Slovenian Letter

Photo: Johann Jaritz / wikimedia commons

Beautiful link: The road bridge across the Isonzo-river at Nova Gorica in Slovenia leading to Italy. In the very far background, however, Italian and Slovenian cities – Gorizia and Nova Gorica – meet directly.

Ciao, Enrico!

When I thought about what to write to you, I realised: Italy and Slovenia aren't connected at all. Of course we have some stereotypes about the amount of gel you Italians use for your hair and how you are always so well dressed. And, well: WE know where Italy is! I talked to an Italian guy on the internet once and we tried to learn something about each other. When I told him that I'm from Slovenia, he asked me if this is in Europe. I kind of lost interest.

We all need to learn that Italy and Slovenia share a common history. Unfortunately, wars make up a big part of that history. Did you ever hear about a struggle called Soška fronta (known as the Battles of the Isonzo in English)? It was a series of twelve battles which took place in the First World War and lasted from 1915 to 1917: the Slovenian soldiers fought on the Austrian side. Slovenia didn't exist at that time – our territories belonged to the Austro–Hungarian empire.

Its positive effect for us was that Italy didn't come further into our country and it was very important for the border between our countries as we know it today. In 1941, a part of today's Slovenia was ruled by Austria, a part by Hungary, a part by Croatia and also a part by Italy. We were always thought of as the small neighbours who don't need their own country. But we were also the neighbours who stood up for themselves.

Photo: MarcusObal / wikimedia.org

The river Isonzo (Soča in Slovenian). During 1915-17 it was one of the major battlefields in World War I, with hundreds of thousands of deaths.

So when Yugoslavia was formed after the First World War, it kind of freed us from the Austro–Hungarian rule and really separated us from the Italians: while you were under capitalism, we lived in socialist Yugoslavia. I still remember my parents telling me how they bought jeans, video tapes, bananas and a lot of other stuff in Italy and hid them in the car when they crossed the border. They weren't so interested in the Italian culture, more in the products, so that once again shows that Slovenians never had bad relations with the Italians, but they were also never connected enough.

Slovenians are a special kind of people. We have jokes about our arguments and I just read a good one the other day. You know the Divine Comedy, right? So Virgil was taking Dante through hell (hey, Italians in a Slovenian joke!). They came to the first souls attached to sticks and Virgil explains: "Those are the murderers and rapists." On the next level, there are people attached on stones and birds eating them. Virgil explains again: "Those have betrayed the Lord." On the next level there is a lake, full of junk. The souls in it weren't tied up at all, so Dante asked: "Why don't they run away?" Virgil explained: "Those are the Slovenians." Every time one of them tries to get out of the lake, the others pull him back. There is some truth in what this joke is telling us: Slovenians are very introspective. We look at ourselves and only ourselves, and we don't tend to look around much – not even at our Slovenian neighbours. Of course that isn't always true, but I think it is something that really separates us from the open-minded Italians.

lina burkelc juras After high school Lina aims to study law and English. She wants to become a law expert in family law to help those who have problems in their families. "A broken family shouldn't be a reason for a sad childhood", she says. She loves theatre and music and as well as law she's considering trying out for a theatre academy. Lina won the third prize in a history competition in Slovenia and participated in the Eustory Youth academy in Gdansk.

I live in a border region of Slovenia, 10 metres away from the Schengen border between Slovenia and Croatia. This border hasn't changed a lot for me. I know it's there, but apart from a helicopter flying over our house occasionally, there are no other effects for me. But I suppose the border between Slovenia and Italy means a free pass from one country to another and binds us closely together.

When I ask my friends about Italy, they always think of pasta and the Vatican, dancing and warmth. They know about your politics, about Berlusconi, Rome, Gardaland – the amusement park - but that isn't so important or typical. Slovenians do not have a bad opinion about their Italian neighbours. And it is the same if I ask my grandmother or my 6-year-old sister. My mother has just started learning Italian and she loves it – it’s just for fun, but when I listen to her, it makes me want to speak your fluent and smooth language too. Unfortunately we usually learn English and German at school, sometimes also Spanish or French. But what is really important is that it doesn't matter who you stop on the street, everybody knows something about Italy.

