acs bulletin 57

Bulletin of the Association for Croatian Studies – No. 57 Fall 2011 1

ISSUE No. 57 Fall 2011

IN THIS ISSUE President‘s Note………................ …1

Panel Summaries………..…….…1-4

Frano Prcela...……...……..............4-7

ACS Members & Friends...............7-8

Featured Websites………………..8-9

Books & Reviews.…….…................9

In Memoriam………….…………..10

Membership Dues…..……….…….11

ASSOCIATION FOR CROATIAN STUDIES

The ACS is a professional organization dedicated to the advancement of scholarly studies related to Croatia and the Croatians. The ACS was founded in 1977 and it is affiliated with the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES). Officers: Aida Vidan—President John Kraljic—Vice-President Ivo Soljan—Secretary Ellen Elias-Bursać—Treasurer Newsletter Editor: Nancy Crenshaw

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT

OF SLAVIC STUDIES

The ASEEES (formerly AAASS) represents scholarship in the field of Russian, Central Eurasian, Central and East European studies. The association has twenty-eight affiliates that are concerned with particular topics, areas, or peoples within the field. The ASEEES publishes the quarterly journal Slavic Review. http://www.aseees.org

A NOTE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Dear ACS Members and Friends, The 2011 ASEEES Convention will take place at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, DC, November 17

th -20

th. The

convention theme is ―Authorities,‖ and we are happy to announce that the ACS will be presenting several interesting panels on this and other themes. It is particularly encouraging to see that, despite economic difficulties, collaboration between scholars on the American and Croatian shores remains vibrant and that several panels will host our colleagues from overseas. The full listing of the panels pertaining to Croatia is included in this Bulletin.

I am pleased to let you know that the Croatian Embassy in Washington will host a reception for ACS members and their guests on Friday, November 18 from 6-8 p.m. in the Croatian Embassy Building at 2343 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20008. Our business meeting will take place the following day, Saturday, November 19, 2:45-4:30 p.m., in

the Council Room of the Omni Shoreham Hotel. We will discuss our collaborative efforts with the Croatian Academy of America towards making Croatian culture more visible in Western academic circles and, as usual, we will consider proposals for next year‘s conference. ACS members, friends, and anyone interested in Croatian studies are invited to the meeting.

I look forward to seeing you in Washington.

Aida Vidan

ASEEES CONVENTION 2011

PANELS PERTAINING to

CROATIA and BOSNIA and

HERZEGOVINA

Session 1 • THURSDAY

1:00 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.

1-33 Political Processes in the

Western Balkans after 2000 -

Suite 315 Chair: Ron Linden, U of Pittsburgh

Papers: Andrew Konitzer, U of

Pittsburgh, ―Small Parties and the

Collapse of Oversized Coalitions: The

Cases of Serbia and Croatia;‖

Jim Seroka, Auburn U, ―Assessing

Regional Security and Foreign Policy

Integration Efforts in the Western

Balkans;‖ Paula M. Pickering,

College of William & Mary, ―How

Local and International Forces Shape

the Outcome of Local Governance

Reforms in the Western Balkans‖

Disc.: Mila Dragojevic, The U of the

South


3:00 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. 2-03 Identity Formation and

Political Conflict in Eastern Europe

http://www.aseees.org/


- Blue Room Pre-Function

Chair: Florian Bieber, U of Graz

(Austria)

Papers: Vjekoslav Perica, U of Rijeka

(Croatia), ―Foreign Intervention and

Local Identity: The Cultural Impact of

the U.S. Humanitarian/Peacekeeping

Operation in Spalato, Dalmatia, 1919-

1921;‖ Magdalena Dembinska, U of

Montreal (Canada), ―A Nation in the

Making? Elite Identity Discourse and

Societal Responsiveness in

Transnistria;‖ Mila Dragojevic,

Sewanee: The U of the South, ―The

Salience of Invisible Social

Boundaries: Refugees and Locals in

Serbia‖

Disc.: Pamela Ballinger, Bowdoin

College Francesco Moro, Università

degli Studi di Firenze (Italy)

2-14 Public and Private Spaces in

Socialist and Post-socialist Cities -

Embassy Room

Chair: Emily Gunzburger Makas,

UNC at Charlotte

Papers: Veronica Aplenc, Rosemont

College, ―Private Enclaves in Planned

Socialist Public Space(s): State-

Owned Apartments, Illegal

Construction, and Personal Gardens in

1960s-1980s Slovenia;‖ Maroje

Mrduljas, Zagreb U (Croatia),

―Contemporary Croatian Architecture:

Testing Reality;‖ Sonia A. Hirt,

Virginia Tech, ―Public and Private in

Socialism and After: Spatial

Dynamics as a Reflection of Cultural

Changes‖

Disc.: Katya Makarova, U of Virginia

2-21 Teaching and Researching CE

and SE Europe at Regional and

Non-Title VI Universities

(Roundtable) - Presidential

Boardroom

Chair: Jeffrey Pennington, Inst of

Slavic, East European, and Eurasian

Studies; UC Berkeley

Part.: Melissa Bokovoy, U of New

Mexico; Jill A. Irvine, U of

Oklahoma; Sarah A. Kent, U of

Wisconsin-Stevens Point; Carol Lilly,

U of Nebraska at Kearney

2-31 Long Term Performance of the

Banking Sector in Eastern Europe

in the Context of Crisis Impact

(from Interwar Period to Current

Crisis) - Suite 268

Chair: Raymond Miller, Bowdoin

College

Papers: Zarko Lazarevic, Inst for

Contemporary History (Slovenia),

―Banking Performance in Eastern

Europe in the Interwar Period;‖

Stephan Barisitz, Oesterreichische

Nationalbank (Austria), ―Crisis-

Response Policies in Russia, Ukraine,

Kazakhstan and Belarus - Stocktaking

and Comparative Assessment;‖ Evan

Kraft, Croatian National Bank

(Croatia), ―Banking in Southeastern

Europe: from Boom to Crisis‖

Disc.: John R. Lampe, U of Maryland


5:00 p.m. - 6:45 p.m. 3-15 Funding Opportunities for

Researchers and Students

(Roundtable) - Empire Ballroom

Chair: Beth Holmgren, Duke U

Part.: Cynthia Buckley, U of Texas at

Austin; Dan E. Davidson, American

Councils for International Education;

