Blog #1 Montenegro's National Identity
Montenegro’s National Self
When defining a nation, one tends to rely on their national
identity to help them understand who the nation is. National identity is an
essential phenomenon because national identity is like the cover of a book. The
cover is what people judge before they open the book to learn what the book is
about. Such that, national identity is what people look for before educating
themselves. National identity is a way for someone to have a sense of belonging
to a state or a nation. A way that someone could feel a sense of belonging is having
a common interest, which includes language, religion, and ethnicity. National
identity is also a way that someone could differentiate themselves from others
around them. Breaking down one’s national identity comes with challenges
because within a nation, there are many “other” groups that compete for an
identity. “Other” groups are the minorities within the majority. Minorities
within the majority, for example, would be a small population believing in a
different religion, or speaking a different language than most of the
population. Another challenge for breaking down one’s national identity would
be external influences and conflicts, such as, neighboring nations persuasions
that impacting their national identity. However, with all conflicts surrounding
and within the nation, national identity is a must have because it proves that
the nation is in harmony.
When a nation moves in sync like the movement of water, one
is able to see that the nation is in harmony and the nation is strong. The year
2006 was a milestone for Montenegro. Montenegro declared their independence from
Serbia. Montenegrins are still developing and searching for their national
identity. Although Montenegro has no concrete national identity, my blog will
break down characteristics of Montenegro and discover what Montenegro’s
national identity is. My blog will first evaluate Montenegro’s past and how its
past is an impact on their national identity. Then explain the conflicts of
“other” groups within Montenegro and their external conflicts. Lastly, my blog
will examine what Montenegro’s national identity is, based on the information
presented, and any future plans that could potentially help Montenegro further
strengthen their national identity.
Montenegro was a part of Yugoslavia from 1980 to 1992. In
the early 1992 Montenegro and Serbia declared independence as the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia, separating them from other countries such as Croatia,
and Bosnia (One World Nations Online). Although Montenegro and Serbia had
history together, there was a distinct difference between Montenegrins and
Serbians (Kohli, 2012). Montenegro decided to declare independence because
Prime Minister Djukanovic wanted to steer Montenegro away from Serbia and he had
the intention of joining the European Union. By examining a map of the Federal
republic of Yugoslavia, the Dinaric Alps seemed to be separating Montenegro and
Serbia. The Montenegrin’s population seemed rather small compared to the
Serbian’s population, therefore, most of the population argued that “Montenegro
was too small to be economically viable as an independent state” (Roach, 2006).
However, when citizens of Montenegro voted, more than 85 percent of Montenegrins
voted on the referendum for independence. By 2006 Montenegro declared
independence. Montenegro’s past was a huge impact on their national identity
because during their past, it seemed as if they had no nation, no land, no
separate language to claim as their own. Montenegro was stuck in its shell and
by declaring independence, Montenegro was able to break out of its shell. Its
independence gave it a chance to declare Montenegrin as their official language
and allowed Montenegro to differentiate Montenegrin from Serbian due to how
closely related both language are. Montenegro’s past was a journey that helped
structure its national identity.
The “other” groups within Montenegro includes religion,
language, and ethnicity. The religion that is the majority among Montenegro is Orthodox,
which means that the minorities includes Muslims, Catholic, and Atheist. For
example, Muslims feel a sense of threat towards their belief and culture
because less of the population are Muslims. By being a minority, there is the
fear of being overridden and having no existence. Minorities must compete with
the majority, in order for them to exist as part of the population. “Other”
groups in Montenegro would also include part of the population that speaks
Serbian, Bosnia, and Croatian. These languages are influences near the borders
where Montenegro is bordering the neighboring countries. Each “other” group
wants to have their own national identity, but because the “other” groups are
not the dominating groups, it seems to them like they are a speck of dust. With
national identity, the dominating group seems to be the one group that helps
define the nation. Such as, Montenegrin is the language that helps define
Montenegro. Although there are many “other” groups, Montenegro’s national
identity focuses on the majority groups. The language in Montenegro is known to
be Montenegrin, and the religion in Montenegro is known to be Orthodox.
Therefore, Montenegro’s national identity is depended on the majorities, and
little on the minorities.
External conflicts could have an impact on Montenegro’s
national identity. Such that Montenegro’s bordering countries have influences
on areas near the borders. The areas of Montenegro near Serbia, speaks more
Serbian, and their cultures are highly influenced by Serbia’s cultural
differences. Populations near the bordering countries are influenced to
identify themselves differently from the rest of Montenegro. Because of how
external conflicts impacts national identity, Montenegro have a difficult time
bringing all of Montenegro together. However, although there are external
conflicts, the external conflicts do not stop Montenegro from having a national
identity.
National identity is how one can draw a line and make
themselves stand out from others. Montenegro’s national identity comes from
their language, religion, and their territory. The official language of
Montenegro is Montenegrin, which is different from Montenegro’s neighbors. The
majority of Montenegro are Orthodox, showing that the population identify
themselves as Orthodox. Montenegro’s territory helped it draw a line and
separate itself from its neighbors. National identity is influenced and
impacted in many ways, and could potentially change. However, Montenegro’s
national identity is a gathering of the dominating groups.
Work
Citation
Kohli J. (2012). Language and Identity in Montenegro a Study
among University
Students. Helsinki,
Finland: Slavica Helsingiensia. Retrieved from http://www.helsinki.fi/slavicahelsingiensia/preview/sh41/pdf/4.pdf
Imeri S. (2016). Evolution of
National Identity in Montenegro. Academic
Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, Volume 5 (No.3), p. 144-145. Retrieved
from
Serbia and Montenegro. One World Nations Online. Retrieved from
Roach J. (2006, May 22).
Montenegro Splits from Serbia, Redrawing Europe’s Map.
National Geographic News, p.
1-2 Retrieved from https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/05/060522-montenegro.html
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