Changing Contexts and Redefinitions of Identity among Bosniaks in Slovenia

Type Journal Article - Balkanologie
Title Changing Contexts and Redefinitions of Identity among Bosniaks in Slovenia
Author(s)
Volume 9
Issue 1-2
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2005
URL http://balkanologie.revues.org/585
Abstract
This article provides an insight on the Bosniaks living in Slovenia, and on the way they understand Islam as a source of their identity. The findings of my fieldwork indicate that contemporary Bosniak self-identification in Slovenia depends on two main socio-historical contexts. On the one hand, war events in Bosnia and Herzegovina have also influenced the attitude of the Bosniaks living abroad towards the groups which featured at that time as « ethnic enemies ». On the other hand, due to increasing islamophobia since the independence in 1991, Bosniaks in Slovenia refrain from expressing openly their religious identity. Against this background, various self-representations of Bosniak identity appear. For all Bosniaks living in Slovenia, Islam represents an important source of their identity. At the same time, however, it has become a highly controversial topic. For a majority of Bosniaks, Islam represents an essential ethnic marker which separates them from (Bosnian) Serbs and (Bosnian) Croats, while for others it represents the source of a « pure » religious identity and, therefore, does not overlap with their idea of Bosniak identity.

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