Montenegro's Divided National Identity

 

Vivian Perez

22WQ UCOR 1400 Eurovision

February 8th, 2022

 

Montenegro’s divided national Identity

 What is national Identity?

What does national identity mean? Some might say that someone’s national identity means a person’s individuality in which they are from and feel most at home. Although to go more depth, national identity is much more than that and is “a sense of a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by (the maintenance of) distinctive traditions, culture, linguistic or political features” (Oxford 2000). Furthermore, Montenegro’s national identify is based on history, personal bonds and culture with mainly religion. Before the 19^th century, Montenegro was an area inhabited by contending tribes loosely governed by “bishops”. From this, they acquired features that set them apart from the Serbs and as a result, they began to think of themselves as Montenegrins. The start of the Montenegrin state was symbolized by this. (Pavlović 2003 p 133) Although as Montenegro grew part of Yugoslavia with Serbia, they gained similar culture aspects which now affects the national identity on a different level today.  

To start off in the year 2006 in May, Montenegro used its right to assemble a referendum on independence from the two-state union under the Constitutional Charter of Serbia and Montenegro. Then in June, “the vote for severing ties with Serbia barely exceeded 55%” meaning Montenegro had officially now reclaimed its independence and country’s union with Serbia was dissolved (World Factbook, 2011). Therefore, Montenegro became a new state as part of the Balkans.  

Since Montenegro and Serbia share roots in history, speak the same language, and practice the same Orthodox faith, the connection between Serbs and Montenegrins is strong since Montenegro was part of Yugoslavia with Serbia from 1992 till 2006 when Montenegro won independence (World Factbook, 2011).For this reason, Vladmir Dulović states from his article, Socialist Intercessions: The Earliest Demands for a Separate Montenegrin Language, (2013) that, “the strive towards a separate Montenegrin language was used to bind the inhabitants of the recently shaped republic into one whole while at the same time separating them from the imaginary “other” (Dulović 2013 p 168). Therefore, in 2007, when Montenegro had won their independence, they established their first separated official language, Montenegrin, to “attempt to consolidate their vision of independent statehood with that of a separate Montenegrin identity” (Jovanović 2018 p 70). To be different from Serbia, which uses the “Cyrillic alphabet”, the Montenegrin language chose to utilize the “Latin script” more than the “Cyrillic alphabet”, along with even adding a “few of additional letters” to better distinguish itself from Serbia (Marković ​2017). However, according to The World Factbook (2011), even though Montenegrin is the official language of Montenegro, only 37% of the population speak it and around 42% of people speak Serbian still. Demonstrating that the distinct language of Montenegrin has its own set of regulations and is not spoken as much as the Serbian language Montenegro. The people of Montenegro speak Serbian more because pushing a different language on a person and not letting them recognize it by its proper name is a violation of a nation's democratic rights.  

Additionally, Srdja Pavlović (2003) explains how Serbian people view Montenegrin people. He specifically claims that “From the Serbian perspective, Montenegrins were and still are ethnic Serbs living in Montenegro, and their state is regarded as proof of the continuity of Serb presence in the region from medieval times to present” (Pavlović 2003 p 132). This then leads into how the national identity of Montenegro is not as strong since they share not only the same language as Serbia but are also linked with Serbia as they share the one of the most important factors, religion. According to the World Factbook (2011) about 72% of people practice the Orthodox religion in Montenegro which is also the same religion as Serbia. The national church in Montenegro is the “Serbian Orthodox church” which for Montenegrins, is perceived as a “threat” to their cultural and political freedom and their national identify overall (Puppinck 2020). Even so reported from an article Religion and Politics: Demonstrations in Montenegro by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project stated that, 

“The Serbian Orthodox Church is continually listed as one of the most respected institutions in the country. The rival Montenegrin Orthodox Church, which is not canonically recognized, is considered one of the least respected institutions in the country. Many view it as a state building institution rather than a purely religious institution” (ACLED 2020 p 1). 

Following this Montenegrins claim that the relationship between the Serbian government and the Serbian orthodox church demonstrates that the church is a significant tool for Serbia to maintain influence over Montenegro directly and indirectly, particularly among the huge number of people who still identify as Serbian. They argue that Montenegro should have its own independent church as it is its own independent state, although those who identify as Serbian say that the issue is being utilized by Montenegrin hardliners to push a varied agenda for their own nationalist political purpose. In addition, there have been many protests against the Serbian orthodox church in Montenegro that even as recently as September 2021, “police in Montenegro have fired teargas at protesters as the new head of the Serbian Orthodox church in the country arrived by helicopter for his inauguration” (The Guardian 2021). Montenegrins are protesting against the Serbian Orthodox church because instead of having their own Montenegrin Orthodox church they are stuck still with the Serbian authority of the Orthodox church that also has a grand influence over the country even though Montenegro is independent.  