Italy is our neighbour, but perhaps one we do not care about. We do not have bad opinions, we do not have informed good opinions – besides pasta – we just know "they are there". Sometimes, this is just simply enough.

Can you say the same for your country? Did YOU know where Slovenia was before I told you?

Lots of love,
Lina

ITalian Answer

Hi Lina,

Let me say firstly that I am really sorry but, after a survey carried out asking some friends, very few of them knew anything about Slovenia, except that you are determined and serious people. Some of the passers-by whom I asked didn't even know precisely where Slovenia was. This is also because, as you said, "Italy and Slovenia aren't that connected at all". I agree with you that the fact that Slovenia was included in socialist Yugoslavia could have been an important reason for our cultural distance. But Croatia was also part of Yugoslavia, and a lot of Italians go there on holiday, know the name of the capital and the currency and could approximately draw the borders. Why it isn't this so for Slovenia? Maybe Italian tourists prefer to invade only nations with seasides? Probably.

It was not until my first meeting with Slovenians that I had any image of them, and I have to confess that now I have met some I do have images, but they are largely dominated by stereotypes.

The most common, in Italy, are these: Slovenians are seen as very hard-working and scrupulous people, generally individualists. Italians also think of you as uninhibited people, especially regarding sexual behavior. (This is considered to be something good, an open-minded way of thinking, not a criticism). Italians imagine (and I agree with this) that Slovenian girls are all beautiful and kind.

Photo: Max Seibert / www.youthmedia.eu

Isn't this the picture we all have in mind when thinking of Italy?

I had never read about Soška, but I found it really interesting. Despite the fact that our school programme only mentions this part of our common history, giving nothing but an overview, I think that it's very interesting to find out precisely where and when the boundaries of our nations were estabilished.

For example, I was not well informed about the relationships between Italy and Slovenia during the First World War. Since the first war of italian independence in 1848, Italy has always seen the Austro-Hungarian Empire as the people who stole our territory, expecially the regions of Trentino and Venezia Giulia. We used to call these lands "terre irredente" (could be translated as "unredeemed lands"). We spoke about it at school but we have never mentioned the fact that Slovenian soldiers fought for the Austro-Hungarian empire.

This kind of nationalist feelings, which also encouraged the acrimony against the Austro-Hungarian empire, have always been characteristic of the Italians. This was also a tendency which Mussolini later used to raise support from the masses. (Think about the bloody colonisation of Ethiopia ).

I am glad to hear that the first images that appear in your mind when think about Italy are only good things (it's probably best if I don't write about the Vatican), but unfortunately you forgot some other features which are rightly associated with Italians across the world. First of all, Italians are impolite, in every situation. When I travel abroad, I hate to find other Italians, and if they don't notice me I pretend to be a tourist of another nation. They shout! They speak loudly everywhere! This doesn't make sense, why should we behave like this? And secondly, don't even mention organisation. We have a joke about our inability to organise anything: "Imagine a perfect Europe! In this dream all the police are English, the mechanics are German, the cooks are French, the lovers are Italian and everything is organised by the Swiss. And now lets have a look at Hell: the police are German, the mechanics are French, the cooks are English, the lovers are Swiss and everything is organised by the Italians."

So, often the open-minded character of the Italians is a kind and tolerant way to refer to our impoliteness and boorishness. And our tendency to flatter others. If Dante's lake of junk had been full of Italians, they'd surely corrupt some demons and organise a mafia even there.

Oh, I hope I haven't ruined the idyllic image you have of Italy, which remains an extraordinary place!

One of the features that make Italy interesting is the huge difference between North and South. During history, the northern regions were the first to develop industrially. Since then, the South has always been seen as a rural region inhabited by a mass of ignorant farmers. The normal associations with Italy – pasta, Vatican, and warmth – are typical images of South Italy, like in Naples, Rome, Sicily. Northern people assume that the southerners are all uncivilised, corrupt and noisy. Southerners, on the other hand, are sure that all the northerners are cold, unpleasant and rich. And obviously without a sense of humor. These ideas are surely exaggerated and stereotyped, but have roots in different culural realities.

I don't know exactly how Italian society is seen from abroad, but I know it's not homogeneous. I'm sure that a North Italian would have much more in common with a Slovenian than with a South Italian. 

Lots of love,
Enrico