Robert T. Huber, NCEEER; Ed

Roslof, CIES; Joyce Warner, IREX

3-28 Peace at the Local Level:

Microhistories of the Transition

from War to Peace - Suite 253

Chair: Maria Todorova, U of Illinois

at Urbana-Champaign

Papers: Steven Del Corso, U of

Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, ―Knin:

From Ethnic Serbian Town to

Medieval Croatian Capital;‖ Anca

Glont, U of Illinois at Urbana-

Champaign, ―No More Sacrifice for

the Motherland: the 1918 Jiu Mining

Strike and Negotiating Labor in

Peacetime;‖ Svitlana Frunchak, U of

Toronto (Canada), ―Difficult Peace:

Soviet Takeover, Holocaust

Survivors, and Jewish Culture in

Postwar Chernivtsi, 1944-1949‖

Disc.: James W. Frusetta, Hampden-

Sydney College

Session 4 • FRIDAY

8:00 a.m. - 9:45 a.m. 4-21 Their Authority, Our

Freedom: Croatian Culture

Between the East and the West -

Presidential Boardroom

Chair: Sarah A. Kent, U of

Wisconsin-Stevens Point

Papers: Nives Rumenjak, U of

Pittsburgh, ―Heroes or Outlaws? The

Triple Border‘s Uskoks and Hajduks

in 19th-Century Croatian Literature;‖

Ivo Soljan, Grand Valley State U,

―Chains and Wings: Oppression and

Freedom in Croatian Poetry;‖ Aida

Vidan, Harvard U, ―Captive Maidens

and Conquered Lands: Public vs.

Hidden Narratives in Croatian

Renaissance Drama and Moreška‖ Disc.: Larry Wolff, New York U

4-22 From Debacle to Rebellion:

New Research on the April War

and the Communist Uprising in

Yugoslavia 1941 - Senate Room

Chair: Michael Eoghan Allen,

Rutgers U

Papers: Mario Jareb, Croatian Inst of

History (Croatia), ―Chetniks or

Partisans? The Character of the

Uprising of July 27, 1941, in Croatia

and Bosnia and Herzegovina;‖ John

Kraljic, Croatian Academy of

America, ―‘Down With the Imperialist

War!‘—The Reaction of the

Communist Party of Yugoslavia to the

Fall and Occupation of Yugoslavia;‖

Hrvoje Capo, Croatian Inst of History

(Croatia), ―Those Who Swore:

Croatian Soldiers of the Royal

Yugoslav Army in the April War of

1941‖ Disc.: John Paul Newman, U College Dublin (Ireland)

4-29 Language Contact at the

Margins: New Approaches to

Southeast Europe - Suite 263

Chair: Amanda Greber, U of Toronto

(Canada)

Papers: Cammeron Girvin, UC,

Berkeley, ―Shared Balkan Proverbs: A

Sprachbund Phenomenon?‖; Eric

Heath Prendergast, UC, Berkeley,

―Contested Grammars—Contested

Identities: Object Reduplication in the

Republic of Macedonia;‖ Andrew

Dombrowski, U of Chicago, ―From


Prizren to Novgorod: Slavic and Non-

Slavic in Russia and Kosovo‖ Disc.: Lenore Grenoble, U of Chicago

Session 5 • FRIDAY 10:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.

5-29 Female Politicians in Croatia:

A New Authority? - Suite 263

Chair: Tatjana Bujas Lorkovic, Yale

U

Papers: Ljiljana Saric, U of Oslo

(Norway), ―Ideology and Evaluation

in Text and Image: Croatian Media

Presentations of the Prime Minister;‖

Vesna Kesic, Freelance

Journalist/Independent Scholar,

―Women in Politics: Doing and

Talking;‖ Mirjana Nelson Dedaic,

Georgetown U, ―Metaphoric

Construction of Female Politicians in

the Croatian Print Media‖ Disc.: Nanette Funk, CUNY, Brooklyn College

Session 6 • FRIDAY 2:00 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.

6-12 The Diffusion of Economic

Reforms in Eastern Europe -

Diplomat Ballroom

Papers: Mitchell A. Orenstein, Johns

Hopkins U, SAIS, ―Policy Diffusion

Pathways: Explaining the Spread of

Pension Privatization and Flat Tax;‖

Juliet Johnson, McGill U (Canada),

―Dangerous Diffusion?: Post-

communist Central Banking and the

Financial Crisis;‖ Rachel Epstein, U

of Denver, ―Policy Diffusion and

Foreign Bank Ownership in Central

and Eastern Europe‖ Disc.: Bojan Bulgaric, U of Ljubljana (Slovenia), Milada Anna Vachudova, UNC at Chapel Hill

6-17 Violence: Theory and Practice

- Forum Room

Papers: John Paul Newman, U

College Dublin (Ireland), ―War and

Charismatic Authority in Yugoslavia:

Stjepan Radic and Aleksandar

Karadjodjevic;‖ James Ryan, U

College Cork (Ireland), ―Lenin as a

Theorist of Violence;‖ Susan Grant, U

College Dublin (Ireland), ―Care and

Compassion in a Violent Society:

Nurses in Soviet Russia, 1918-1922‖ Disc.: Joshua Sanborn, Lafayette

College

Session 7 • FRIDAY 4:00 p.m. - 5:45 p.m.

