Slovak identity in Samuel Ferjenčík in the light of his notes

Abstract

The article addresses the issue of national identity from the perspective of the Slovak theologian and writer Samuel Ferjenčík (1793 – 1855) primarily on the basis of his recently discovered manuscript notes. Although these notes resemble a mixture of newspaper clippings, quotations, snippets of thoughts, aphorisms, subjective remarks, and other similar material, they are nevertheless evidence of the period (1840 – 1842) during which the question of national identity was experiencing an extraordinary upsurge among the peoples of the region (Central Europe, more precisely the territory of the Habsburg monarchy before the revolutions of 1948). In the introduction, the article emphasises the role of German-language texts from the multi-ethnic cultural space of Central Europe (also) for German studies abroad. Subsequently, the essay examines Ferjenčík’s career from his studies in Jena, Germany, to his political involvement in the preservation of Slovak identity in the context of forced Magyarization in the first half of the nineteenth century.

Keywords

• slovak identity
• 19th century
• magyarization
• nationalism
• central europe