Page 137 - Mocarelli, Luca, and Aleksander Panjek. Eds. 2020. Maize to the People! Cultivation, Consumption and Trade in the North-Eastern Mediterranean (Sixteenth-Nineteenth Century). Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 137
buckwheat or maize? ultimately, potatoes!
was an essential element that explains why maize production expanded, re-
placing lentil or the older types of cereals like millet, spelt, or buckwheat.
Even language was affected by maize. The formation of what is al-
legedly an original Slovenian phrase represents a permanent trace. In the
Slovenian language, the expression biti na koruzi (“to be on maize”) or
živeti na koruzi (“to live on maize”) denotes an extramarital union. The
phrase originated in the nineteenth century from the various practices of
avoiding the control and restrictions of the profoundly traditional socie-
ty of the time. This is where maize comes in: unmarried couples or lovers
would secretly meet in the haven of maize fields or spend their nights in
barns lying on the maize stover. The practice has since disappeared, but the
idiom persists and attests to the fact that even completely economic histor-
ical phenomena can attain social connotations (FRAN 192).
The penetration of maize into the peasant economy and mentality
therefore represents an extensive and complex historical issue. It is also an
integral part of the long-term restructuring of agricultural activities and
accompanying social processes, especially in the field of nutrition. This
discussion presents a condensed overview of the significance of maize in
Slovenia during the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century,
until World War II. Two different economic contexts, separated by World
War I, existed during this lengthy period. After World War I, the majority
of the Slovenian territory was included in the Yugoslav state – an environ-
ment where the economic and social importance of maize was significantly
higher. However, approximately one third of the Slovenian territory in the
west was governed by Italy, where maize had, even traditionally, played a
vital role. If Slovenia was a land of potatoes, Serbia, for example, was a land
of maize. In the interwar period, Yugoslavia was one of the biggest maize
producers and exporters. Slovenia and Serbia are examples of the develop-
ment of regionally dissimilar economic structures with different roles of
maize in farming and in agriculture in general. Therefore, this contribution
also outlines the process of the introduction of maize in Serbia. Such a pres-
entation is also useful because both of these traditions eventually merged
into a single national economic space in the Yugoslav state and were influ-
enced by the same economic and political forces.
Between tradition and modernity: buckwheat or maize?
The introduction already stated that maize had established itself complete-
ly in the first half of the nineteenth century. This was also reflected on the
135
was an essential element that explains why maize production expanded, re-
placing lentil or the older types of cereals like millet, spelt, or buckwheat.
Even language was affected by maize. The formation of what is al-
legedly an original Slovenian phrase represents a permanent trace. In the
Slovenian language, the expression biti na koruzi (“to be on maize”) or
živeti na koruzi (“to live on maize”) denotes an extramarital union. The
phrase originated in the nineteenth century from the various practices of
avoiding the control and restrictions of the profoundly traditional socie-
ty of the time. This is where maize comes in: unmarried couples or lovers
would secretly meet in the haven of maize fields or spend their nights in
barns lying on the maize stover. The practice has since disappeared, but the
idiom persists and attests to the fact that even completely economic histor-
ical phenomena can attain social connotations (FRAN 192).
The penetration of maize into the peasant economy and mentality
therefore represents an extensive and complex historical issue. It is also an
integral part of the long-term restructuring of agricultural activities and
accompanying social processes, especially in the field of nutrition. This
discussion presents a condensed overview of the significance of maize in
Slovenia during the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century,
until World War II. Two different economic contexts, separated by World
War I, existed during this lengthy period. After World War I, the majority
of the Slovenian territory was included in the Yugoslav state – an environ-
ment where the economic and social importance of maize was significantly
higher. However, approximately one third of the Slovenian territory in the
west was governed by Italy, where maize had, even traditionally, played a
vital role. If Slovenia was a land of potatoes, Serbia, for example, was a land
of maize. In the interwar period, Yugoslavia was one of the biggest maize
producers and exporters. Slovenia and Serbia are examples of the develop-
ment of regionally dissimilar economic structures with different roles of
maize in farming and in agriculture in general. Therefore, this contribution
also outlines the process of the introduction of maize in Serbia. Such a pres-
entation is also useful because both of these traditions eventually merged
into a single national economic space in the Yugoslav state and were influ-
enced by the same economic and political forces.
Between tradition and modernity: buckwheat or maize?
The introduction already stated that maize had established itself complete-
ly in the first half of the nineteenth century. This was also reflected on the
135