7-11 The Shifty Balkans? Debating

Multinationality and Transient

Loyalties in the (Post-) Ottoman

Balkans (Roundtable) - Council

Room

Chair: Pieter Judson, Swarthmore

College

Part.: Max Bergholz, U of Toronto

(Canada); Keith S. Brown, Brown U;

Theodora Dragostinova, Ohio State U;

Emily Greble, City College of New

York; Alex Stoyanov Toshkov,

Columbia U

7-23 Language Decay or Language

Revitalization? The Case of Minor

Slavic Languages between the

Languages of Authority - Suite 153

Chair: Matthew C Curtis, Ohio State

U

Papers: Sabine Pawischitz, U of

Vienna (Austria), ―Language Decay in

Burgenland-Croatian: A Comparative

Analysis of the Use of the Perfective

Aspect in Present Tense in

Burgenland-Croatian and Standard

Croatian;‖ Tomasz Dominik

Kamusella, Cracow U of Economics

(Poland), ―Vacillating Language

Decay or Language (Re-)Generation

in the Slavic-Germanic Community in

Upper Silesia: Noticing and

Standardizing Silesian;‖ Motoki

Nomachi, Hokkaido U (Japan), ―The

Grammaticalization of Kashubian

Perfects: Between German and Polish

Grammar‖ Disc.: Wayles Browne, Cornell U

Session 8 • SATURDAY 8:00 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.

8-23 Current Trends in Bosnian

Cinema - Suite 153

Chair: Raisa Sidenova, Yale U

Papers: Maria Hristova, Yale U,

―Geography of Ethnic Conflict in

New Bosnian Cinema;‖ Natasa Milas,

Yale U, ―Laughter in the Dark: Danis

Tanovic and Bosnian Film;‖ Zdenko

Mandusic, U of Chicago, ―Scarred

Bodies, Hidden Hope: Positions of

Identification in the Films of Jasmila

Zbanic‖ Disc.: Aida Vidan, Harvard U

Session 9 • SATURDAY 10:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.

9-26 New Research in South Slavic

Linguistics - Suite 209

Chair: Elisabeth Elliott, Northwestern

U

Papers: Amanda Greber, U of

Toronto (Canada), ―Good Language,

Good Citizen—Language and the

Shaping of Identity;‖ James Joshua

Pennington, Ohio State U, ―Double-

edged Allomorphy in Bosnian-

Croatian-Serbian: An ‗Official‘

Novohrvatism and an ‗Unofficial‘

Sociolinguistic Variable;‖ Anita Peti-

Stantić, Faculty of Humanities and

social Sciences, U of Zagreb, ―Is

There a Language Academy in

Croatia?‖ Disc.: Andrea Dorothy Sims, Ohio State U

Session 10 • SATURDAY

12:45 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. 10-11 Encounters between Central

and South Eastern Europe in

Modern History (Roundtable) -

Council Room

Chair: Irina Livezeanu, U of

Pittsburgh

Part.: Ulf Brunnbauer, U of

Regensburg (Germany); Patrice M.

Dabrowski, U of Massachusetts,

Amherst; Alex Drace-Francis, U

College London (UK); Malgorzata

Fidelis, U of Illinois at Chicago; Irina

Dimitrova Gigova, College of

Charleston

Session 11 • SATURDAY

2:45 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Association for Croatian Studies - (Meeting) - Council Room 11-15 The End of Yugoslavia:

Perspectives on Real-time Analysis

Twenty Years Later (Roundtable) -

Empire Ballroom

Chair: Robert M. Hayden, U of

Pittsburgh

Part.: Steven L. Burg, Brandeis U;

Robert Donia, U of Michigan; David

Kanin, CENTRA Technology/Johns


Hopkins U; Susan L. Woodward, The

Graduate Ctr, CUNY

Session 12 • SATURDAY 4:45 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

12-32 International Assistance:

Lessons from the Balkans—Suite

300

Chair: Jon Western, Mt. Holyoke

College

Papers: Jill A. Irvine, U of Oklahoma

and Patrice McMahon, U of Nebraska,

Lincoln, ―American Aid to the

Balkans: Lessons for Afghanistan;‖

Valerie Bunce, Cornell U, and Sharon

Wolchik, George Washington U,

―When Democracy Assistance

Works;‖ Jill Benderly, School for Intl

Training/World Learning,

―International Assistance, Local

Impact‖ Disc.: Andrew Konitzer, U of Pittsburgh; Julie Mostov, Drexel U

ASEEES Awards Presentation

and President’s Address (open to

all) – 7:30 PM - Blue Room Bruce Grant, New York U, will deliver the President‘s Address

Session 13 • SUNDAY 08:00 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.

13-34 EU in search of a Balkan

Policy (Roundtable) - Suite 368

Chair: John Kraljic, Croatian

Academy of America

Part.: Djuro Njavro, Zagreb School of

Economics and Management

(Croatia); Branko Salaj, Zagreb

School of Economics and

Management (Croatia); Franjo Topic,

Theological Faculty; Davor Vidas,

The Fridtjof Nansen Inst (Norway);

Ivan Grdešić, Faculty of Political

Science, Zagreb (Croatia)

Session 14 • SUNDAY

10:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. 14-10 Rebelling against Zagreb:

Reflections on the War in Croatia,

1991-1995 - Congressional B

Chair: Susan Smith, Independent

Scholar

Papers: Davor Paukovic, Center for

Political Research (Croatia), ―Croatia

between Democratic Transition and

War;‖ Vjeran Pavlakovic, U of Rijeka

(Croatia), ―Sites of Memory on the

Road to War: WW2 Commemorative

Culture in Croatia, 1985-1995;‖ John

E. Ashbrook, Sweet Briar College,

―Storming to Partition: Croatia, the

United States, and Krajina in the

Yugoslav War‖

Disc.: Jared Manasek, Columbia U

Session 15 • SUNDAY

12:00 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. 15-18 Staging Memories of

