Abstract (eng)
The dissertation “Gottschee Global” deals with the internet-presentations of a former German speaking minority in present Slovenia. The German speaking Gottscheers, who flew the Partisans towards Austria in 1945, organised themselves in clubs, so called “Landsmannschaften”, refounded the “Gottscheer Zeitung” in 1955, and ever since meet at Gottscheer-parties. In that way, they represent their collective identity, which is based on their own particular narrative not mentioning, for example, their strings to National Socialism during the late 1930ies.
Recently, Gottscheers are represented on various websites, launched by both clubs and private persons. On these websites, some of the well known narratives are continued being told, however, due to the media’s power they are facing constant change. Within the scope of the dissertation, the manifold discoursive formations on the websites are analysed.
Based on theories dealing with collective memories and Stuart Hall’s thinking on identity, the following questions were raised: How do collective identity constructions change within the net? How do different players compete for domination in this “battle of memory”? In which ways are old dominant positions attacked in the World Wide Web? Which possibilities are provided by the internet for so called identity managers and how can they make use of them? Dealing with these questions, “Gottschee Global” illustrates that in the beginning 21st century the “monolithic” Gottscheer group has developed into various different communities around the world, which imagine, narrate and represent themselves in many different ways and stories.