Roman Catholics versus History (blood, America, church, Christian, Christ)

[Djamila]

Croatia is a predominantly Roman Catholic country and, during the war in the former Yugoslavia, it adopted the clash of civilizations philosophy.

Ancient Croatian monuments that were either Islamic or Orthodox Christian in character were destroyed, even though many were actually symbols of Roman Catholicism's revival.

The Croatian language was purged of all words considered Bosnian or Serbian, and archaic terms from the Dark Ages were re-introduced (ironically, most of these archaic terms were Bosnian or Serbian). The changes were so difficult for Croatians to adapt to that those caught speaking words considered to be Bosnian or Serbian, especially teachers and public figures, were fined.

The purge of everything not considered Western and Roman Catholic left little of Croatia unscatched, least of all the music industry. Croatian artists released bland, Western-style albums that generated spectacular flop after flop.

The most popular form of music in both Bosnia and Serbia, turbofolk, was effectively banned. It was considered un-Croatian to listen to it. Radio stations and nightclubs were fined under strict language laws for playing anything from the genre.

Croatian youth, though, gradually rose up. Underground turbofolk clubs were established and Croatian artists began testing the waters by releasing turbofolk songs that complied with language laws.

The Christian Science Monitor was the first Western newspaper to break the story, and interviewed several Croatian youth at an underground turbofolk club. "It's Muslim, yeah, but it's good. There's nothing wrong with liking it," one girl said.

So here is a little tribute to the turbofolk that broke through the bloody borders separating Croatia from Bosnia, from Serbia.

Croatian Turbofolk:
Severina - Moja stikla

Bosnian Turbofolk:
Selma Bajrami - Tijelo uz tijelo

Serbian Turbofolk:
Goca Trzan - Bumerang

[RyanD]

Interesting and unfortunate stuff. I must ask though, who is at fault here? The church or the hard-line government officials who proposed these changes?

[MidnightBlue]

Originally Posted by Djamila

The Croatian language was purged of all words considered Bosnian or Serbian, and archaic terms from the Dark Ages were re-introduced (ironically, most of these archaic terms were Bosnian or Serbian). The changes were so difficult for Croatians to adapt to that those caught speaking words considered to be Bosnian or Serbian, especially teachers and public figures, were fined.

That -- and the insistence on calling the language Croatian to begin with -- reminds of me of a former law of Illinois, under which (from 1923 to 1969) the official language of Illinois was designated as "American" and specifically not as "English."

[Djamila]

Originally Posted by RyanD

Interesting and unfortunate stuff. I must ask though, who is at fault here? The church or the hard-line government officials who proposed these changes?

It's kind of the same thing in Croatia... you can be sure nothing is done against the Church's wishes, but technically speaking - it's the government officials to blame.

And Midnight, LOL - yeah, it's the same thing. (But, for the record, we called our languages Croatian, Bosnian, and Serbian for centuries before outsiders coined Serbo-Croat and communist Yugoslavia adoped the term).