National identity is a complex topic to fully understand as it encompasses many aspects of what brings people together, or more importantly, what drives them apart. ECSInsight describes it as “a concept, is rather controversial. To some, nationalism is about reclaiming pride, assert uniqueness, or articulating a sense of self: to others, nationalism represents extremism, racism, and the worst of humanity”. At its most basic level, national identity is a sense belonging to the nation you are a part of. This includes identifying with concepts such as, religion, language, culture, and shared history. It also includes identifying with a shared enemy or having a common exclusion from another group.
A large part of Bosnian and Herzegovinian national identity is religion. The primary religious group in Bosnia and Herzegovina are Muslims. According to the World Fact Book, 50.7% of the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina identify with being Muslim. Following Muslim, Orthodox then Roman Catholic are the most practiced religions. This makes sense because the surrounding counties of Serbia and Croatia practice, mainly, Catholicism. This is a point of national identity because the surrounding countries practice different religions making Muslim Bosnian and Herzegovinian’s have a feeling of togetherness or unity. Bosnian Orthodox mainly identify with the Serbs and Bosnian Catholics mainly identify with the Croats, giving them a sperate national identity. Until 1971, Bosnian Muslims could be called “narod” and identify with that on the census. This was the first representatives of new Yugoslav national identity. This shared moral atmosphere by generations of Bosnian Muslims gives them this sameness that differs from Serbia and Croatia.
Another aspect of national identity in Bosnia and Herzegovina is language. The Bosnian and Herzegovinian alphabet follows the Roman alphabet versus the Serbian and Croatian alphabet which follows the Cyrillic. The CIA World Fact Book states that 52.9% of the population speaks Bosnian. Secondly is Serbian, then Croatian. When Bosnia, Serbia, and Croatia were all a part of Yugoslavia, they all shared a common language. However, Yugoslavia was associated with the dissolution of the Serbo-Croatian language. After the separation between the Croation and Serbian languages, the Bosnian language was established and became the primary language for Bosnian Muslims. In the 1990’s the language started to be standardized and was implemented into school education. Eventually, the Bosnian language was recognized and equal in status to the Serbian and Croatian languages. This created a shared language for the Bosnians and Herzegovinians furthermore creating an element of unity within the nation.
Education is another element of national identity within Bosnia and Herzegovina. Every national community within Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted their own textbooks and curriculum for education. Eventually, the Bosniak authorities published new textbooks and new curriculum that was previously introduced during the Bosnian War for the Bosniak areas. Special attention was paid to the creation and characteristics of the Bosnian language. This creates a unification for the Bosnian and Herzegovinian people because they have a centralized education plan with textbooks that highlight their specific language. In addition, they had to fight for “two schools under one roof” which supports inclusive and quality education for all.
A further aspect of national identity is the contention with surrounding countries. In 1999, a treaty between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina was formed to solidify the boarders. After it was drafted, both countries took issue with it. In addition to Croatia, Serbia has also had territorial issues with Bosnia and Herzegovina that remain unresolved. When Yugoslavia was still established, Serbia was the aggressive party and that is when this issue began. The River Lim cuts off several territories of Serbia’s as it runs into Bosnia, then Serbia, then back into Bosnia. Another example of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia having a regional argument is the village of Sastavci. It is a Bosnian village on an island; however, it is surrounded by Serbia and is under Serbian administration. Meaning that Bosnia has authority, but Serbia will be responsible for its people. Having a common enemy or tension brings the Bosnian and Herzegovinian people together and have an atmosphere of solidarity.
Serbia and Herzegovina have both internal and external types of “Othering”. The internal forms of Othering refer to being in the same political unit. When you are the minority in a multinational state you strive for political distinctiveness. This relates to people who identify with the religion of Roman Catholic or Orthodox. These people tend to identify more with the surrounding countries of Serbia, Croatia, or Montenegro. They tend identify differently than the Muslim population of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In contrast, when you are the majority in a nation state, you have a different culture, foods, rituals, values, and traditions. This mainly refers to the Muslim population within Bosnia and Herzegovina. They are the majority with regards to religion, and thereby have different foods that they allow, different religious traditions they observe, and different values or morals they recognize. They perceive the minority (Roman Catholic and Orthodox) as different and changing the culture. They believe that they are bringing in different political views and values. External Others have another political unit. In practice, this is referring to the surrounding countries of Serbia and Croatia. In this example they fall into the third category of external significant others, rival nations that have land that the other nations believe is rightfully theirs. They rival over territories over a nation like River Lim of the village of Sastavci. This challenges the ethnic and cultural conception of the ingroup because the other group has control over it.
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References
Bosnia and Herzegovina. (2021, January 19). The World Factbook. Retrieved January 28, 2021. from http://cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/turkey
Egan, J. (2018, 12 February). Civic vs Ethnic Nationalism and Hosting Eurovision for the First Time. ESCInsight. https://escinsight.com/2018/02/12/civic-ethnic-nationalism-eurovision-song-contest-portugal-advice/
Triandafyllidou, A. (1998). National identity and the “Other.” Ethnic and Racial Studies, 21(4), 593–612. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/014198798329784
Babuna, A. (2005). NATIONAL IDENTITY, ISLAM AND POLITICS IN POST-COMMUNIST BOSNIA- HERCEGOVINA1. East European Quarterly, 39(4), 405-447. Retrieved from h t tp://login.proxy.seattleu.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly- j ournals/national-identity-islam-politics-post-communist/docview/195173822/se-2?accountid=28598
Bringa, T. Being Muslim the Bosnian Way. Identity and Community in a Central Bosnian Village.
Balfour, A., Basic, D. (2010). A Bridge Over Troubled Borders. European Policy Centre. https://wms.flexious.be/editor/plugins/imagemanager/content/2140/PDF/2010/A_bridge_over_troubled_borders.pdf
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