Page 200 - Stati inu obstati, revija za vprašanja protestantizma, letnik XVII (2021), številka 33, ISSN 2590-9754
P. 200
povzetki, SYNOPSES, ZUSAMMENFASSUNGEN
The Role of the Reformation in Slovene Ethnogenesis:
Collective Ethnic Identity in Long-Term History
Although the Reformation in both Europe and Slovenia was primarily of a religious
nature, its long-term impact on Slovenes is much more visible in their collective ethnic
than religious identity. While the sovereign Counter-Reformation abolished Protestant-
ism in the Inner Austrian lands between 1598 and 1628, the Catholic Revival used cer-
tain achievements of the movement in its own pursuits. For the further development of
Slovenes as an ethnic community, especially four Reformation creations are important:
1) the linguistic norm, 2) the concept of the Slovene church, 3) the myth of the chosen
ethnicity and 4) a topos about the great extent of the “Slavic”/Slovene language. In ac-
cordance with the ethnosymbolist paradigm, the discussion therefore estimates that in
the second half of the 16th century Slovenes developed from an ethnic category into an
ethnic network.
The Slovene language, which was sporadically written from the end of the first mil-
lennium onwards, was finally consolidated as a literary language in 1550 with the first
two books published by Primož Trubar. The Protestant literary work reached its peak in
1584, when a translation of the Bible by Jurij Dalmatin and a grammar by Adam Bohorič
were published. The concept of the “Slovene church”, which is supposed to unite the en-
tire Slovene-speaking Christian community, was also conceived by Trubar. He present-
ed his idea for the first time in 1555 and completed it in his Cerkovna ordninga (“the
Church Order”) from 1564. Although the conceptual programme was not established in
the church administration, it significantly influenced the mindset of both Protestant and
later Catholic writers in the 17th and 18th centuries.
The emergence of the Slovene myth of the chosen ethnicity, which is based on a sen-
tence from the Letter of Paul to the Romans: “and every tongue will praise God” (Ro-
mans 14:11), also dates back to the Reformation and as a maxim connects the key liter-
ary creations of this period. In addition, Protestant writers relied on the humanistic tra-
dition of emphasizing the great extent of the “Slavic” language, which in fact served to
increase the importance of Slovene. This topos was first introduced to Slovene gram-
mars by Bohorič and represents a somewhat later entry of Slovenes into the “(inter)na-
tional competition for national honor”, which emerged in Europe during the humanism.
Keywords: Reformation, Slovene ethnogenesis, linguistic norm, Slovene church,
(proto-)nationalism
Die Rolle der Reformation in der slowenischen Ethnogenese:
Ethnische kollektive Identität auf der Linie der Langzeitgeschichte
Obwohl die Reformation sowohl in Europa als auch in den slowenischen Gebie-
ten in erster Linie religiöser Natur war, haben ihre Errungenschaften auf lange Sicht ge-
sehen viel mehr die ethnische und weniger die konfessionelle slowenische kollektive
198
The Role of the Reformation in Slovene Ethnogenesis:
Collective Ethnic Identity in Long-Term History
Although the Reformation in both Europe and Slovenia was primarily of a religious
nature, its long-term impact on Slovenes is much more visible in their collective ethnic
than religious identity. While the sovereign Counter-Reformation abolished Protestant-
ism in the Inner Austrian lands between 1598 and 1628, the Catholic Revival used cer-
tain achievements of the movement in its own pursuits. For the further development of
Slovenes as an ethnic community, especially four Reformation creations are important:
1) the linguistic norm, 2) the concept of the Slovene church, 3) the myth of the chosen
ethnicity and 4) a topos about the great extent of the “Slavic”/Slovene language. In ac-
cordance with the ethnosymbolist paradigm, the discussion therefore estimates that in
the second half of the 16th century Slovenes developed from an ethnic category into an
ethnic network.
The Slovene language, which was sporadically written from the end of the first mil-
lennium onwards, was finally consolidated as a literary language in 1550 with the first
two books published by Primož Trubar. The Protestant literary work reached its peak in
1584, when a translation of the Bible by Jurij Dalmatin and a grammar by Adam Bohorič
were published. The concept of the “Slovene church”, which is supposed to unite the en-
tire Slovene-speaking Christian community, was also conceived by Trubar. He present-
ed his idea for the first time in 1555 and completed it in his Cerkovna ordninga (“the
Church Order”) from 1564. Although the conceptual programme was not established in
the church administration, it significantly influenced the mindset of both Protestant and
later Catholic writers in the 17th and 18th centuries.
The emergence of the Slovene myth of the chosen ethnicity, which is based on a sen-
tence from the Letter of Paul to the Romans: “and every tongue will praise God” (Ro-
mans 14:11), also dates back to the Reformation and as a maxim connects the key liter-
ary creations of this period. In addition, Protestant writers relied on the humanistic tra-
dition of emphasizing the great extent of the “Slavic” language, which in fact served to
increase the importance of Slovene. This topos was first introduced to Slovene gram-
mars by Bohorič and represents a somewhat later entry of Slovenes into the “(inter)na-
tional competition for national honor”, which emerged in Europe during the humanism.
Keywords: Reformation, Slovene ethnogenesis, linguistic norm, Slovene church,
(proto-)nationalism
Die Rolle der Reformation in der slowenischen Ethnogenese:
Ethnische kollektive Identität auf der Linie der Langzeitgeschichte
Obwohl die Reformation sowohl in Europa als auch in den slowenischen Gebie-
ten in erster Linie religiöser Natur war, haben ihre Errungenschaften auf lange Sicht ge-
sehen viel mehr die ethnische und weniger die konfessionelle slowenische kollektive
198