Yugoslavia: Narratives, Practices,

Representations—Governor’s

Boardroom

Papers: Tanja Petrovic, Scientific

Research Ctr of the Slovenian

Academy of Sciences & Arts

(Slovenia), ―Army Stories Getting

Staged: Post-1990 Literary and Film

Representations of the JNA Service;‖

Martin Pogacar, Slovenian Academy

of Sciences & Arts (Slovenia),

―Youtube and Post-Yugoslav

Memories of Anti-fascism;‖ Sanjin

Pejkovic, Film Studies at Centre for

Languages and Literature, Lund U,

―Once Brothers? Documentaries and

Contested Representations of the Role

of the Popular Culture and Sports in

Yugoslav History‖

Disc.: Max Bergholz, U of Toronto

(Canada)

The Search for Identity between the

Conflicting Priorities of Nation and

Religion in Croatia

Frano Prcela, O.P.

Institut M.-D. Chenu, Schwedter Str.

23, D-10119 Berlin, Germany

When Croatians talk about national

identity, particular weight or even an

exclusive role is ascribed to the

Catholic Church. Modern

interpretations of national identity do

not accept religion, church or faith

affiliation as a basic feature of this or

even a special position in this identity.

Identity does not belong to the

essence of people but rather to their

consciousness. In the consciousness of

the majority of Croatians, the role of

the Catholic Church in the

development and preservation of the

Croatian national identity is given an

outstanding importance, a sort of

―Super-Role.‖

Because of historical

circumstances, the majority of

Croatians are Catholics. To put that in

another way, almost all the Catholics

in that region have become Croatians.

For nearly nine centuries the

framework provided by an

independent political state was

lacking, which, as a consequence,

meant that the Catholic Church took

on the role of national homogenising

and as the preserver of the Croatian

identity. For the Croatians, nation and

denomination are, therefore, almost

coterminous.

In this article we shall call

attention to the risk of, on the one

hand, reducing the Croatian national

identity to Catholicism and, on the

other hand, a certain reduction of

Catholicism into simply being

Croatian. For this is not only

outmoded, but moreover also brings

dangers for both sides with it.

When Croatians talk about the

history of the Croatian people, this

usually becomes a presentation of the

role of Christianity or of the Catholic

Church as the central bearer of the

promotion and preservation of

Croatian identity. Croatian culture,

politics and the general achievements

of civilisation are closely linked to

(western) Christianity. Nevertheless,

there is a danger that Croatian identity

will be reduced to Catholicism or

even to the institution of the Catholic

Church. Doing this would discard the

many facets of eastern Christianity,

which are primarily found on the

Adriatic coast. The equation of

Croatian with Catholic would, further,

mean the obliteration of the Jewish

and Protestant traditions, as well as

many other religious, cultural, and

political traditions, which have also

become an important part of Croatian

identity.

Thus the Catholic Church has, in the


course of (modern) history, created

certain positive prejudices about itself

by stressing its link with the Croatian

people. It is always the mutual going

together and suffering together of the

Catholic Church and the Croatian

people which is stressed—not only by

the Catholic hierarchy, but also by

many historians, intellectuals and, of

course, many politicians. In doing

this, certain historical events,

personalities or even terminological

syntagma are used, which, in the

course of time, have become a fixed

part of the self-understanding and

self-presentation of Croatian

Catholics. Examples of such syntagma

are: Croatians are a Catholic and

Marian people, or that Croatia is the

―Antemurale Christianitatis‖

(Bulwark of Christianity). In addition,

there are some more modern terms,

which are no less in danger of leading

to self-deception: a Catholic country

or the Catholic Church in Croatia is

the ―Stepinčeva Crkva (Stepinac´s

Church) etc.

At any rate, it is significant that

their own positive prejudices of the

Catholic Croatians form the source for

several negative prejudices in the

perception of others. One such

example is the designation of Croatia

by the Church as a Catholic country.

For the Croatians are silent when, for

example, the nuncio refers to Croatia

in an interview as the most Catholic

country (see the interview in ―Glas

Koncila‖, No. 1571, 01.08.2004). This

silent listening to the words of a

representative of the Vatican has

apparently been taken as a

compliment. When, however,

someone else, who already has a

profile as a critic of the same Church,

does the same thing and cites Croatia

as a Catholic state, this excites the

minds of Catholic Croatians a lot.

When the Croatians talk about

their Catholic Church themselves, this

soon becomes a listing of the merits of

the Church in education and in the

preservation of Croatian identity. In

fact, the first historical mention of the

name of Croatia, the beginnings of

Croatia becoming a state, and the first

documents about Croatia and Croatia

with the Church, are all linked with

the Catholic Church.

During the time of Communist

Yugoslavia, the Catholics appeared to

the outside world to be a very

homogenous community. The

enormous changes arising from the

Second Vatican Council caused only a

few ripples in the Catholic Church in

Croatia, compared to the greater

effects elsewhere in the West. The

changes were limited to the necessary

minimum. Discussions within the

Church were avoided as far as

possible. The priority was to save

one‘s strength for the daily

confrontations with the overpowering

Communist regime. The climate was

such that one assumed that everything

would be in order as soon as the

totalitarian Communist regime

disappeared from the political stage.

Encouraged by the fall of the Iron

Curtain, the first democratic elections

took place in one republic after

another of the then Yugoslavia. This

first took place in the two majority

Catholic republics of Slovenia and

Croatia in the spring of 1990. Very

soon Croatia experienced

disillusionment through the war which

followed and lasted until the summer

of 1995. The Church played a very

important role during the war, both in

the humanitarian field and more still

through spiritual support, as well as

through her homogenising function.

