engleski

Why don't Croatian citizens celebrate their national days?

This paper will examine the reasons behind current lack of active involvement of Croatian citizens in private or public celebrations of their national days, such as the Days of Independence or Statehood. This is particularly surprising considering the fact that Croatia is a relatively young democracy, which gained its sovereignty by popular support of its citizens in the 1990s, many of whom have witnessed first-hand the dramatic period of the War for Independence that these days commemorate. Firstly, we will briefly give a more general theoretical discussion on the crucial role that rituals such as national days play in the legitimization of a nation and nation-state among its members. They present an important opportunity for the nation to symbolically and physically come together and be reminded of their shared identity through social interaction and common symbols. Therefore, citizens’ lack of interest in the participation in such celebrations can have serious consequences for social solidarity. Secondly, we will examine the specific example of Croatia by discussing the official discourse surrounding the celebration of national days and how it changed over the past 20 years. We will then present the results from empirical, qualitative research conducted in February-May 2013 on a purposive sample of 85 Croatian citizens (semi-structured in-depth interviews). The results reveal: 1) meanings Croatian citizens today attribute to official national days ; 2) their perception of the importance of national days for them personally, for other citizens (the collective) and Croatian state in general, as well as 3) issues surrounding the celebration of national days that prevent Croatian citizens’ more active involvement.

national symbolism; national rituals; national days; Croatia; micro-sociology

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