Local History or New Dimensions in Croatian-Italian Relations? A Review of a Book by F. Škiljan “Italians in Zagreb” [Škiljan F. Talijani u Zagrebu. Zagreb: Zajednica Talijana u Zagrebu, 2015. 95, 101 s.]

This review is dedicated to the monograph by Filip Škiljan, а Researcher from the Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies (Zagreb), whose area of interest includes the position of ethnic minorities in contemporary Croatia. The book is an extremely detailed and scrupulous piece of research on the origins and history of the Italian community in Zagreb from the 12th Century to the present day. A significant part of the work is devoted to the results of field research conducted by the author, including interviews with different representatives of the Italian diaspora. As a result, this work creates a very comprehensive picture of the Italian presence in Zagreb with a broad historical perspective, which makes it a great contribution to the question of the position of the Italian minority in Croatia as a whole. It is worth emphasizing that this work is not free from different theoretical and methodological limitations which reveal a great deal about the historical and national psychology of Croatia. In this respect, it is quite interesting to look in particular at the chapter devoted to the Middle Ages regarding the methods, evaluations, and approaches used by author. According to F. Škiljan the Ottoman conquest of the Balkan peninsula led to the divide between Croatia and the Italian (and, consequently, European) civilizational space, which had a serious impact on Croatian identity.

25 years of the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Slovak Academy of Sciences

The essay was written to mark the 25th anniversary of the Slavic Institute named after Jan Stanislav SAS (Bratislava). The Institute was founded to conduct interdisciplinary research on the relationships of the Slovak language and culture with other Slavic languages and cultures, as well as to study the Slovak-Latin, Slovak-Hungarian, and Slovak-German cultural and linguistic interactions in ancient times and the Middle Ages. The article introduces the main milestones in the formation and development of the Institute, its employees, the directions of their scientific work, and their significant publications. The main areas of research of the Slavic Institute (initially the Slavic Cabinet) cover linguistics (lexicography, history of language), history, folklore, cultural studies, musicology, and textology. Much attention is paid to the annotated translation of foreign religious texts into Slovak. A valuable contribution of the Institute to Slavic Studies is the creation of a database of Cyrillic and Latin handwritten and printed texts related to the Byzantine-Slavic tradition in Slovakia.

On the Etymology of the Proto-Slavic *tělo “body”

The author puts forward a new hypothesis on the origin of the Proto-Slavic word *tělo “body”, which, to date, does not have a commonly accepted etymology. The researcher draws a connection with the verb *tьlěti “putrefy”. The word *trupъ “corpse; torso”, derived from the verb *trup- “decay”, is presented as a semantic parallel. The meaning “torso” in this case has most likely developed from “corpse”. Thus, it is believed that *tělo might have originally meant a dead, putrefying body. The author rejects a supposition about a connection between *tьlěti and *tьlo “floor, foundation”, which can be found in several studies, and goes back to a hypothesis, according to which *tьlěti is related to the Lithuanian verbs tìlti “go silent, quieten” and tylė́ti “keep silent”. It is suggested that *tьlěti with its Baltic cognates originated from the root verb *tl̥-, from which *-ē-durative forms were formed. The latter replaced the original root variant over time. The disappearance of syllabic liquids changed the structure of ablaut in roots similar to *tl̥-: the alternation type CeR / CoR / CR̥ was changed to CeR / CoR / CiR ~ CuR. As a result, these roots were included in the ablative schemes typical of the roots with the old *i and the alternation CiC- // *Cei̯C- // *Coi̯C-. As a particular example, the word *děra “hole” was formed form *derti (*dьrǫ) / *dьrati (*derǫ) “to tear”. The vocalism of the root of *tělo is seen as a result of a similar secondary ablaut. Additionally, the author looks at the possible derivation of *tělo from the old root noun with its characteristic long vocalism, which is believed to be less probable.