Very soon after this the

disillusionment came, especially

concerning the real structure of the

faith of Croatian Catholics. Through

the disappearance of the ideological

enemy—the Communist regime—the

Catholic Church was then able to take

part in the newly-won democratic

structures in a very intensive way,

with many new opportunities for its

pastoral and societal work (religious

instruction in schools, media work,

military and hospital chaplaincies

etc.). The very democracy which the

Church helped intensively to create

came as a surprise for the Church. The

newly-won freedom did not come at

once, but nevertheless the Church was

not prepared for it and was not able to

come to terms with the many new

possibilities (and the pluralist society

which went along with this!), and still

less with the expectations for the

Church itself—and that is still the

case today.

Particularly at the beginning of

the 1990s, during the war, the Church

was very present in the Croatian

public eye. At every celebration and

every official event the

representatives of the Church were

expected to be present. And the

officials of the Church did not miss a

single chance for this. The fact that

the Church was being used in a certain

way did not worry it at first very

much. With hindsight, this using of

the services of the Church in

situations where she was not to be

concerned about the ―contents‖ was

basically outsiders or even she herself

instrumentalising her. Frankly

speaking, the Church neglected her

own mission and misused her role

through her intensive public

appearances in Croatia by turning

herself into an institution for public

news instead of spreading her true

message amongst the people.

It appears paradoxical that,

through this intensive public presence,

an impression was made that Croatian

citizens were especially bound to the

Church, which later could be shown to

be a deceptive picture of the Catholic

Church. For that reason, the current

crisis of faith amongst Croatian

Catholics is not so much the result of

increasing secularisation as the

Church hierarchy likes to maintain. It

is rather more the result of the Church

―forgetting‖ to convey her own

message, by instead concerning itself

with image and institutional influence

in Croatian society. The result of this

process is that today most Croatians

are (on paper) Catholic (baptised), but

not Christianised—that is, they are not


informed or educated about their faith.

So Croatian Catholicism is

characterised by a formalist practice

of the faith and a traditional view of

the Church, with a strong tendency to

uphold Church traditions. This

practice of the faith, which can be

particularly seen at mass events,

survives without, one could say,

seeking a deep faith: it is restricted to

a ―situational Christianity‖

(―Christmas‖, ―Sacramental‖,

―Formal‖ or ―Sunday‖ Catholicism).

For more than two decades, the

Catholic Church has been in the

position to equip its members with a

substantially better communication of

faith as well as a higher intellectual

quality when communicating the

contents of faith. But this does not

happen enough, although the

prerequisites have never been so good

throughout the course of Croatian

history (the Church has religious

instruction in state schools, a strong

media presence, and many new

theological faculties within the state

universities). It is impossible to avoid

the impression that the Church is

more concerned about its position in

Croatian society than a continuous

offer of dialogue about the contents of

faith or theological themes in

society‘s discussions. As a

consequence of this intellectual

apathy concerning discussions in

society in matters of faith, it often

happens that the Church puts more

importance into the political points of

view of its members than their

theological positions. In doing this,

the faith of Catholic Croatians has

become a matter of inheritance (a

matter of tradition) rather than taking

the form of true discipleship.

Finally, the following question

remains to be asked: what, therefore,

are the current challenges for the

Catholic Church in Croatia?

When the Catholic Church in

Croatia talks about preserving

identity, it is principally the

preservation of tradition that is meant.

But if tradition is stressed too much,

the impression inevitably arises that

one wants to hold on to the status quo.

This presents the Church with the

urgent task of producing a creative

distance to tradition. The current

assurance about the merits and the

role of the Catholic Church itself in

the historical development of the

Croatian people does not at all mean

that these should be exhibited in the

museum of Croatian identity. What is

required is the Here and Now of the

Church in Croatian society!

There is no question that the

Catholic Church in Croatia has

endorsed the process of

democratisation and has become an

important subject of society in the

country. In the 1990s, Croatian

society went through an important

development towards more pluralism.

Around the end of the 1990s, the

influence of the Church was

disappearing more and more, and the

Catholic authorities were taken less

and less seriously by the media, and

were even sometimes discredited.

How could it come to that? For

this we offer the following

explanation: the Church at first

accepted pluralism as something good

and also accepted it for itself, because

this provided it with the opportunity

to spread its message in freedom. But

in the meantime the situation has

arisen that the representatives of the

Church have little understanding for

points of view and concepts of life

which are irreconcilable with Church

teaching. And so it came to be that the

Church, every time there was a

confrontation with differing views,

more and more referred to Croatian

society as a ―failed democracy.‖ The

challenge for the Church in this

context is to create the prerequisites

for an open discussion in its own

ranks, without raising a monopolistic

claim in the process (and that not even

in questions of faith). One good way

for the Church would be the way of

serenity. To a certain extent a more

creative calmness concerning

complexity (which has arisen because

of pluralism) would make the Church

more receptive for the doubts,

questions and wounds of Croatian

society. That is to say, she would then

be enabled to transcend them.

Otherwise she will be on the way to a

fatal division into civic and

ecclesiastical public spheres.

At first sight, a close relationship

between national and religious

identity is not bad as such. But a

(church-) politically motivated

deliberate equation of the two will

bring serious consequences with it.

Applied to the Croatian situation: the

Catholic Church cannot afford to give

in to the temptation of being a

centripetal factor of power for the

unity of the Croatian nation. It is now

time to disenchant the

interrelationship between nation and

religion or even to demystify it.

The temptation which has

brought the fateful connection of

being Croatian and Catholic in the

course of history ought not to be taken

into account any longer today. But

this is not the case. Without any

question, the Catholic Church would

like to continue to influence Croatian

society in an active way. She does not

only bring gifts to this process, but

also her own challenges and

problems, which are increasingly

becoming urgent tasks. If the Church

wants to take up the interest of the

people or even represent them, then

she must maintain a certain distance

from politics. That does not mean that

she must remain aloof from social,

economic and political questions, but

rather that she must avoid every

activity which could create the

impression that she is representing her

own political interests or is on the side

of the decidedly nationalist state.

