The research project will focus on the varied and variable topicality of contemporary national and ethnic identities. It will be based on the hypothesis that national identity – the same as ethnic identity – even in the time of globalization is a strongly anchored and highly adaptable cultural tie, which might even be gaining strength in reality (as indicated by the EU opinion polls, known as Eurobarometer). With the growing mobility and permeability of borders for the flow of people, goods, services and capital, the awareness is gaining ground that there are 'new ethnicities' (St. Hall) emerging everywhere; these identities which are not fixed, hover between different positions, reaching out for different cultural traditions at the same time; they are a result of complex identifications and crossings. Special attention will be given to contemporary media, especially with regard to their 'community-making' aspects, along with the tendency, summed up by R. Silverstone in the title of his widely discussed treatise: 'Finding a voice: Minorities, media and the global commons'.
Geographically, the project will be focused on the Alps-Adria region with special emphasis on the ethnically mixed territories along the boundary-lines between Austria and Slovenia, and Italy and Slovenia, respectively, including the city of Trieste. Also discussed will be issues, related to »across-border« cooperation and the role of the Alps-Adria region as a 'laboratory in which the essence of Europe is being created' (H. Valentin).
The research topic will be studied on theoretically conceived case studies and empirically substantiated theoretic reflections, based on narrative interviews (n=20), ethnodemographic data, identification of the Slovene borderline on the World Wide Web and analyses of media-produced notions of national and ethnic identity. The methodological approaches of the project will be culturologically and transculturologically oriented, including the Bhaba's concept of 'Third Space' (which surpasses scientific disciplines) and Hall's model of codification/decodification. The interviews will be structured on the basis of 'qualitative conceptual analysis' (Ph. Mayring), and analyzed with methods providing access to conscious as well as subconscious mind. The consultant with the interviews analysis will be the Slovene psychiatrist and psychoanalyst dr. Pavel Fonda from Trieste, one of the leading authorities in the field of psychoanalysts' training and psychoanalysis promotion in Eastern Europe.
To be even more successful in promoting its aims, the project will actively participate in the simultaneous three-year international research project 'Multicultural dialogue in different parts of the world: searching for a global paradigm of the preservation of linguistic and cultural diversity', taking place under the patronage of UNESCO and including a publication of respective research findings in a special book monograph.
Project results:
Jurić Pahor, Marija (2010) The Alps-Adriatic Region: an exploration of ethnic-national diversity and cross-border dialogue. V Novak-Lukanovič, Sonja (ur.). A shared vision: intercultural dialogue – a global paradigm to promote linguistic and cultural diversity, (Ethnicity, No. 7). Ljubljana: Slovene National Commission for UNESCO: Institute for Ethnic Studies, str. 189–217.
Medvešek, Mojca (2009) Ugotavljanje podobe slovenske skupnosti, ki živi na območju Furlanije Julijske krajine, na svetovnem spletu (The Image of the Slovene Community Populating the Region of the Friuli Venezia Giulia on the World Wide Web) V Razprave in gradivo, Ljubljana, Inštitut za narodnostna vprašanja, št. 60, str. 6–38.
Jurić Pahor, Marija (2008) Transkulturation und Hybridität im Spiegel der Migration: das Beispiel Triest (Transculturality and hybridity from the viewpoint of migrations: the case of Trieste). V Vorderobermeier, Gisella (ur.), Wolf, Michaela (ur.): "Meine Sprache grenzt mich ab..." : Transkulturalität und kulturelle Übersetzung im Kontext von Migration, (Representation – Transformation: Translating across Cultures and Societies, 3). Wien, Berlin, Münster: LIT Verlag, 2008, str. 127-146.
The book is available at: http://books.google