Cultural Identity Politics in the (Post-)Transitional Societies
Cultural Identity Politics in the (Post-)Transitional Societies
Cultural Identity Politics in the (Post-)Transitional Societies
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<strong>Identity</strong> construction <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Balkan region - Austrian <strong>in</strong>terests and <strong>in</strong>volvement <strong>in</strong> a historical perspective<br />
like “wild” or “uncivilized” and Austria’s mission was argued and justified by <strong>the</strong> necessity<br />
to civilize and modernize people and regions.<br />
Benjam<strong>in</strong> von Kállay, Austrian-Hungarian f<strong>in</strong>ance m<strong>in</strong>ister (1882-1903), stated <strong>in</strong> an<br />
<strong>in</strong>terview <strong>in</strong> 1895: “Austria is a great Occidental Empire (…) charged with <strong>the</strong> mission<br />
of carry<strong>in</strong>g civilization to Oriental peoples” (Daily Chronicle, 3 October 1895, cited <strong>in</strong>:<br />
Donia, 1981: 14). Racist attitudes always accompanied <strong>the</strong> Austrian approach: from<br />
<strong>the</strong> dictum dur<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> First World War (“Serbien muss sterben; Serbia has to die”)<br />
to <strong>the</strong> T-shirts worn by SFOR-soldiers <strong>in</strong> Bosnia <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> middle of <strong>the</strong> 1990s (Neues<br />
Deutschland, 10 November 2004) (“Jeder Tschusch schweigt still, wenn me<strong>in</strong> starker<br />
Arm es will; every Tschusch (pejorative word for Slavic foreigner) will be silenced by <strong>the</strong><br />
force of my strong arm”), a cont<strong>in</strong>uity of express<strong>in</strong>g chauv<strong>in</strong>ism and superiority towards<br />
<strong>the</strong> Balkans and its people can be observed. It has served as a factor of Austrian identity<br />
construction throughout history.<br />
References<br />
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1918, New York: Columbia University Press.<br />
Feicht<strong>in</strong>ger, J. et al. (2003) Habsburg postcolonial, Innsbruck: Studienverlag.<br />
Geier, W. (2006) Südosteuropa-Wahrnehmungen, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.<br />
Haas, H. and Stuhlpfarrer, K. (1977) Österreich und se<strong>in</strong>e Slowenen, Wien: Löcker und<br />
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Hárs, E. et al. (2006) Zentren, Peripherien und kollektive Identitäten <strong>in</strong> Österreich-Ungarn,<br />
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Peripherien und kollektive Identitäten <strong>in</strong> Österreich-Ungarn, Tüb<strong>in</strong>gen-Basel: 55-78.<br />
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Herzegow<strong>in</strong>as (1878-1918)”, <strong>in</strong>: Hárs E. et al. (ed.), Zentren, Peripherien und kollektive<br />
Identitäten <strong>in</strong> Österreich-Ungarn, Tüb<strong>in</strong>gen-Basel: 255-284.<br />
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