Being close to the state delegitimises

Church action—that is something

which the Catholic Church had to

experience not only after the collapse

of State Socialism in Croatia, but also

in many other countries in Eastern

Central Europe.

―Not that we lord it over your faith;


rather, we work together for your joy‖

(2 Cor. 1:24). Authentic engagement

for the true Christian and Catholic

identity is certainly the best

contribution which the Church can

provide in Croatian society, and

through which she can help to

stabilize national identity. Let it be

understood that this does not only

apply to Croatia.

MEMBERS & FRIENDS

Greetings and welcome to new members Jasna Krizanec, retired teacher of Russian Languages, and to George Pesely at the Dept. of History, Austin Peay State University.

Ludwig Steindorff, Kiel

University/Germany, took part in a

conference at the Faculty of Letters of

the University of Zagreb on March 3,

2011, regarding the topic ―Ljetopis

popa Dukljanina pred izazovima

novije historiografije,‖ (―The

Chronicle of the Priest of Dioclea and

the Challenges of Modern

Historiography‖). Except for the

writer of these lines and two

participants from Belgrade, the other

eight participants came from Zagreb.

The organization of the conference

was motivated by some recent

publications about the composition

and the age of this mysterious source.

Since the different proposed solutions

widely exclude one another, the

discussion was very vivid and

controversial, but always remained on

an academic and friendly level. The

organizers intend to publish the papers

of the conference. Professor

Steindorff also published an article:

―Jugoslawien 1989: Kosovo und der

Diskurs um die Zukunft des states,‖

(Yugoslavia 1989: Kosovo and the

Discourse about the Future of the

State) Jahr der Wende im östlichen

Europa, ed. Michael Düring et alii,

Lohmar-Köln: Josef Eul Verlag 2011,

S. 187-206.

We are pleased to announce that our

member, Mr. Joseph Turkaly, had

an opening of his Retrospective

Sculpture Exhibition in the Embassy

of the Republic of Croatia in

Washington, DC on October 13, 2011.

The exhibit will remain on display

Monday-Friday, 10 – 4, until Jan. 1.

A surprise party was held for Wayles

Browne during "Slavic Studies

Symposium 2011" at Cornell last

February. He was also invited to give

talks in Japan in June 2011: one in

Tokyo on enclitics in Slavic languages

and one in Sapporo (the main center

for Slavic studies) on the Burgenland

Croatians and their position on the

border between Austria and Hungary.

Wayles was delighted to see that the

Sapporo library had a subscription to

the Burgenland periodical Hrvatske

Novine. Professor Browne‘s recent

publications include a bilingual

volume: Cape of Good Hope/Rt

Dobre Nade, poems by Sasha

Skenderija, translated from the

Bosnian. Tešanj, Bosnia: CKO, 2011.

Another translation from Croatian he

completed with Theresa Alt is Omer

Rak, The Rhyton from Danilo:

Structure and Symbolism of a Middle

Neolithic Cult-Vessel. Oxford: Oxbow

Press, 2011. His article "Serbo-

Croatian Language" has been included

in Encyclopaedia Britannica 2011,

explaining the uses of this

controversial term.

Also by Professor Browne:

"Lingvistički pogled na hrvatski jezik,

njegovo normiranje i mjesto u

društvu." [―A Linguistic Look at the

Croatian Language, Its

Standardization and Its Place in

Society.‖] Kroatologija (Zagreb) 1

(2010), p. 11-20. [Favorable review

by Janika, Vijenac (Zagreb), br. 435,

4. XI. 2010.]

Forthcoming are two scholarly

obituaries: "In memoriam Horace

Lunt 1918-2010." Slovo, Zagreb, to

appear in 2011-2012; and "In

memoriam Ilse Lehiste 1922-2010."

Zbornik Matice srpske za filologiju i

lingvistiku, to appear this year as well.

Sabrina P. Ramet announces

publication of her article ―Croatia

and Serbia since 1991: An

Assessment of Their Similarities

and Differences,‖ in the Journal of

Communist Studies and Transition

Politics, 27: 2, (2011): 263- 290.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1352327

9.2011.564098

The Croatian Academy of

America issued Volume 44 of the

Journal of Croatian Studies, its

annual interdisciplinary review.

The opening essay was written

by University of Zagreb Professor

Darko Žubrinić and deals with

the life and contributions to

mathematics of William Feller

(1906-1970). One of the founders

of Probability Theory as a

scientific discipline, Feller was

born in Zagreb and received his

initial education in mathematics

and physics at the University of

Zagreb before going on to achieve

international fame. Feller was

particularly known for his two-

volume monograph An

Introduction to Probability Theory

and Its Applications which

underwent several editions and

was translated into Russian,

Chinese, Spanish, Polish, and

Hungarian. A fascinating chapter in the

cultural and religious history of the

Croats relates to the Reformation

period and is presented by

University of Waterloo Professor


Emeritus Vinko Grubišić. Despite

major challenges and uncertainties

as exiles, Croatian reformers in

Germany printed over 20,000

books, including complete

translations of the Bible into the

Croatian language (―stumačena v

hrvatskom jaziku‖ / ―in die

Crobatische Sprach

verdolmetscht‖). These books

were printed in the Glagolitic,

Cyrillic and Roman alphabets in an

effort to spread reform ideas

throughout lands inhabited by the

Croats and other South Slavs. Various aspects of the history

of the Croatian diaspora are

presented by various contributors.

John Felix Clissa examines the

migration history of the Italo-

Croatians of the Molise region of

Italy to Western Australia. The

smallest ethnolinguistic minority in

Italy, the Italo-Croatians of Molise

are remnants of one of Croatia‘s

oldest diaspora communities

whose spoken language has been

designated as ―severely

endangered‖ by the UNESCO Red

Book on Endangered Languages.