Furthermore, the relationship between Montenegro and Serbia can be defined and is connected to “othering.” According to the Oxford English Dictionary, othering is defined as, “The perception of an entity as distinct in relation to other entities; (in later use) spec. the perception or representation of a person or group of people as fundamentally alien from another, frequently more powerful, group” (Oxford 2019). Accordingly, Serbia has built a Serbian value system and has deconstructed the Montenegrin national consciousness, meaning that the “Other” for Montenegro is Serbia and is also, “true enemy of the Montenegrin nation’ in the Montenegrin nationalists’ language ideology” (Jovanović 2018 p 70). So, connecting back to the definition of national identity and nationalism, “the significant other in these cases serves in overcoming the crisis because it unites the people in front of a common enemy, it reminds them “who we are” and emphasizes that “we are different and unique” (Jovanović 2018 p 73). Furthermore, Serbia is in fact known the “other” in this situation since they still big influence over Montenegro with language and religion and especially how they are interlinked with Montenegro because of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Again, goes back to how there was a major pressure put on the Montenegrin language because it was specifically made for the distinguish from Serbia, the “other.” 

In conclusion, Montenegro’s national identity is weak and struggles as their culture, mainly religion, is similar to their “other”, Serbia as they share the Serbian Orthodox church. Which emphasizes the great importance behind when Montenegro was not part of Yugoslavia and the Montenegrin language as they are great highlights of the true Montenegrin national identity.  

 

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References

Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project. (2020). Religion and Politics: Demonstrations in Montenegro. ACLED. Retrieved January 24, 2022, from https://www-jstor-org.proxy.seattleu.edu/stable/resrep27438?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=montenegro%2Borthodox%2Bserbian%2Bchurch&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dmontenegro%2Borthodox%2Bserbian%2Bchurch%26so%3Drel&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3Ae74bab098336f6385eddc02008ca099e&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

Central Intelligence Agency. (2021). Montenegro. In CIA World Factbook. Retrieved January 14, 2022, from https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/montenegro/#government

Dulović, V. (2013). Socialist Intercessions: The Earliest Demands for a Separate Montenegrin Language. Socialist Intercessions. Retrieved January 24, 2022, from https://web-p-ebscohost-com.proxy.seattleu.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=bd772d6f-6ffa-419f-b6e6-146a81b34f81%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=85587958&db=a9h

France-Presse, A. (2021, September 5). Montenegro police teargas protesters against Serbian Orthodox Church. The Guardian. Retrieved January 23, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/05/montenegro-police-teargas-protesters-against-serbian-orthodox-church

 

Jovanović, S. M. (2018, December 1). The discursive creation of the 'montenegrin language' and Montenegrin linguistic nationalism in the 21 Century. Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, European and Regional Studies. Retrieved January 24, 2022, from https://www.sciendo.com/article/10.2478/auseur-2018-0005

Marković, D. (2017, October 17). Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin, Serbian... what is the difference? littera. Retrieved February 7, 2022, from https://www.littera-sr.com/single-post/2017/10/05/Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian-What-is-the-Difference

Morrison, K. (2009). Montenegro: A modern history. I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd.

Oxford English Dictionary. (n.d.). Othering. In OED Online. Retrieved January 24, 2022, from https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/263203?rskey=dpD28D&result=2&isAdvanced=false#eid

Oxford English Dictionary. (n.d.). National Identity. In OED Online. Retrieved February 7, 2022, from https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/125287?redirectedFrom=national+identity#eid35384452

Pavlović, S. (2003). Literature, Social Poetics, and Identity Construction in Montenegro. Jstor. Retrieved January 24, 2022, from https://www-jstor-org.proxy.seattleu.edu/stable/20020201?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=montenegro%2Bnational%2Bidentity&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dmontenegro%2Bnational%2Bidentity%26so%3Drel&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3A719ac7fbbe3fd7605f85f9ca2bbbac36&seq=10#metadata_info_tab_contents

 

Puppinck, G. (2020, January 28). Overview on the law against the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro. European Centre for Law and Justice. Retrieved February 8, 2022, from https://eclj.org/religious-autonomy/coe/overview-on-the-law-against-the-serbian-orthodox-church-in-montenegro

Triandafyllidou, A. (1998). National identity and the 'other'. Ethnic and racial studies. Retrieved January 23, 2022, from https://primo.seattleu.edu/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=TN_cdi_proquest_journals_1518342630&vid=SUP5&search_scope=seau_rec_1&tab=default_tab&lang=en_US&context=PC