A Comparative Study of Colour Terms in Ttranslations of the New Testament into Macedonian and Albanian

The article considers the colour terms present in the New Testament in the Macedonian and Albanian languages. The characteristic features of the translation are determined by both the cultural unity and the lexical systems of the Balkan languages under consideration. Among the few contexts using colour terms, most are translated equally. This can be explained by both objective reasons (natural colour of objects) and general connotations attributed to the main colours of the spectrum. The attention of this study is focused primarily on the places in the text where different translation decisions have been made. However, it is impossible not to mention the most characteristic general features of colour term use in the New Testament in the Macedonian and Albanian languages. The study indicates the thoroughness of the work done by translators, who, considering the peculiarities of the colour term vocabulary of their language, sought to maximize the use of the lexical system in order to extremely accurately and easily convey the meaning of the original text. The connotations of the colour terms found in the text are mostly the same in the cultures and target languages under discussion. However, there are cases of using different lexemes in the same context in different places in the book. The similarities and differences in translations into Macedonian and Albanian help to understand how similar Balkan cultures see the New Testament and what they highlight as the most significant.

Arrest and Conviction of Cardinal József Mindszenty 1948–1949. Part 1. “He wants to be a martyr, but I would not do him this favour”

As a result of the intense political struggle after the Second World War, the Catholic Church, led by Cardinal József Mindszenty, Archbishop of Esztergom, remained the only independent institution in Hungary. This study deals with the political process against Mindszenty and his show-trial. On 26 December 1948, Cardinal Mindszenty was taken into police custody, having been accused of treachery, espionage, foreign currency manipulation, and conspiring to overthrow the republic. All of these charges were stereotypical accusations made by totalitarian regimes. There were seven defendants in the Mindszenty case, comprising three groups: “legitimist conspirators”, “traitorous spies”, and the “foreign currency speculators”, who were the alleged fi nanciers of the conspiracy. The world was shocked to hear of the arrest of the Hungarian primate, Cardinal Mindszenty. The Holy See imposed the gravest discipline on Catholics. Mind- szenty was interrogated immediately after his arrest. He initially stood fi rm. The subse- quent interrogation records clearly refl ect, however, the methods of the State Protection Authority: a series of self-accusatory and factitious sentences are to be found in the manipulated texts. This article is based on documents held by the Hungarian National Archives, the Historical Archives of the State Security Services, the Esztergom Primate Archives, the Archives of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation, the National Archi- ves and Records Administration (USA), and others.

Searching for an Ally. The Soviet Diplomats in Latvia and Their Contacts with Kastus Ezavitau 1925–1926

This article is dedicated to the research of unknown fragments of national Belarusian emigrant groups’ history. Soviet diplomatic plans to establish ties with the local Belarusian population and to expand Communist propaganda in Latvia required contact with the leaders of the Belarusian movement, including Ezavitau. The main subject is the activity of Kastus Ezavitau in the middle of the 1920s. There was no possibility for Belarusian activists in the region of Latgale, where most Latvian Belarusians lived, to avoid collaboration with the Soviet permanent mission because of a lack of money and the discrimination policy of Latvian authorities. Local Belarusian activists had to fi ght for infl uence over the Latgale peasants, who often could not yet decide on their national identity, with the much more active and infl uential Polish and Russian diasporas. The Soviet mission provided fi nancial support to the press, and for school education in Belarusian, but forced them to carry out their demands in return. Analysis of a number of archival documents shows that, contrary to the widespread idea of his pro-Soviet mood, this collaboration was involuntary and undesirable for Ezavitau during this period, as we may see in the documents. He tried to provide more independent activity, such as the creation of the Belarusian party, but was permanently stopped by his super- visors in the Soviet mission. Soviet diplomats were not satisfi ed by collaboration with Ezavitau either but had no other candidate with whom to establish a permanent contact.

