Regionalism in Slovene Rural Prose

The term ›regionalism‹ is en vogue, but whereas fashion normally emanates from Paris, in this case the model is probably the American slogan, »small is beautiful«. The Dictionary of the Slovene Literary Language (Slovar slovenskega knjižnega jezika) lists three meanings of ›regionalism‹: 1. political, »an attribute of a specific area or region referring to its particular economic, socio-political and cultural condition«; 2. literary, »emphasizing regional characteristics in a literary work«; 3. linguistic, »referring to an element of the literary language that is characteristic of only a certain area or region«. The term ›regionalism‹ acquired political meaning only in the 19th century. Since then several nuances of the word's political sense have evolved: provincialism (originally in the administrative sense and later also in the pejorative), patriotism for one's country, separatism, and today's meaning of international linkages irrespective of international political boundaries. The negative meaning of ›regionalism‹ as a destructive force is gradually yielding to the word's positive implication: a force for reconciling (inter)national conflicts. Today the word has primarily political overtones. Viewed etymologically, all that is not universal is regional. Since for now the human world is restricted to the globe, things regional are in opposition to things global, or worldwide. Europe’s and America's interests are, in this sense, part and parcel regional. More often, however, ›regionalism‹ applies to narrower interests; for example, the idea of Central Europe within Europe. A yet narrower entity would be, for instance, the Balkans, which political scientists treat as a subregion. Similar treatment within the context of Central Europe is possible for the Alpe-Adria area, which is especially important to Slovenes.1 ›Regionalism‹ has become important in two respects: originally, as a way of identifying Western European economic interests in relation to American and Japanese ones and somewhat later, as a result of reflecting upon the political model of nationally splintered post-communist Central Europe – that is, as a result of the so-called second wave of decolonization. There are two options for the unification or integration processes by which Europe seeks to rise economically. The first is the path of economic and political unification, according to which linguistic, cultural, historical and national political interests, as well as ethnic identity, are relegated secondary importance, according to the model of the American »melting pot«. The second path recognizes the legitimacy and primary role of cultural identity, and only then seeks a common denominator in the collective interest of economic prosperity.2 What is Slovenia's place in this opposition? As a nation state it should be hostile to regionalism as defined above; because of its modest geographical expanse, however, it is barely large enough to constitute a European regional entity. Or, perhaps, is Slovenia the place where the state vs. region opposition breaks down? For the Slovene language and culture there are two key unifying elements that both support the regional integrity of the area and define its statehood, thus making equivalent the borders of the Slovene state and the borders of the optimal region in the contemporary sense of the word. In the context of the (sub)regional Alpe-Adria group, Slovenia plays the role of a member state, that is, an independent (sub)region, similar to Croatia, Bavaria, Carinthia and Friuli. In this scheme of things Slovene literature would be counted as a European regional literature. The title of my article does not confirm this view, for it addresses not the regionalism of Slovene literature but regionalism in Slovene literature, regionalism within the literature. That is to say, Slovenia was not traditionally as uniform as it presents itself today: it was composed of the lands or regions of Carniola (Kranjska), Southern Styria (Štajerska), Southern Carinthia (Koroška), Gorizia, Istria and Hungarian Slovenia (Prekmurje). It is precisely these regions and their literatures that I have in mind when I write of regionalism in Slovene literature. Slovenia, on the other hand, though it may outwardly appear so small, signifies the general, universal opposite to these lands. It is in this manner that the categories are usually laid out when regionalism is discussed in Slovenia. The Slovene attitude towards regionalism is ambiguous: It is an attitude of acceptance and even enthusiasm when Slovenia is viewed as an independent, homogeneous regional whole, equal to other regions and free of patronage by one of the centers that lie outside the whole, and with which Slovenia has had poor historical experiences, be it Vienna or Belgrade. Slovenia rejects regionalism, however, when its logic would apply to parts of Slovenia, to its individual lands. The splintering of Slovenia into regions which would independently enter into a Europe of published in: Slovene Studies XIII/2