National Education: The Construction of the Yugoslav Nation in the Magazine Jugoslovenče (1931–1941)

Abstract

Članek predstavlja analizo otroškega časopisa Jugoslovenče, ki so ga tiskali in distribuirali v Kraljevini Jugoslaviji med letoma 1931 in 1941. Časopis je bil namenjen osnovnošolcem, priporočalo ga je Ministrstvo za prosveto. Upoštevaje, da je izhajal v novo nastali jugoslovanski državi – Kraljevini Srbov, Hrvatov in Slovencev – je naslov Jugoslovenče, tj. je »mladi pripadnik jugoslovanske nacije«, lahko v enaki meri nagovarjal učence, katerim je bil namenjen, kakor tudi mlado nacijo, ki je bila v procesu obikovanja. Tako je bil časopis eden od posrednikov, ki so neposredno (kar je značilno za besedila, namenjena otrokom) ustvarjali, razglašali in prenašali zamisli jugoslovanstva. Ko se sprašujemo o jugoslovanstvu, mislimo na njegov pomen in na to, kar je vstopilo v jugoslovansko »tradicijo«, kakor se je izpisovala na podlagi besedil tega časopisa.

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This article presents part of a study analyzing the magazine Jugoslovenče, published in Yugoslavia from 1931 to 1941. The magazine’s readership was primary school students and the Ministry of Education recommended it as material to be distributed in schools. Because this children’s magazine was founded twelve years after The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians was established, the title Jugoslovenče (Young Yugoslav) refers equally to the children that read it as well as to this young nation going through its formation process. This magazine was one of the media that directly and clearly (as is characteristic of material aimed at children) created, presented, and propagated Yugoslav ideas. This article addresses what Yugoslav identity meant at that time, how it was conceptualized, and how Yugoslav tradition was written and constructed when the magazine was published.