Ljutomer Marks 140th Anniversary of First "Tabor" Gathering
The northeastern town of Ljutomer will pay tribute to the 140th anniversary of the first Slovenian "tabor", a gathering which boosted the movement for a single Slovenian state "Zedinjena Slovenija" (Unified Slovenia). The event was a milestone in Slovenia's independence movement.
The celebrations will start on Thursday with a symposium on Slovenian language with 21 historians and linguists, and culminate on Saturday in a ceremony with Prime Minister Janez Jansa as the keynote speaker.
Linguist Marko Jesensek, who will head the symposium, underscores the importance language has always had for Slovenia and its history as a nation.
The symposium, organised by the Maribor Faculty of Arts, will discuss how the ideas from 140 years ago affect Slovenia today.
The first "tabor" in Ljutomer started a series of such gatherings, which took place between 1868 and 1871 across Slovenia.
Its main agenda, a single Slovenian state in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians - the predecessor of Yugoslavia - later became the focal point of the "Unified Slovenia" manifesto.
Jesensek says that a part of the manifesto was realised already in former Yugoslavia, while some ideas came into being only after Slovenia joined the EU.
On the other hand, the linguist also warns of the danger for the development of the scientific register of the Slovenian language in the increasing use of English, especially within the EU.
More articles from this issue:
Archive
|