Is Balkan mentality closer to that of other Europeans, the Near East or a combination of the two?

[Prism]

Well there is always Zizek.

"We in Slovenia are especially sensitive when it comes to this; For us in Slovenia, the Balkans begins here in Croatia. Because during the period of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy we were the Austrian part of it, we were in Middle Europe, in the midst of civilizaition, while Croatia (on the other hand) would be the Balkans. For Croats, the Balkans begins with Bosnia and Serbia, since the Croats are catholics, they're Europe. For Serbians, the Balkans are Albanians, Kosovo and downward - The Serbs are the last fortress, defense of Europe.
But the comedic part of it is that you can do the same thing in the opposite direction - For the Austrians we, the Slovenians are the Balkans.Karavanke, those hills between Slovenia and Austria, that is the border of the Balkans.The comedy goes even further- for the Germans, The Austrians are a sort of the Balkans.???? For French, there is something dark to the Germans, as if they're somehow suspicious. The French are the civilazation. And to go the farthest, for English, all of Europe is somehow the Balkans and Bruxells is the new Konstantinopol etc. Therefore, the Balkans is never right here. It is always somewhere downward, toward the East. "The Balkans are OTHERS." Yes, Yes.But I think this is a really important ideological category - because my friend Mladen Dolar had this wonderful idea that the Balkans functions as the Unconscious of Europe - all of European traumas, everything that Europe isn't willing to admit about itself, the brutality, anti-feminism, militarism, all of this is being projected as the Balkans.

Well if North Croatia IMO is not the Balkans, then Slovenia definitely isnt, I have heard being called Balkan or South Slav is an insult to them ?? Anyway I dont know any Slovenians myslef but my Grandad tells me theyre cold and more like Austrians.

This website explains them well.

http://europeisnotdead.com/video/ima...n-stereotypes/

I guess....

[Nurzat]

Well, I consider Romania Balkanic country culturally, but I'm not Romanian, so if wrong, correct me. Geographicaly it's Eastern Europe though, since it's north of the Danube (just like big part of Croatia is in Balkan peninsula by geography). But I always tought Transylvania to be Central European culturally because it was part of Hungary for centuries.

grosso modo it is Balkanic. kitsch took on. small places like my region, which are totally Central Euro, don't count in the big picture, which is overly Balkanic and Ottoman

Bucovina, North Romania, former Austrian land

[Insuperable]

Dalmatia is purely mediterranean, Southern European in culture and history. Only interor highlands (Zagora) recived Balkan influence. Btw, I'm half-Dalmatian too

From wiki about Dalmatian identity:

The inhabitants of Dalmatia are culturally subdivided into two or three groups. The urban families of the coastal cities, sometimes known as Fetivi, are culturally akin to the inhabitants of the Dalmatian islands (known derogatorily as Boduli). The two are together distinct, in the Mediterranean aspects of their culture, from the more numerous inhabitants of the Zagora, the hinterland, referred to (sometimes derogatorily) as the Vlaji. The latter are historically more influenced by Ottoman culture, merging almost seamlessly at the border with the Herzegovinian Croats and southern Bosnia and Herzegovina in general.

The former two groups (inhabitants of the islands and the cities) historically included many Venetian and Italian speakers, many of whom identified as Italians (esp. after the Unification of Italy). Their presence, relative to those identifying as South Slavs, decreased dramatically over the course of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century. There remains, however, a strong cultural, and, in part, ancestral heritage among the natives of the cities and islands, who today almost exclusively identify as Croats, but retain a sense of regional identity.

Correct. Dalmatia is a South European in history and culture more or less. Hinterland is really Balkanic and although not a geographically a small part of southern Croatia, it's population makes 6 or 7 % of population of Dalmatia since it is a more mountainous region, I think. Why it says there more numerous? Wouldn't automatically label southern Croatia as Balkanic (not to mention the entire Croatia since southern Croatian population is one fifth of the population of Croatia) because of it. Pred. South European with Balkanic influences imo.

[Sideritis]

Well if North Croatia IMO is not the Balkans, then Slovenia definitely isnt, I have heard being called Balkan or South Slav is an insult to them ?? Anyway I dont know any Slovenians myslef but my Grandad tells me theyre cold and more like Austrians.

This website explains them well.

http://europeisnotdead.com/video/ima...n-stereotypes/

I guess....

Geographically they are Balkan. But normally people on the edges of the Balkan have things in common with their bordering countries.

[Nurzat]

Correct. Dalmatia is a South European in history and culture more or less. Hinterland is really Balkanic and although not a geographically a small part of southern Croatia, it's population makes 6 or 7 % of population of Dalmatia. Wouldn't automatically label southern Croatia as Balkanic (not to mention the entire Croatia) because of it. Pred. South European with Balkanic influences imo.

you are right, because Balkanism implies Orthodoxy and/or Islam, while Hungary and Croatia got away from it largely because of the Western contacts and customs they took on with Catholicism

[Nurzat]

we in the Balkans are all a bit Gypsy. but better cool Gypsies than dull and delusional Westerners bored of life and money (Cristiano viejo will so like this post haha)

[Jana]

we in the Balkans are all a bit Gypsy. but better cool Gypsies than dull and delusional Westerners bored of life and money (Cristiano viejo will so like this post haha)

They have los gitanos too And we are all just cigani who envy heroic conquistadors ))

[Nurzat]

They have los gitanos too And we are all just cigani who envy heroic conquistadors ))

nice Gypsy song and video clip from Romania, extreme Balkanizacija

[Prism]

Geographically they are Balkan. But normally people on the edges of the Balkan have things in common with their bordering countries.

Geographically this is the Balkans :

Attachment 56124

Anything thats in the coloured zone is the Balkans, people have the same culture and cuisine. Well Vojvodina is the Balkans too and some of Romania. My aunt would tell me Yugoslavia was 25 percent Central European ( N. Croatia and Slovenia ) and 75 percent Balkan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire

All the European countries that appear under " Today part of " is the Balkans. This is my opinion and I do not mean to offend anyone, but whats wrong with being Balkanian anyway ??

[♥ Lily ♥]

The question is confusing and I think it needs to be rephrased. Are you referring to any specific country in the Balkans region and any specific country in Western Europe in making comparisons of differences or similarities? Do you mean the cultural differences between various countries in Eastern and Western Europe - such as the general religious, societal, or political views within the different nations for instance?