Pridiga o prijaznih gostoljubnih, dobrih Slovencih, ki niso vedno (bili) taki

Abstract

Already a brief survey of the Slovenian publications of the previous century reveals a Slovenian stereotype which is still very much alive today, and which is nothing but a monotonous repetition of the characterisation of Slovenians as diligent, honest, wise, cheerful, friendly, hospitable, hard-working, tidy, steadfast and disciplined, although they constitute a small nation. This self-imposed stereotype was the source of many diverse stereotype images formed of other nations - in particular the neighbouring nations of the Slovenes (like the Germans, Italians, Hungarians, Croats or Jews), which were, as is the rule in such cases, all pejorative, in the same way as the diverse regional stereotypical images of the Slovenes are also pejorative. A special aspect of the concept of "being foreign" is also the attitude adopted towards many artists who were rejected by the patriotic elite in the same way that foreigners and the homeless were, yet who succeeded (possibly for this very reason) in making a name for themselves abroad.