national populism and slovak – hungarian relations in - MEK

Zuzana Mészárosová-LamplováNational Populism and Slovak – Hungarian Relations in Slovakia 2006 – 2009. Forum Minority Research Institute Šamorín – Somorja, 2009National identity refers to historic, language and cultural identity, i.e.identity that is not innate but is gradually formed and constantly shapedthroughout every individual’s live. Consequently, we speak of factorsaffecting emergence and formation of national identity. It is a complex offactors, ranging from family background and parents’ national identity tosocio-cultural, economic and political macro- as well as microenvironmentin which the individual lives to globalization and many other factors.Naturally, the importance of particular factors varies from one individual toanother. In certain life stages, some of them gain greater importance thanothers. In other life stages, previously crucial factors may be pushed to thebackground while previously less important factors may become pivotal.Nevertheless, there are also factors that are of constantly great importancein terms of forming and shaping individuals’ national identity. One of themis native language as well as conditions and/or opportunities to use it.Dominant Communication LanguageFamily Communication in Respondents’ ChildhoodThe survey did not primarily inquire about respondents’ native language butrather about the language they used to communicate with their parents athome throughout their childhood. We assumed that the dominant languageof family communication was Slovak for Slovaks and Hungarian for ethnicHungarians. While this assumption has been corroborated with most respondents,the survey established that there were also Slovaks who communicatedexclusively or prevailingly in Hungarian as well as ethnic Hungarianswho communicated exclusively or prevailingly in Slovak.Three in four Slovaks (74%) spoke exclusively Slovak to their parentsduring childhood. The remaining share of Slovak respondents encounteredwith Hungarian as the complementary language of family communication,although its occurrence varied. One in six respondents of Slovak nationality(17%) also used Hungarian but their family communication was dominatedby Slovak; one in eleven respondents (9%) spoke prevailingly orexclusively Hungarian. These data justify a conclusion that while Slovakwas the dominant language of family communication for most Slovaks, onein eleven Slovaks grew up in a family environment where Hungarian wasthe dominant language (please see Graph 1).168