The Vlachs and the Serbian Primary School (1878-1914): an Example of Serbian Nation-Building
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THE VLACHS AND THE SERBIAN PRIMARY SCHOOL (1878-1914): AN EXAMPLE OF SERBIAN NATION-BUILDING A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2014 KSENIJA KOLEROVIC SCHOOL OF ARTS, LANGUAGES AND CULTURES TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................4 LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................5 ABSTRACT .....................................................................................................................6 DECLARATION .............................................................................................................7 COPYRIGHT STATEMENT .........................................................................................7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................8 CHAPTER 1: Introduction .............................................................................................9 1.1. Research Aims and Objectives ........................................................................10 1.2. Methodology ...................................................................................................11 1.2.1. Nation/Nationalism/National Identity ................................................12 1.2.2. Ethnicity/Ethnic Group/Ethno-Cultural Group/Ethnic Minority ........13 1.3. Why the Vlachs? .............................................................................................17 1.3.1. Defining the Vlachs ............................................................................17 1.3.2. The Vlachs and the Serbian Nation and State .....................................20 1.4. The Vlachs as a Historiographical Subject ......................................................23 1.5. Primary School and Nation-Building – Trends in Existing Literature ............29 1.6. Serbian Primary Education and Nation-Building – Literature Review ..........32 1.7. Sources ............................................................................................................35 1.8. The Structure of the Thesis .............................................................................36 CHAPTER 2: Serbia (1878-1914): Ideologies, Actors and Institutions ....................41 2.1. Introduction .....................................................................................................41 2.2. Serbia between 1878 and 1914 – A Historical Sketch ....................................42 2.3. Serbian Nationalism ........................................................................................44 2.4. The Serbian Intelligentsia ................................................................................48 2.5 Ideologies ........................................................................................................51 2.6. 'People's Teacher' or 'National Worker' ...........................................................54 2.7. Cultural Institutions .........................................................................................57 2.7.1. The Institution of the Primary School .................................................59 2.7.1.1. The Transformation of the Serbian Primary School in the Period before 1878 ..............................................................................................62 2.7.1.2. Further Modernisation and Nationalisation, 1878-1914 .............63 2.7.1.3. National(-list) Aspects of the School Curricula ..........................67 2.8. Conclusion .......................................................................................................72 CHAPTER 3: The Vlachs through Serbian Eyes .......................................................75 3.1. Introduction .....................................................................................................75 3.2. 'Territorialisation of Memory' .........................................................................78 3.3. The Vlach 'Threat' ...........................................................................................82 3.4. Vlach 'Backwardness' .....................................................................................89 3.5. Gendered Aspects of Serbian Discourses about Vlachs .................................93 3.6. Conclusion .....................................................................................................101 2 CHAPTER 4: Serbian Primary School in the Vlach Environment – Between Education and Serbisation ..........................................................................................103 4.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................103 4.2. The Basic Precepts of the Eduction of the Vlachs ........................................104 4.3. The Legislative Basis of the Assimilationist Educational Policies for the Vlachs ...................................................................................................................107 4.4. Preparatory Grade ..........................................................................................116 4.5. Girls' Schools ................................................................................................122 4.6. Extended Schools ..........................................................................................129 4.7. Conclusion .....................................................................................................134 CHAPTER 5: Primary School, Nationalising Strategies and the Vlach Local Communities ................................................................................................................136 5.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................136 5.2. Teachers and Local Associations ...................................................................137 5.2.1. Agricultural Associations ..................................................................138 5.2.2. School Rifle Associations .................................................................142 5.3. State and Religious Celebrations ..................................................................146 5.4. Serbisation of Vlach Traditional Dress .........................................................154 5.5. Conclusion .....................................................................................................162 CHAPTER 6: The Vlachs' Responses to Serbian Education Policies ....................165 6.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................165 6.2. Everyday Resistance Strategies .....................................................................169 6.2.1. Local Authorities as Resistance Actors .............................................171 6.2.2. Peasants as Actors .............................................................................174 6.2.3. Ethnicity as the Factor of Resistance ................................................177 6.3. Public Resistance ..........................................................................................182 6.3.1. Romania: A Failed 'External National Homeland' of the Vlachs ......183 6.3.2. Examples of Public Resistance Acts .................................................186 6.4. Cultural Resistance ........................................................................................193 6.5. Conclusion .....................................................................................................196 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................198 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................206 Primary Sources: ..................................................................................................206 i. Archive Sources: ......................................................................................206 ii. Periodicals: .............................................................................................206 iii. Articles and Books: ...............................................................................207 Secondary Sources: ..............................................................................................209 Word count: 76062 3 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Areas of the Kingdom of Serbia inhabited by the Vlachs, 1885.....................39 Figure 2: Areas of the Kingdom of Serbia inhabited by the Vlachs, 1902.....................40 Figure 3: Šapsa headwear..............................................................................................161 Figure 4: Vlach man and woman from Homolje mountains.........................................161 4 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Percentage of the Vlach Population per Region in 1884...................................19 Table 2: Number of Girls' Schools per Region (1899/1900).........................................127 Table 3: Number of Girls' Schools in Relation to the Vlach Population per Region (1899/1900)...................................................................................................................129 5 ABSTRACT This dissertation explores the process of Serbian nation-building, focusing specifically on the interaction between