Slovak Temporal Adverb zákratko in the Light of Corpus Data

Using material from the Slovak national corpus, this article examines the semantics of the Slovak adverb zakrátko, which belongs to a group of adverbs with the meaning “fast following”. The adverb is analyzed against the background of the other most commonly used adverbs that form a semantic group, which also include čoskoro, onedlho, and o chvíľu. In the first part of the article, the specificity of zakrátko compatibility is considered in the light of association measure indicators, three of which were selected – Minimal Sensitivity, logDice, and MI.log.f. Collocations specific only to zakrátko are singled out separately, namely those which include combinations with verbs that have a "social mark"; with verbs that denote disintegration, destruction, or, conversely, addition or filling in space; with some mental predicates; and with the negative form of the verb trvať 'last'. Then, correlations in compatibility between this adverb and čoskoro, onedlho, and o chvíľu are examined. While zakrátko has almost equal number of common correlates with čoskoro and onedlho, it is significantly less correlated with the adverb o chvíľu. In the second part of the article, cases of mutual compatibility of zakrátko and other frequency adverbs from the group are analyzed in pairs. Even in similar contexts, the use of zakrátko implies the speed and predetermination of the situation. It is shown that this adverb on one hand largely correlates with čoskoro and onedlho, while on the other it has its own specifics, which are expressed in the fact that zakrátko is more focused on specific situations that can be implemented in a deliberately short period of time.

Unwanted Ally. Italian Political Debate on Yugoslav Unity during WWI

Upon entering WWI, Italy expected to gain hegemony over the Adriatic Sea. After 1917, however, several events had seriously altered the political context, urging a reappraisal of Italy’s war aims. This article describes the debates among Italian political sectors on the emergence of Yugoslav unionism. Several Italian politicians had proposed a bilateral deal with Serbia and the Yugoslav Committee and engaging in direct talks to pave the way for a compromise solution over the Adriatic. Minister of Foreign Affairs Sonnino instead retained the 1915 Treaty of London as the only basis for Italy’s war, rejecting bilateral deals. The lack of reappraisal in Italy’s diplomatic strategy finally exposed Rome to growing isolation, especially when France and England began to support Yugoslav claims.

House of Flowers: An Analysis of the Image of Yugoslavia in Video Games

This article examines the image of Yugoslavia in contemporary video games. I researched games of various genres (action games, strategy games, military simulators, etc.) that were released on various gaming platforms (PC, Sony PlayStation, etc.) between 1990 and the present day. I researched such aspects as visualization, information, plot components, and popularity among players. I consider and provide definitions of the terms used to designate various elements of video games and their meaning for the perception of the image of the country. I paid special attention to the characters associated with the Yugoslav region. Two of them – the inventor Nikola Tesla and the main character of the comics of the same name, Largo Winch – owing to their potential significance for the image of Yugoslavia, were considered in detail. The article is accompanied by four illustrations showing important moments of the visualization of personalities and the structure of game moments. As a result of this research, I draw some conclusions about the main plots associated with the image of Yugoslavia that prevails in modern video games. Firstly, there is the obvious peripherality of Yugoslav plots and their generally negative connotation. In most of the video games reviewed, the settings involved the criminal world, the Yugoslav war of the 1990s, or the problem of international terrorism. Secondly, the portrayal of Yugoslav characters is not very homogeneous and it is therefore impossible to talk about their exclusively positive or negative character. Thirdly, in general, Yugoslavia is mostly unplayable: only a very limited set of strategy games and a very small set of action games allow you to control the country, its troops, or characters of Yugoslavian origin.

“Slavic World: Commonality and Diversity” Young Scholars Conference 13–14 October 2020. Session “Literary studies. Cultural history”

The Young Scholars Conference at the Institute of Slavic Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, has been held since 2014. In 2020, the organisers had to change the previous timing of the event –it had previously been timed to correspond with the Day of Slavic Writing and Culture (May 24th), but for the first time it was not held in May but in October. The format of the Conference was also changed: the participants made their presentations remotely on the ZOOM platform. As usual, there were three broad topic areas: “History”, “Linguistics”, and “Literary Studies. The History of Culture”. The wide geographical coverage of the participants should be mentioned. This year, young scholars from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Kirov, Rostov-on-don, Chisinau (Moldova), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Macerata (Italy), and Minsk (Belarus) presented their research. Historians discussed many issues, including the problems of governance and modernisation in multinational states, memory policy in Slavic countries, and the role of parties and public organisations in overcoming crises. The section “Literary Studies. The History of Culture” focused on the reception and translation of works in Slavic languages and the problems of poetics in literature and cinema. Linguists paid attention to issues surrounding the grammar of modern Slavic languages, dialectology, and paleoslavistics. Moderators’ comments made the Conference, as usual, a kind of “school” for the young researchers. The conference proceedings have been published.