As an immigrant from Molise who

spent his childhood in Belgium

before emigrating to Australia,

Clissa‘s contribution is an

outgrowth of his important 2001

book The Fountain and the

Squeezebox (La Fontana e

L’Organetto / Funda aš orginet).

In this book, he transcribed and

saved for posterity the idiolects

(specific speaking styles) in

Molisan-Croatian (together with

English translations) of twenty-

seven individuals from Molise and

first generation Italo-Croatian

Australians who were born

between 1901 and 1934.

Based on the records of the

U.S. Department of State relating

to the internal affairs of

Yugoslavia, Jure Krišto, Ph.D., of

the Croatian Institute of History

(Zagreb), examines the

surveillance of American Croats

by the Federal Bureau of

Investigation (FBI) during World

War II. He concludes that the FBI

began its spying on American

citizens of Croatian descent at the

behest of Yugoslav diplomats in

Washington, DC. This operation

continued despite conclusions by

several operatives that further

surveillance was not warranted.

Instead, over time the surveillance

mutated to focus on alleged

Communist-related activities of

American Croats. He concludes

that the FBI was not always careful

in the selection of its informants,

which often resulted in grave

consequences for American

Croats. Following a review of the

policy origins of multiculturalism

in Canada and the launch of

Canadian Ethnic Studies and

Polyphony, Stan Granic

highlights the approach and

achievements of these two

periodicals. He then summarizes

the main contributions in the two

journals dealing with the Croatian

ethnocultural community in

Canada and the achievements of

Canadians of Croatian origin. Vladislav Beronja provides a

translation of Miroslav Krleža‘s

exceptional poetic essay on the

artist Krsto Hegedušić (1901-

1975). Hegedušić‘s most famous

paintings depicted social themes

and especially the harsh life of the

Croatian peasantry in the style of

naïve art. Krleža‘s essay,

considered a masterpiece in its

genre in Croatian literature,

accompanied Hegedušić‘s 1933

book of drawings entitled

Podravski motive (The Drava

Valley Motifs). Hegedušić‘s career

was marked by his pursuit of an

independent artistic course

incorporating a national and social

voice combining satirical,

grotesque and surrealist elements.

In this issue, Brian Gallagher

reviews Goli Otok: Hell in the

Adriatic (2007), the personal

reminiscences of Josip Zoretić

about life in the most notorious

prison camp of Tito‘s Yugoslavia.

The reviewer discusses how this

work provides a corrective to the

observations of those who gloss

over the serious human rights

violations that took place in ex-

Yugoslavia. Vinko Grubišić

reviews Kritike, a 2008 collection

of forty literary critiques penned

by Vinko Brešić. Brešić critiqued

works written in verse and in prose

of various genres by diverse

Croatian authors, literary historians

and critics over the last decade. To

order a copy of the Journal

contact:

The Croatian Academy of

America, Inc. P.O. Box 1767

Grand Central Station New York, NY 10163-1767 Fax (516) 935-0019 E-mail [email protected]

In this issue we feature the website of the Croatian Scientific Bibliography (CROSBI)http://bib.irb.hr/index.html which stores scientific papers published in the period from 1997 to the present. Project CROSBI started in 1997 with the main goal to collect the data on scholarly output of the current research projects financed by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports (MSES) and to make them available publicly. Today CROSBI provides a comprehensive overview of all literature produced by Croatian scholars: journal articles, books, book chapters, conference papers, theses, reports, manuscripts, etc. Scholars themselves often provide the data for

mailto:[email protected]

http://bib.irb.hr/index.html


the database. Furthermore, CROSBI provides a digital archive of full-text papers. CROSBI offers "on demand" current bibliography for the institution, project, scientist or subject. Librarians are active partners in maintenance of the database as they communicate with scientists in order to improve the accuracy of the data. CROSBI currently houses data on 67,000 articles published in scholarly publications, 31,000 articles published in other journals, 5,800 authored books, 2,550 edited books, 20,200 book chapters, 3,800 textbooks, 35,400 articles in proceedings with international peer-reviews and 14, 300 articles in domestically-reviewed proceedings, and 4,750 articles from various other proceedings. It also includes 47,600 summaries, data on 5,000 dissertations, 4700 master theses, and 25,000 undergraduate theses. Additionally it lists the information on 560 patents, encyclopedia entries, various reports, computer programs, etc. Since CROSBI serves as a repository of full-length texts, in addition it provides access to 12,700 articles (mostly in pdf format) and links to 16,500 articles provided on the publishers‘ sites. Such comprehensive coverage makes it one of the most relevant scholarly databases in Croatia with approximately 5000 visits a day.

BOOKS & REVIEWS

Josip

Glaurdić,

The Hour of

Europe:

Western

Powers and

the

Breakup of

Yugoslavia, (Yale

University Press, 2011, 418 pages).

By looking through the prism

of the West's involvement in the

breakup of Yugoslavia, this book

presents a new examination of the

end of the Cold War in Europe.

Incorporating declassified

documents from the CIA, the

administration of George H.W.

Bush, and the British Foreign

Office; evidence generated by The

Hague Tribunal; and more than

forty personal interviews with

former diplomats and policy

makers, Glaurdić exposes how the

realist policies of the Western

powers failed to prop up

Yugoslavia's continuing existence

as intended, and instead

encouraged the Yugoslav Army

and the Serbian regime of

Slobodan Milošević to pursue

violent means.

The book also sheds light on

the dramatic clash of opinions

within the Western alliance

regarding how to respond to the

crisis. Glaurdić traces the origins

of this clash in the Western

powers‘ different preferences

regarding the roles of Germany,

Eastern Europe, and foreign and

security policy in the future of

European integration. With

subtlety and acute insight, The

Hour of Europe provides a fresh

understanding of events that

continue to influence the shape of

the post-Cold War Balkans and the

whole of Europe.

