Hungarians in Slovenia

In order to understand the position in which Hungarians in Slovenia Hungary find themselves, it may be useful to understand more broadly the history of Slovenia itself. It is important to note that a very large measure of ethnic identity comes from understanding how one is different from oneÆs neighbors. People not only define themselves as like their families and other members of their own communities, but define themselves in opposition to the members of other ethnic groups, other religions, other linguistic groups. By maintaining traditional costumes, festivals, languages, religious practices and other aspects of traditional culture, people define themselves as being a part of an easily identifiable group and at the same time are able to define others who do not share these traits as not belonging to their group.

One of the most important aspects of the experience of Hungarians in Slovenia to consider is the general demographic make-up of Slovenia. Ethnic enclaves are more likely to stand o

. . .
000 refugees from the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This long-standing mixture of ethnicities (which changes over time but has never tended toward a high level of homogeneity) has given the Slovenes substantial practice in maintaining their sense of self amid a hetereogeneous society (Benderly, 1996, p. 119). This highly mixed nature of Slovenian society allows Hungarians a number of niches in which to fit in, and the long association of Hungarian culture with Austrian culture allows Hungarians living in Slovenia a greater sense of belonging than they might in a state with less of a common shared past. Hungarians are more able to keep their sense of ethnic identity in Slovenia than in, for example, England in part because of the strong Austrian influence on both Slovene and Magyar culture (Godkin, 1992, p. 81). It should be noted that despite linguistic kinship with people from the Balkan Peninsula, the Slovenes are culturally an Alpine folk who have more in common with northern Italians, southern Germans, and the Swiss (Benderley, 1996, p. 22). Slovene is a South Slavic language, along with Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, and Bulgarian, but it also has affinities to West Slavic Czech and Slovak. Hungarian is a very different langu
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Western European, Hungarians Slovenia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Italians Magyars, Slovenia Hungary, Slovenian Hungarian, Magyars Italians, J1367 Modern, Bulgars Avars, Dacia Rome, hungarians slovenia, living slovenia, ethnic identity, hungarians living slovenia, hungarians living, maintain sense, ethnic minority, godkin 1992, 2000 personal communication, personal communication, define themselves, 2000 personal, sense ethnic identity, racz 2000 personal, ethnic identity slovenia,
Approximate Word count = 1842
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

More Essays on Hungarians in Slovenia