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P. 193
rian Memories in the Dark Tourism 9
Context: The Quantitative Analysis
This chapter initially presents some additional methodological expla-
nations, followed by a quantitative analysis of regional electronic me-
dia (newspaper) reports, and concludes with a discussion/comparison of
findings with some theories, concepts and past research as well as results
of the qualitative analysis (see also Figures 6.5, 6.6, and 6.8). Bonnell’s
(1980, pp. 157, 161, 164–165) ‘analytical’ approach, that might provide ex-
planatory generalisations, is primarily used within this chapter, although
some elements of the ‘illustrative’ approach can be seen in the final sub-
chapter.
9.1 Additional Methodological Explanations
The main purpose of the empirical analysis is to establish a represen-
tation of topics related to the Istrian history (of conflicts) of the 20th
century, contemporary public memorial practices and dark tourism in
leading regional electronic mass media (newspapers), based on which
similarities and differences of public dark commemorative events can be
found and, consequently, clusters of events can be created; this way, the
transfer of memory via the media and the media-created social reality can
also be identified. In addition, the contemporary distribution of memo-
rial practices (dark commemorative events) within the peninsula, which
had not been investigated before, is also an important purpose of this
study. However, only those events which constitute a contemporary col-
lective memory were relevant in this case, while those subject to social
amnesia and silence were not, as they are obviously not the subject of
public and, consequently, media discourse.¹ This means that we are deal-
ing with public dark commemorative events as they are described in the
electronic media. Geographically speaking, the study is focused on ac-
tual Croatian and Slovenian parts of the Istrian peninsula, while the Ital-
ian part, which accounts for approximately 0.36 of its territory (Geo-
grafija.hr, 2004), was intentionally excluded; sociologically speaking, all
three main/autochthonous Istrian nations and their media were included.
¹ This does not mean that they do not exist.
193
Context: The Quantitative Analysis
This chapter initially presents some additional methodological expla-
nations, followed by a quantitative analysis of regional electronic me-
dia (newspaper) reports, and concludes with a discussion/comparison of
findings with some theories, concepts and past research as well as results
of the qualitative analysis (see also Figures 6.5, 6.6, and 6.8). Bonnell’s
(1980, pp. 157, 161, 164–165) ‘analytical’ approach, that might provide ex-
planatory generalisations, is primarily used within this chapter, although
some elements of the ‘illustrative’ approach can be seen in the final sub-
chapter.
9.1 Additional Methodological Explanations
The main purpose of the empirical analysis is to establish a represen-
tation of topics related to the Istrian history (of conflicts) of the 20th
century, contemporary public memorial practices and dark tourism in
leading regional electronic mass media (newspapers), based on which
similarities and differences of public dark commemorative events can be
found and, consequently, clusters of events can be created; this way, the
transfer of memory via the media and the media-created social reality can
also be identified. In addition, the contemporary distribution of memo-
rial practices (dark commemorative events) within the peninsula, which
had not been investigated before, is also an important purpose of this
study. However, only those events which constitute a contemporary col-
lective memory were relevant in this case, while those subject to social
amnesia and silence were not, as they are obviously not the subject of
public and, consequently, media discourse.¹ This means that we are deal-
ing with public dark commemorative events as they are described in the
electronic media. Geographically speaking, the study is focused on ac-
tual Croatian and Slovenian parts of the Istrian peninsula, while the Ital-
ian part, which accounts for approximately 0.36 of its territory (Geo-
grafija.hr, 2004), was intentionally excluded; sociologically speaking, all
three main/autochthonous Istrian nations and their media were included.
¹ This does not mean that they do not exist.
193
