Cultural Identity Politics in the (Post-)Transitional Societies

Performing identities - national theatres
and the re-construction of identities
in Slovenia and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Aldo Milohnić
Abstract
In this text the author examines the role of national theatres in the construction of
identities in Slovenia and, rather sporadically, in other countries of the former Yugoslavia.
This research question is set in the context of a historical overview, starting with early
historical examples in a wider European context. National theatres were first established
in Zagreb, Novi Sad, Ljubljana and Belgrade in the mid-19th century and national theatre
reforms continued in the last century with the introduction of a threefold system of state,
regional and municipal national theatres after the collapse of the Habsburg Empire and
the establishment of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (abbreviated as SHS).
After the Second World War many new national theatres emerged in the Socialist Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) and cultural politics imposed a new role on national
theatres in the new nation states after the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia. This
historical approach is combined with an analysis of the cultural, social and political position
of national theatres in the rather turbulent and nationalistic atmosphere dominated by
exclusivist, radical political forces. As well as this critical reading of theatrical “identity
politics” in the newly established states, predominantly in Slovenia, some other aspects are
briefly discussed, namely relations between national theatres and so-called “independent”
(or “non-institutional”) theatres, and subsidies and other financial incentives for national
theatres, based on examples of national theatres in Slovenia and Croatia, among others.
Keywords: national theatre, theatre history, cultural identity, national identity,
transition, Slovenia, Yugoslavia
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