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BUNJEVAC COMMUNITY

Bunjevci, Croats, Bunjevac Croats

People from the Bunjevac community identifying themselves either as Bunjevci, Croats, or Bunjevac Croats. The total population of Bunjevci is unknown. The historical background of the Bunjevci in Bosnia and Hercegovina, Croatia, Hungary, and Vojvodina/Serbia is complex. The Bunjevac community in Vojvodina/Serbia is represented by the Croat National Council and the National Council of the Bunjevac National Minority. Bunjevac speech is categorized as a New-Štokavian Young Ikavian dialect of the Serbo-Croatian pluricentric language - BCMS.

The Bunjevac European Center (NGO) is a portal for Bunjevac heritage: folklore, music, dance, linguistics, education, handicraft, art, customs, politics, costumes, gastronomy, festivals, and history. We strive for independent Bunjevac information and for sisterly and brotherly reconciliation between the Bunjevac communities. The Bunjevac heritage is more than only folklore: it is a way of live for many people with Bunjevac ancestors. 

Cultural Agenda

 

BUNJEVAC Folk Culture & Art  

Reviving Bunjevac Heritage 

"Today, the largest concentration of Bunjevci is in the ethnically mixed city of Subotica, which is their cultural and political centre. Traditionally, Bunjevci of Bačka are associated with land and farming. Large, usually isolated farms in the Northern Bačka called Salaši, are a significant part of their identity. Most of their customs celebrate the land, harvest and horse breeding." Folklorna Grupa Mladi Hrvati - Clifton Hill - Početna | Facebook

 

 

 

 

The Serbian-Croatian Bunjevac Case

Disputes about the national status and historical origins of the Bunjevci go back to the nationalism wave in the 19th century in Austria-Hungary. The debate revived by the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Some Bunjevci in Hungary and Serbia, who are gathered around the Bunjevac National Council (Vojvodina/Serbia), claiming they are an autochthonous ethnic group (Bunjevac nation/tribe/people, www.bunjevci.net/o-bunjevcima), while most of the Bunjevci in the Bačka region identify themselves as a Croatian sub-ethnic group – an integral part of the Croatian national corpus (Izjava Predsjednistva HAZU o hrvatskoj etnickoj skupini Bunjevci), represented by the Croat National Council (Vojvodina/Serbia). Both the Croatian, Hungarian and Serbian authorities do not recognize a distinct Bunjevac/Bunjevci language/nationality. BEC

Statements about the Bunjevci:

  • Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts
  • Croatian Conference of Bishops
  • Government of Hungary
  • The Vatican

 

 

 

 

Open issues between Serbia and Croatia after - SUBOTICA DECLARATION (2016)

  • Absence of objective evidence based criteria for voluntary self-identification of Bunjevci in relation to population census in Serbia
  • Croatian minority - Bunjevci and Šokci
  • Different theories about the Bunjevac origin
  • Implementation Minority Education Program
  • Minority representatives in parliament/state administration
  • Minority status of Bunjevci and Šokci in Serbia 
  • Political-linguistic dispute 'Bunjevac dialect vs. Bunjevac language'
  • Politics of population census
  • Role of the government in the Bunjevac identity dispute - 'Bunjevac Question'
  • Serbian minority in Croatia
  • Stigmatization of Croatian minority in Serbia

 

 

 

 

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© Stichting Bunjevac European Center, 2015