Page 256 - Hrobat Virloget, Katja. 2021. V tišini spomina: "eksodus" in Istra. Koper, Trst: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Založništvo tržaškega tiska
P. 256
mary
and Italian Istrians to immigrants from the Primorska region, other parts
of Slovenia and other republics of former Yugoslavia. The book is based
on transcribed interviews with 53 people, along with other interviews that
are not transcribed, selected interviews with students, several published
books about the life stories of Istrians, field notes based on the participant
observation technique as well as everyday impressions I captured and con-
versations I had during my day-to-day work in Istria. The main purpose of
the study is not only to reconstruct the past in some historical sense, but
to understand people and their decisions through an anthropological con-
ception of the past as an artefact of the present as well as of memory as
a trace of the past in the present. If historians pose the question of what
was the (past) reality like, anthropologists ask how people view or construe
this (past) reality. This book gives voice to the silenced memories of peo-
ple who remained in Istria and those who moved there after the ‘exodus’
and were then silenced and voiceless in the dominant Slovenian and Ital-
ian discourses. The purpose of this book is to let the past speak through
people and touch us.
Troubled Pasts, Conflicting Memories, Along with Silence
The study first deals with the troublesome, ‘undigested’ past of the multi-
ethnic, multi-cultural border area of Istria which even today finds its self-
identification difficult, as this is probably one of the few regions that al-
ready has problems even naming itself. The chapter on the problems of
naming outlines the different names for this region, together with their
ideological backgrounds. A brief review of history initially sheds light on
the centuries-old co-existence of the Slavic and Italian populations and
then considers the burden of the 20-year period of the violent fascism and
the migrations it caused, which was all then put under pressure by the in-
ternational conflicts during the Second World War. The conflicting Italian
and Yugoslav claims to the contested territory saw an independent state
formation being established named the Free Territory of Trieste (f t t),
only for it to dissolve in 1954 when one part of Istria was annexed to Yu-
goslavia and the area of Trieste to Italy. The period of great uncertainty
as to national appurtenance of the territory led to post-war migrations of
mainly the Italian-speaking population, reaching a peak after the annexa-
tion of Zone B of the ft t to Yugoslavia. Migrations in the opposite direc-
tion occurred throughout this period, namely the Italian-speaking popu-
lation of which only about 10 stayed in the Slovenian part of Istria, were
replaced by immigrants from Slovenia and other republics of former Yu-
254
and Italian Istrians to immigrants from the Primorska region, other parts
of Slovenia and other republics of former Yugoslavia. The book is based
on transcribed interviews with 53 people, along with other interviews that
are not transcribed, selected interviews with students, several published
books about the life stories of Istrians, field notes based on the participant
observation technique as well as everyday impressions I captured and con-
versations I had during my day-to-day work in Istria. The main purpose of
the study is not only to reconstruct the past in some historical sense, but
to understand people and their decisions through an anthropological con-
ception of the past as an artefact of the present as well as of memory as
a trace of the past in the present. If historians pose the question of what
was the (past) reality like, anthropologists ask how people view or construe
this (past) reality. This book gives voice to the silenced memories of peo-
ple who remained in Istria and those who moved there after the ‘exodus’
and were then silenced and voiceless in the dominant Slovenian and Ital-
ian discourses. The purpose of this book is to let the past speak through
people and touch us.
Troubled Pasts, Conflicting Memories, Along with Silence
The study first deals with the troublesome, ‘undigested’ past of the multi-
ethnic, multi-cultural border area of Istria which even today finds its self-
identification difficult, as this is probably one of the few regions that al-
ready has problems even naming itself. The chapter on the problems of
naming outlines the different names for this region, together with their
ideological backgrounds. A brief review of history initially sheds light on
the centuries-old co-existence of the Slavic and Italian populations and
then considers the burden of the 20-year period of the violent fascism and
the migrations it caused, which was all then put under pressure by the in-
ternational conflicts during the Second World War. The conflicting Italian
and Yugoslav claims to the contested territory saw an independent state
formation being established named the Free Territory of Trieste (f t t),
only for it to dissolve in 1954 when one part of Istria was annexed to Yu-
goslavia and the area of Trieste to Italy. The period of great uncertainty
as to national appurtenance of the territory led to post-war migrations of
mainly the Italian-speaking population, reaching a peak after the annexa-
tion of Zone B of the ft t to Yugoslavia. Migrations in the opposite direc-
tion occurred throughout this period, namely the Italian-speaking popu-
lation of which only about 10 stayed in the Slovenian part of Istria, were
replaced by immigrants from Slovenia and other republics of former Yu-
254
