Po rodu, po karvi i po jeziku: Nacionalni identitet u političkim i publicističkim tekstovima Ivana Kukuljevića Sakcinskog

This essay analyzes themes related to the development of national identity in the era of Illyrism, as well as discourse strategies used in argumentative manoeuvres. The analyzed texts include drafts and transcripts of political speeches, journal articles, as well as literary and academic writings authored by Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski between 1841 and 1845. The philological disciplinary affiliation of this study necessitated explaining the terms ‘nation’, ‘nationalism’ and ‘national identity’ in the introduction, as these terms are used in the discussion of the socio-political context in which the texts were produced. The introduction also includes a brief discussion of the contemporary models of nation-building, especially the Central European notion of the nation as a cultural and linguistic community. The idea of the Croatian nation, as well as of the community of South-Slavic people, ranged from cultural unification to a broadly framed political community. The public activity of Ivan Kukuljević comprised all areas of nation building. As a publicly active linguist, he continuously promoted the štokavian idiom to the status of the standard Croatian language, although he had been born in the traditionally Kajkavian dialect-speaking region. The thesis that this practice was an act inherently linked to the linguistic identity was the starting point for the analysis of his writings. The analysis on one hand focuses on the themes of his writings (defining one’s own group, its values, attitudes, tasks, goals, etc.) and, on the other hand, on discursive strategies, such as the strategy of positive self-representation.