Migracijske i etničke teme (Apr 2010)
The Perception of Montenegro and the Montenegrins in Austrian Military Reports during the 1830s
Abstract
An attempt is made in the article to draw attention to the specific perception of the Other when the perspective of the immediate neighbourhood is in question, more particularly, of the Kingdom of Dalmatia, Croatia and Slavonia in relation to the Kingdom of Montenegro in the first half of the 19th century. The focus of research lies in the reports that have as their theme Montenegro and the Montenegrins, these having been written by Captain Friedrich Orešković and Major Josip Jelačić – later the Croatian Ban – at that time adjutant to the military and civil governor of Dalmatia, Lilienberg. The reports were written on Lilienberg’s orders in connection with a then-current conflict that had broken out on the border between Austrian units and the Montenegrins (1838), and the final definition of the Austrian-Montenegrin border. Applying the concepts of Marija Todorova and Božidar Jezernik, the way in which the conceptions that Orešković and Jelačić harboured about Montenegro and the Montenegrins were a reflection of their specific social habitude as Austrian officers is analysed in the paper. Through their comparison with the perception of Montenegro and the Montenegrins among other social strata, light is cast on the diverse ideological and identificational patterns that co-existed on the territory of the Triune Kingdom, also providing an indication of the multi-layered nature of its modern society. The similarity with notions about Montenegro and the Montenegrins and the Balkans in general that existed in Western Europe are also established, as well as the significant differences that suggest that the immediate neighbourhood results in a specificity of perception independently of the broad ideological framework.