Josip Glaurdić received his

Ph.D. from Yale and is junior

research fellow at Clare College,

University of Cambridge. He

divides his time between

Cambridge, UK, and Münster,

Germany.

Radoslav Katičić. Gazdarica na

vratima: Tragovima svetih

pjesama naše pretkršćanske

starine, Ibis grafika; Matica

hrvatska; Katedra Čakavskog

sabora Općine Mošćenička Draga,

Zagreb - Mošćenička Draga, 2011.

283 str.

ISBN: 978-

953-6927-

59-3.

The last

book in

Katičić's

trilogy

makes an

attempt at

reconstructing ancient Slavic sacral

poetry, in particular texts

pertaining to the Slavic Great

Mother, the goddess Mokoš who

was also venerated by the Baltic

peoples. As in his previous two

volumes (Božanski boj and Zeleni

lug) dealing with Slavic ritual

texts, in addition to illuminating

the devotional aspect, Katičić also

uncovers the mythical picture of

the Slavic world which remains

reflected to this day in various

expressions in Croatian and other

Slavic languages.

Marin Držić. Izabrana djela I. Ed.

Slobodan Prosperov Novak,

transcriptions by Marijana Horvat,

Ivana Vrtič and Ivana Žužul.

Matica hrvatska, Zagreb, 2011. 329

str. ISBN: 978-953-150-304-4

The first volume of Držić‘s

selected works includes the author‘s

political letters (including the

conspiratory letters to Cosimo I de‘

Medici) and two editions which were

discovered in Milan‘s Nazionale

Braidense by Enio Stipčević in 2007:

Tirena and Pjesni Marina Držića.

Look for the ACS on Facebook and

if you like what you see, say so!

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In M em oriam

DR. JOSEPH T. BOMBELLES

One of the founders of the Association for Croatian Studies (ACS) and its former president for many years, Joseph T. Bombelles died in Norfolk, Virginia, on July 5, 2011, after battling cancer for some time. He was born on June 2, 1930. His father, Count Joseph Bombelles, was executed in 1942 by the Croatian regime at the time, while Tito's communist regime confiscated the family property. He and his mother lived in Zagreb.

After earning a law degree at the University of Zagreb, he went to The Hague to study international law and didn't return to his native Croatia until it became independent twenty years ago. Soon after coming to the West, he asked for political asylum in Germany and became a political emigrant. While in Germany, his fiancée, Georgia Nina Lolić from Zagreb, joined him and they were married in Munich in 1955.

In 1956, the young couple came to the United States and settled in Cleveland. As experienced by a number of other educated Croatian immigrants, at first he worked in a machine shop in order to make a living. In the early 1960s, he began to teach German and Russian to engineering students at the Case Institute of Technology.

He also enrolled in graduate school and earned his Master's and doctoral degrees in economics at Case Western Reserve University. His dissertation, ―Economic Development of Communist Yugoslavia,‖ was published in 1968 by the Hoover Institute, Stanford University.

Dr. Bombelles taught economics at John Carroll University for 30 years, from 1968 to 1998. He was a demanding but well-respected professor, both by his students and by his fellow-faculty members. For this reason, he received John Carroll's Distinguished Faculty Award. He was also a Fulbright scholar.

Although he had a successful career, a wonderful family, and truly enjoyed and loved American freedom and democracy, he never forgot his homeland and its people. He desired independence, freedom, democracy, and prosperity for everyone, especially for his Croatian people. For that reason, he was instrumental in organizing various scholarly gatherings to discuss issues dealing with Croatia and the Croatians, at home and abroad. With the same purpose, he and several other Croatian scholars of that generation, founded the Association for Croatian Studies in 1977. We are thankful to him and the others for their enthusiasm, vision, and endurance!

As soon as Croatia became independent, Dr. Bombelles undertook concrete steps to promote democratization and free market economy in his homeland. His goal was not to make money, but to contribute to the education of new generations in their understanding and appreciation of freedom, democracy, free enterprise, and good work ethics. These were all values that he found worthy of transferring to a society that was coming out from under the rubble. With this noble objective in mind, he became one of the founders of a private business school, the Zagreb School of Economics and Management (ZSEM), and served as its chairman. He was instrumental in establishing good working relations between John Carroll University (some other universities too) and the ZSEM, which are beneficial on both sides of the Atlantic, especially in the area of student and faculty exchange.

Besides his professional career, Dr. Bombelles will be remembered for being a wonderful husband, father, and grandfather. He was a true gentleman and a friend to many of us. After his retirement in 1998, he spent much time in Zagreb, but every time he came back to the US, he would call, inquiring what was going on at the ACS and how could he help in the advancement of Croatian studies. We are thankful to Dr. Bombelles for his true friendship and collegiality. We are glad that he was a part of our lives as we were of his, even in a small way. The advancement of Croatian studies was our common goal and that, in turn, lead to a true friendship. We thank him for both!

To his dear wife Nina, his two sons, and four grandchildren, we extend our sincere sympathy. To our friend Joža, we say farewell and may the Good Lord grant you eternal peace.

Ante Čuvalo, Ljubuški


MEMBERSHIP DUES

Sign up now for 2012! If you are not a member of ACS, join our group of professionals who are either of Croatian background or are scholars doing research in the field of Croatian Studies. You do not have to be in Slavic studies to be a member! All you need is an interest in Croatia and the Croatians. Both current members and other interested persons are asked to mail in the membership form with your membership dues. Your cooperation is needed to keep our mailing list up-to-date. If you would like to support ACS activities, especially to participate in the annual ASEEES convention, your financial donations will be greatly appreciated. Keep in mind that ACS is a non-profit educational association; dues and donations are tax-deductible.

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acs bulletin 57

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