Code of project: 019-0190609-0579
Leading researcher: dr. sc. Nada Kisić Kolanović
Reg. number at MZOS: 20996
E-mail: nkisic@isp.hr
Status of project: project within program
Program: Modernizacija i identitet Hrvatske u 20. stoljeću
Affiliation: Hrvatski institut za povijest
Department: Odjel za suvremenu povijest
Duration of project: 5 years
Scholarly project “The Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Država Hrvatska – NDH) from 1941 to 1945 – Social, cultural and communicational aspects” is intended to research social, cultural and communicational space of the Croatian state that existed during the WWII. Emphasis will be put on three problems, which are among the most disputed elements of the NDH historical legacy. The first research topic is entitled “Islam and Moslems in the NDH”. It is intended to contribute to the scholarly research of religious conflict in the NDH. Muslim/Bosniak approach towards the ethnocentric concept of the wartime Croatian state will be research. The confrontational discourse of the Muslim secular and religious elite in the process of modernization within the Croatian state will be emphasized. Research will especially focus on intercultural communication between Islam and the Western European cultural circle. Typological characterization of Islam in the NDH will be analyzed, both on the level of propaganda and on the level of academic knowledge. Finally, the Islam in the NDH will be viewed through individual experience of the Ustasha doglavnik Ademaga Mešić. He was probably one of the most influential Muslims/Bosniaks in the NDH. Any study of the NDH should face the phenomenon of the international Fascism and the articulation of the fascist ideology in Croatia during the WWII. This will be researched within the research topic entitled “Propaganda and Media of the NDH”. The mass policy of the Ustasha Movement can be explained through the analysis of media and propaganda. Reflective patterns of fascist ideology within the Ustasha program and ideas can be revealed by the analysis of media (newspapers and magazines, pamphlets, posters, newsreels). The third research topic is entitled “The cultural institutions of the NDH”. The analysis of cultural institutions will focus on the activities of Zagreb’s Croatian University and Matica hrvatska in the NDH. The emphasis will be put on the nationalistic elite, and especially on ideological connections to totalitarian ideologies. The fourth research topic is intended to research the history of terror in the NDH. Political disputes in Croatia still have some impact on the historical research of the NDH. Consequently, results gained by Scholarly project “The Independent State of Croatia from 1941 to 1945 – Social, cultural and communicational aspects” will contribute to critical evaluation of the legacy of the NDH.
Key words:
Indenpendent State of Croatia,World War II,Ustasha movement/propaganda,Muslims/ Bosniaks /Islam,Culture,Repression
Researchers:
- dr. sc. Nada Kisić Kolanović, leading researcher
- dr. sc. Mario Jareb
- dr. sc. Davor Kovačić
- Stipe Kljajić, prof.
Visiting researchers:
- dr. sc. Husnija Kamberović (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
