Lecture:
The Sense of National Belonging in Rijeka after WWI: Between Passion and Indifference
Organiser: Post-Yugoslav Area Research Center (University of Warsaw)

Gabriele D’Annunzio’s occupation of Rijeka (September 1919 – January 1921) confronts the professions dealing with it – historiography, memory studies, literary studies – with the problem of very different, often conflicting and mutually exclusive interpretations. Traditional narratives about the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire usually focus on the rise of national sentiments among its former peoples. The occupation of Rijeka is typically framed as a clash between Italian and Croatian/Yugoslav nationalisms, leading to memory wars, political tensions, and diplomatic incidents that persist to this day. However, recent scholarship seeks to move beyond strictly national categories, revealing habits, attitudes, practices, and emotions that remain deeply tied to the Empire’s legacy. This lecture will explore the benefits and limitations of using “national indifference” to understand the case of post-WWI Rijeka. By drawing on the history of emotions and examples from memoirs, diaries, and literary works, it will expand the discussion of “national sentiment” vs. “national indifference” to include a broader spectrum of emotions – ranging from boredom and indifference to enthusiasm, love, disappointment, anger, hatred, resentment, resignation, and depression.

Natka Badurina is an associate professor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at the University of Udine, Italy. Her main research interests include the relationship between literature and ideology, gender studies, testimonial discourse, and cultural memory studies in the North Adriatic area. She is the author of the following books (in Croatian): Illegitimate Daughters of Illyria: Croatian Literature and Ideology in the 19th and 20th Centuries (Zagreb, 2009); The Fallacy of the Curse: Sublimity and Gender Roles in 19th-century Croatian Historical Tragedies (Zagreb, 2014); and Fear of Remembering: Literature and the North Adriatic on the Ruins of the Twentieth Century (Zagreb, 2023).

18.11.2024 (Mo.), 6:00 p.m. 
Austrian Cultural Forum Warsaw
ul. Próżna 7/9
In English
Free admission