Dark Events of the Istrian Countryside: An Electronic Media Perspective

Abstract

This pilot research illuminates the connection and reflection of past traumatic events in contemporary dark events. The purpose of the research is to provide a basic understanding of what dark events and dark tourism mean in a specific regional environment – the countryside of the trans-border region of Istria. Consequently, the media-constructed social reality related to dark events was identified with the help of a quantitative content analysis; cross tabulation and descriptive analyses were employed to resolve three research questions. It was found that wwii-related memorial services dominate in all areas of the Istrian countryside; dark events, according to media, mostly occurred at memorials or internment sites;most of them were in small Istrian towns. Flower ceremonies and cultural programmes are essential elements of Istrian dark events in all areas. However, there is no statistically significant association between event type and different rural areas. Consequently, we are now (at least basically) familiar with current Istrian dark events, which offer an ideal basis for the development of dark tourism in the most developed tourist region of Slovenia and Croatia. Keywords: dark events, dark tourism, thematic tourism, Istrian history, countryside, media