Abstract
The aim of this theoretical chapter is to clarify definitions and contextualize central terminology that are frequently applied throughout the work. I provide definitions and analyze concepts such as ‘ethnicity,’ ‘hybridity,’ ‘identity,’ ‘ideology,’ ‘inequality,’ ‘memory,’ ‘nationalism’ and ‘religion.’ Later on, when I use my interviewees’ testimonies to construct the history, culture, religion, memory and language of Sarajevo Sephardim, these concepts will be at the very center of the discussion.
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Notes
- 1.
The Hebrew word for Passover holiday is Seder (Order—meaning an orderly meal in which the Exodus of the ancient Israelites from Egypt is commemorated and ritually internalized through a series of symbolic sacrifices and normative lessons).
- 2.
Man könnte sogar behaupten, dass, nähmen wir das Multidimensionale im Kulturellen ernst, der Begriff ‘multikulturell’ tautologisch und damit überflüssig sei. Er ist vor allem irreführend, insofern er die Vorstellung einer Vielfalt von Kulturen beschwört, eindeutig definiert und voneinander abgrenzt, anstatt eines dynamischen, höchst politisierten Prozesses kultureller Produktion.
- 3.
[D]ie kognitive Leistung einer “pluriellen Identität” besteht darin, die verschiedenen identitären Facetten gleichsam zu einem kohärenten Identitätssystem zusammenzuschweißen. Nur kann es freilich Fälle geben, in denen die Teilidentitäten derart auseinanderstreben, dass das Individuum die Brüche nicht mehr kitten kann, das gefährliche Risse im Gefüge der Identität auftreten. Dies sind die Fälle, in welchen […] die mehrsprachige Identität als Problem erlebt werden kann.
- 4.
Mit dem Bewußtsein der eigenen Zweisprachigkeit entstehen auch positive bzw. negative Einstellungen zur Zweisprachigkeit.
- 5.
[D]ie Angst von einem Identitätsverlust wird mehr oder weniger verspürt, die Veränderungen werden von den einen bedauert und abgelehnt, von den anderen begrüßt. Dabei hat sich deutlich erwiesen, dass der Migrant in der Wahl seiner Verhaltungsweise nicht gänzlich durch äußere Faktoren gelenkt wird, sondern dass er in seinem Gebrauch von Konstellationen identitärer Figuren über einen gewissen Entscheidungsspielraum verfügt.
- 6.
Obviously, this was not the case with Jews, whose mastery of local languages was seldom enough to earn them citizenship.
- 7.
- 8.
Christianity is certainly part and parcel of Western democratic life even though many countries have instituted a separation of state and church (Brubaker 2015: 90). The Christian framework of social and political life is evident in the public calendar which typically acknowledges Christian liturgical holidays and designates Sunday as a day for rest (cf. Ricoeur 2004: 155). Generally speaking, there are Christmas trees and not Menorahs in public places, and ‘secular’ kindergartens and schools celebrate Catholic Lucia and/or Protestant Easter (as examples) while other religious holidays like Bajram are not celebrated. On the other hand, it is possible for a state and its citizens to be relatively neutral in regard to religion, whereas in relation to a national language neutrality is almost impossible (Brubaker 2015: 90–91). Thus, for example, the United States has no ‘official’ language, and yet English is still privileged as the dominant means of most public and official communication.
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Rock, J. (2019). Theoretical Points of Commencement. In: Intergenerational Memory and Language of the Sarajevo Sephardim. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14046-5_2
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