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The Language Issue in the Context of Minorities’ and Identity Policies in Montenegro

The Language Issue in the Context of Minorities’ and Identity Policies in Montenegro Sofiya Zahova* One of the pillars of the new Montenegrin identity in the process of statebuilding has been the Montenegrin language. In 2007, it was named the official language of the country, despite the lack of an official standard, while Serbian became one of the minorities' languages. At the same time, Serbs in Montenegro have been constantly arguing that Serbian should still be the official language because, according to the last two censuses (2003 and 2011), more than 50% of the citizens declared that they spoke Serbian. Th is article provides an overview of the language debate that was again sparked in 2011 and the reaction of the Serbian minority organizations and institutions on several occasions, including: the compulsory study of the Montenegrin language in schools, the April 2011 census and the changes in the Constitution debated in the second half of 2011. I. Introduction Montenegro is the last among the former republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to finally complete its way to independence in 20061 and quickly take the road to EU integration. 2 The republic was also the last to name its official * Sofiya Zahova is a post-doctoral researcher at the Balkan http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png European Yearbook of Minority Issues Online Brill

The Language Issue in the Context of Minorities’ and Identity Policies in Montenegro

Zahova, Sofiya
European Yearbook of Minority Issues Online , Volume 10 (1): 667 – Jan 1, 2013
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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
Copyright 2013 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
1570-7865
eISSN
2211-6117
DOI
10.1163/22116117-01001030
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Sofiya Zahova* One of the pillars of the new Montenegrin identity in the process of statebuilding has been the Montenegrin language. In 2007, it was named the official language of the country, despite the lack of an official standard, while Serbian became one of the minorities' languages. At the same time, Serbs in Montenegro have been constantly arguing that Serbian should still be the official language because, according to the last two censuses (2003 and 2011), more than 50% of the citizens declared that they spoke Serbian. Th is article provides an overview of the language debate that was again sparked in 2011 and the reaction of the Serbian minority organizations and institutions on several occasions, including: the compulsory study of the Montenegrin language in schools, the April 2011 census and the changes in the Constitution debated in the second half of 2011. I. Introduction Montenegro is the last among the former republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to finally complete its way to independence in 20061 and quickly take the road to EU integration. 2 The republic was also the last to name its official * Sofiya Zahova is a post-doctoral researcher at the Balkan

Journal

European Yearbook of Minority Issues Online – Brill

Published: Jan 1, 2013

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