Page 224 - Dark Shades of Istria
P. 224
Concluding Remarks
per Adriatic and/or other parts of Slovenia and Croatia, which shows
the international recognition and importance of (dark) tourism only in
a limited administrative sense. Results of the qualitative analysis confirm
this assertion, which raises new questions about the point of investiga-
tion of memory in the dark tourism context. In addition, thanks to this
mixed approach, we also know and understand how these events actually
occur in a local environment, as well as their specifics, weaknesses and
the like. In this study, the real social reality is thus linked and upgraded
with the media-constructed social reality of Istrian memory practices
(‘Istrian-style memory’ or regional transcultural memory). Therefore,
these are new perspectives of dark commemorative events in Istria as
well as in the wider area. Within the framework of historical sociology,
this gap was filled and, simultaneously, all the set objectives achieved
– see sub-chapter 1.2 ‘Research Purpose and Objectives.’ The particular
value of this study is that the topics/concepts that are almost taboo in the
post-Yugoslav states are discussed in a multidimensional and integrated
manner.
This study also has certain limitations, weaknesses and other features
that need to be highlighted and explained:
• the quantitative analysis is made on the basis of media reports, which
usually do not include all important facts (e.g. state symbols are not
always mentioned or visible in the photos, although there is a high
probability that they were displayed at events); visitors (their struc-
ture and number) and low-level politicians are clearly less important
for the journalists, but constitute important elements of dark com-
memorative events;
• websites of some Istrian municipalities, e.g. Rovinj, 25 June 2018, and
Labin, 3 August 2018, show that some other dark commemorative
events also exist; the events in Lanišće and Svetvinčenat analysed
in the qualitative part, were not observed in the regional electronic
media, either. This means that the quantitative analysis does not in-
clude the full range of history-centric dark commemorative events
in Istria, but reflects the media-constructed social reality (mediated
memory), where events are selected according to the editorial policy
of three main regional media;
• despite the fact that we browsed the media websites several times a
day, there was a possibility that the reports that were posted on the
site for a shorter period of time could be overlooked. However, we
224
per Adriatic and/or other parts of Slovenia and Croatia, which shows
the international recognition and importance of (dark) tourism only in
a limited administrative sense. Results of the qualitative analysis confirm
this assertion, which raises new questions about the point of investiga-
tion of memory in the dark tourism context. In addition, thanks to this
mixed approach, we also know and understand how these events actually
occur in a local environment, as well as their specifics, weaknesses and
the like. In this study, the real social reality is thus linked and upgraded
with the media-constructed social reality of Istrian memory practices
(‘Istrian-style memory’ or regional transcultural memory). Therefore,
these are new perspectives of dark commemorative events in Istria as
well as in the wider area. Within the framework of historical sociology,
this gap was filled and, simultaneously, all the set objectives achieved
– see sub-chapter 1.2 ‘Research Purpose and Objectives.’ The particular
value of this study is that the topics/concepts that are almost taboo in the
post-Yugoslav states are discussed in a multidimensional and integrated
manner.
This study also has certain limitations, weaknesses and other features
that need to be highlighted and explained:
• the quantitative analysis is made on the basis of media reports, which
usually do not include all important facts (e.g. state symbols are not
always mentioned or visible in the photos, although there is a high
probability that they were displayed at events); visitors (their struc-
ture and number) and low-level politicians are clearly less important
for the journalists, but constitute important elements of dark com-
memorative events;
• websites of some Istrian municipalities, e.g. Rovinj, 25 June 2018, and
Labin, 3 August 2018, show that some other dark commemorative
events also exist; the events in Lanišće and Svetvinčenat analysed
in the qualitative part, were not observed in the regional electronic
media, either. This means that the quantitative analysis does not in-
clude the full range of history-centric dark commemorative events
in Istria, but reflects the media-constructed social reality (mediated
memory), where events are selected according to the editorial policy
of three main regional media;
• despite the fact that we browsed the media websites several times a
day, there was a possibility that the reports that were posted on the
site for a shorter period of time could be overlooked. However, we
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