ДЕЦА ДЕВЕДЕСЕТИХ У ВОЈВОДИНИ: МЕШОВИТИ БРАКОВИ И ЕТНИЧКИ ИДЕНТИТЕТ

Abstract

The 1990s Yugoslav wars avoided armed conflicts in Vojvodina, the multiethnic Northern province of Serbia,but the war still bears its consequences. Some argue that the province avoided escalation partly because of the relatively high rate of ethnic intermarriages in the Yugoslav era, which acted as bonds and bridges between the Serbs and ethnic minorities. The 1990s state-funded (Serbian) nationalist propaganda did have detrimental effects on Vojvodinian ethnic minorities which are facing high emigration rates since the 1990s. Ethnic minority millennials might be the group most adversely affected by the 1990s wars, facing open nationalism, alienation, and sidelining. One milestone event in the lives of intermarriage-born millennials was the choice of language instruction (majority or minority) when enrolling in elementary school and secondary school as well. The research aimed to investigate the education element of the many-faceted framework shaping the decisions of parents and the effects those decisions had on millennials and their identity construction. The analysis was based on semi-structured interviews conducted with millennials born into (Serbian – Hungarian) intermarriages and/or exhibiting high levels of acculturation. The findings show that the respondents who enrolled in elementary school in Serbian departed from the ethnic minority group, and even if they cultivated the ethnic minority language, it became a tool for further career advancement, not a bond with their minority group. Interviewees who enrolled in elementary school in a minority language preserved a stronger bond with the ethnic minority group and essentially built an ethnic minority identity. Both groups, regardless of the language of instructions, faced nationalismfuelled incidents during their schooling, which inevitably made them more insecure and vulnerable.