The Bunjevci question in the light of contemporary understandings of the nation

Abstract

This paper analyzes the theoretical framework of the discussion on the national identity of the Bačka Bunjevci. Based on the insight into the main currents within contemporary studies of nations and nationalism, and conceptual analysis of scientific papers that problematize the opening of the ˮBunjevci questionˮ after the breakup of socialist Yugoslavia, we conclude: a) that standard arguments of all parties assume that modern nations have identifiable roots deep in the past; b) that the ˮBunjevci questionˮ shows the opposite, that there are no objective or ˮscientificˮ criteria of a national identity, especially alternative narratives about it; and c) that the ˮBunjevci questionˮ, just like any other national question, is essentially political, that is a question about the collective strategy of a community's survival in the given historical circumstances.