotype on the island’ s highlanders, the ever present "others" and "different" people of the island of Hvar, a view still present to this day.The aim of this paper is an analysis of the genesis and representation of local group identities of the island of Hvar, based on the information from the oldest historiographic and literary source dating to the 16th century. The speech by the Croatian Dominican monk Vinko Pribojević, entitled "De origine successibusque Slavorum" ("On the Origin and Glory of Slavs"), was held in the Latin language in the town of Hvar on the island of Hvar in 1525. It was published in 1532 in Venice, and represents one of the most famous works of Croatian literature in Latin language. The speech consists of three parts. Most locally specific information on Hvar and its inhabitants can be found in the last part of the speech. The island itself is divided into three geographical parts in Pribojević's speech (the eastern part, consisting of the high plain plateau, the western part, consisting of the Hvar plain, and the town of Hvar). The division of the island's inhabitants corresponds to this division. In the description of the islanders and their supposed characteristics we can recognize many of the stereotypes still ascribed to many inhabitants of islands even today. People from the eastern part of the island, mostly shepherds that came to the island as refuges before the Turkish army, are referred to as "the others". They are described in quite negative context and stereotyped as being different from the rest of the island's population. In contrast, the inhabitants of the western and central part of the island are presented as ideal, homogenous, and harmonious community. Shepherds from the mountainous area in the east part of the island have been excluded from the collective representation of idealized indigenous population, the Mediterraneans that lived in the western part of Hvar. In Pribojević's speech we find the oldest form of the stereotype on the island's highlanders, the ever present "others" and "different" people of the island of Hvar, a view still present to this day.

Vinko Pribojević; island of Hvar; Humanism; stereotypes; local communities; island highlanders

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