Interakcija jezika i društvenoga života. Manjinski jezik i većinsko okruženje na primjeru hrvatske nacionalne manjine u Mađarskoj

The last several decades have witnessed a strong revival of ethnic movements among national and ethnic minorities, both in European and world proportions. Theoreticians of social development consider that the reasons for ethnic revival include: the extended role of modem governments, rapid postwar industrialization, the sudden development of communications technology, greater possibilities for education and the creation of a nation’s own« intelligentsia, a decrease in the modem alienation of man, the disappearance of ideological politics, some international factors and processes of social democratization. This last factor is especially important in the so - called eastern countries, which include Hungary, the country that has the most numerous Croatian national minority of all neighbouring countries. New political currents introduced a new dimension into everyday Hungarian life: a critical public revaluation. Political, economic and social fomentation on the road towards democratization have also had a strong influence on the life of the Croatian national minority, which is marked by permanent efforts to preserve and nurture its ethnic identity. This paper is an attempt, from the aspect of language - as one of the fundamental factors of ethnic identity, and the language situation - whose main feature is bilinguality present in general in all the social strata of the Croatian minority, to identify the current problems facing efforts to preserve and develop the ethnic identify as an overall cultural identity. The research results have through an ethnolinguistic approach been placed within a wider social and cultural context