»Moja politika je kranjska klobasa«. Par madežev kranjske klobase v slovenski politiki, zapackanih v slovenskem časopisju do prve svetovne vojne

Abstract

»MY POLICY IS CARNIOLAN SAUSAGE« A COUPLE OF CARNIOLAN SAUSAGE STAINS IN THE SLOVENIAN POLITICS, SMEARING THE SLOVENIAN NEWSPAPERS BEFORE WORLD WAR I

In the period between the Spring of Nations and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Carniolan sausage did not only fill stomachs. It was also a highly esteemed refreshment, a stimulant for what was initially nascent and later – in the final decades of the period under consideration – already completely awakened national identity. Carniolan sausage had a special place in the Slovenian society and culture. However, what about its place in the political life? It especially had a great symbolic potential and it was a strongly marked object, allowing for various uses. It was convenient, frequently available for various occasions and needs, among others also for a range of »political« applications. The following text limits itself to three Carniolan sausage stains in the Slovenian politics in the period under consideration, smearing the press: the wagging fingers of the Slovenski narod newspaper journalists at the »flexible« – the politicians of moderate national policy in the Taaffe period; the disputes within the socialist camp among Slovenians in the United States; and finally one of the biggest social-political scandals in Carniola before World War I, brought to the boiling point in the atmosphere of the ruthless liberal-clericalist struggle for authority during the so-called Theimer affair.