<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> Language practice and its official recognition are considered crucial markers of national identities in the region of Central/Eastern Europe. The issue of language rights used to be a vital aspect of the agenda in national movements in the former Austrian (Austrian- Hungarian) Monarchy, together with the process of territorializing and constructing of national identities in the region since the nineteenth century. The protection, persistence, preservation and further development of the national language was introduced as part of the moral obligations and commitments of the members of a community to the constructed national community. </p><p>This article examines two discrete yet related research questions that address language. The first one is based on dependence theories and analyzes to what extent the contemporary language policy of the Slovak government and political elites as well as its institutional and legal framework are affected by the decisions adopted in the past which created certain institutional as well as mental frameworks of shaping of the language policy. The second research question is related to the place of the “language issue” in contemporary Slovak domestic political discourse and its role in bilateral relations between Slovak Republic and Hungary with regard to the EU accession in 2004. </p></abstract>

Language practice and its official recognition are considered crucial markers of national identities in the region of Central/Eastern Europe. The issue of language rights used to be a vital aspect of the agenda in national movements in the former Austrian (Austrian- Hungarian) Monarchy, together with the process of territorializing and constructing of national identities in the region since the nineteenth century. The protection, persistence, preservation and further development of the national language was introduced as part of the moral obligations and commitments of the members of a community to the constructed national community. This article examines two discrete yet related research questions that address language. The first one is based on dependence theories and analyzes to what extent the contemporary language policy of the Slovak government and political elites as well as its institutional and legal framework are affected by the decisions adopted in the past which created certain institutional as well as mental frameworks of shaping of the language policy. The second research question is related to the place of the “language issue” in contemporary Slovak domestic political discourse and its role in bilateral relations between Slovak Republic and Hungary with regard to the EU accession in 2004.

The Dynamics of Slovak-Hungarian Relations – The Shift from Language Issues to Legal and Symbolic Questions

Faculty of Social Sciences (Slovakia) Contact information Address: 4/A Bucianska St., 917 01 Trnava, Slovakia

Fellow Researcher; Ph.D. Slovak Academy of Sciences, Institute of Political Sciences (Slovakia) Contact information Address: 9 Dubravska cesta, 841 01 Bratislava, Slovakia

Baltic Journal of Law & Politics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Language practice and its official recognition are considered crucial markers of national identities in the region of Central/Eastern Europe. The issue of...

The Dynamics of Slovak-Hungarian Relations – The Shift from Language Issues to Legal and Symbolic Questions

Published Online: Oct 08, 2014

Page range: 128 - 148

Received: Mar 25, 2014

Accepted: Jun 30, 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/bjlp-2014-0008

Keywords
Slovakia, Hungary, language policy, minority, nationalism

© by Jaroslav Mihálik

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The Dynamics of Slovak-Hungarian Relations – The Shift from Language Issues to Legal and Symbolic Questions

Published Online: Oct 08, 2014

Page range: 128 - 148

Received: Mar 25, 2014

Accepted: Jun 30, 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/bjlp-2014-0008

KeywordsSlovakia, Hungary, language policy, minority, nationalism

© by Jaroslav Mihálik

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Slovakia, Hungary, language policy, minority, nationalism